On Fri, Oct 05, 2001 at 07:03:50AM -0700, kiran hiriyanna wrote: > i am running windows ME on my laptop. i have a lot of info on it. > without having to back up, can i install llinux over w/ME and later > erase w/ME?
It depends on the setup of your disk that contains the WinME installation. If you have a single partition which uses the total capacity of your hard drive, then you're going to have some difficulty. As a mimimum, Linux needs two partitions: one partition to actually hold the system, and one swap partition (for virtual memory paging). So if your Windows installation occupies a single partition on your entire disk, you're in a bad way since you'll need to repartition. Although there are utilities like Parition Magic, I would *never* use them without backing up the important stuff first. I remember briefly reading about the UMSDOS filesystem a while ago. If I'm not mistaken, I believe this let you install Linux on a DOS filesystem. It might be something for you to look into---I never used it, so I don't know any of the specifics. Hope that helps! Matt -- Matt Garman, [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Do you think that it would be too much to say that two hours of the working time of every efficient member of a community goes to feed the red fiend of war?" --Upton Sinclair, _The_Jungle_
