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[SugarBlush]

You don't... If you try deleting random binaries from the live cd you'll probably get into deeper water. The only reason I suggested a live cd was so you could see your partitions and perhaps get a feel for where things are located before you think about using the install disk again.

What you're thinking is, 'I need to do this, at any price.' It's not so much about uninstalling it (you would need to do that from within a working distro) more about using your installation disk to get back to where you were before, but without overwriting your dad's files.

ok so, I looked in to my partitions and found out that the system files and my dad's personal files are on separate partitions. My dad's files are on the /home partition and the system files are on /. And I figured that I could just 'upgrade' from the installation disk just like what you said (Install PCLinuxOS and overwrite the system files without overwriting the /home partition).

so now, I'm trying to download the iso file of PCLinuxOS 2007 and burn it on CD since my other PCLinuxOS 2007 disk is lost. Can I do that? Getting a new one but the same version and not using the original disk?

other question: Do I have to make another partition to install PCLinuxOS or just install it on the / partition???

[fingal]

Well done! Okay, so you're in a good position because you know where your dad's files are. As you now realise you don't want to format your /home partition whatever happens.

Is there any reason why you want to install PCLinuxOS in / ? I have no experience with that distro so I can't answer any questions which relate to it.

In general, Mandriva has a very user friendly installer, which would let you 'upgrade' / without touching /home . In theory you should be able to install PCLinux in / , but there might be consequences for certain packages which could look for settings in /home ...

For example, I use Xchat a lot, and some settings are (I think) in /home/fingal/.xchat/xchat.config

That's just a very rough example. I'm not sure that mixing distros in that way is very wise, and a lot depends on whether you want your dad to know what you've been doing!

Edit: Another point... Do you know how much disk space you have? Distros can share a common /home directory, so you could (if you had room) install PCLinux on a separate / partition and point it to your existing /home . I've done this myself but it wasn't as easy as I thought. Do you feel lucky?

[SugarBlush]

Well done! Okay, so you're in a good position because you know where your dad's files are. As you now realise you don't want to format your /home partition whatever happens.

Is there any reason why you want to install PCLinuxOS in / ? I have no experience with that distro so I can't answer any questions which relate to it.

In general, Mandriva has a very user friendly installer, which would let you 'upgrade' / without touching /home . In theory you should be able to install PCLinux in / , but there might be consequences for certain packages which could look for settings in /home ...

For example, I use Xchat a lot, and some settings are (I think) in /home/fingal/.xchat/xchat.config

That's just a very rough example. I'm not sure that mixing distros in that way is very wise, and a lot depends on whether you want your dad to know what you've been doing!

Edit: Another point... Do you know how much disk space you have? Distros can share a common /home directory, so you could (if you had room) install PCLinux on a separate / partition and point it to your existing /home . I've done this myself but it wasn't as easy as I thought. Do you feel lucky?

I dont understand. How do you upgrade Mandriva using the installation disk?

[fingal]

I dont understand. How do you upgrade Mandriva using the installation disk?

Yes... The problem is the terminology I used. If you boot from the installation disk the distro will take you to diskdrake (Mandriva's installer) giving you two choices:

1. a fresh install which completely reformats your hdd and wipes existing data

2. the option to 'update' or 'upgrade'.

Now, option 2 is there in case you were using an earlier version of Mandrake / Mandriva. All it does is overwrite just enough system files to give you a funky new distro. It's a softer approach if you like.

Because computers are really stupid the software has no idea that you have the same distro. It doesn't kick in and say, 'Yeah, but I already did this two years ago!'

So option 2. gives you the ability to revert back to where you started from by just overwriting stuff in / . It leaves /home untouched (but still be careful!) and doing this should fix Xorg.

What version is your distro by the way? You didn't say... It's harder to explain all this than actually do it. Unfortunately I've learned all this the hard way. There's always a way out of the kind of problem you have, but it's not always obvious.

[SugarBlush]

Yes... The problem is the terminology I used. If you boot from the installation disk the distro will take you to diskdrake (Mandriva's installer) giving you two choices:

1. a fresh install which completely reformats your hdd and wipes existing data

2. the option to 'update' or 'upgrade'.

Now, option 2 is there in case you were using an earlier version of Mandrake / Mandriva. All it does is overwrite just enough system files to give you a funky new distro. It's a softer approach if you like.

Because computers are really stupid the software has no idea that you have the same distro. It doesn't kick in and say, 'Yeah, but I already did this two years ago!'

So option 2. gives you the ability to revert back to where you started from by just overwriting stuff in / . It leaves /home untouched (but still be careful!) and doing this should fix Xorg.

What version is your distro by the way? You didn't say... It's harder to explain all this than actually do it. Unfortunately I've learned all this the hard way. There's always a way out of the kind of problem you have, but it's not always obvious.

Sorry but I don't even know what version my distro is...
any useful commands?

[fingal]

Sorry but I don't even know what version my distro is... any useful commands?

Yep - the command is uname -a

I wouldn't worry too much about the version at this stage (it's interesting/useful but not your main focus).

[SugarBlush]

How can I upgrade from the installation disk. I can only find the 'Install PCLinuxOS' icon on the desktop once I booted from the disk.
It didn't take me to DiskDrake. Are there any ways I can find diskdrake?
Sorry for asking SO MANY questions. I'm just a newbie.
& thanks for taking your time to answer all of the questions! I really apprecietes it!

[fingal]

How can I upgrade from the installation disk. I can only find the 'Install PCLinuxOS' icon on the desktop once I booted from the disk.
It didn't take me to DiskDrake. Are there any ways I can find diskdrake?
Sorry for asking SO MANY questions. I'm just a newbie.
& thanks for taking your time to answer all of the questions! I really apprecietes it!

Ah but you are meant to be using a Mandriva disk? It sounds like you are in fact using PCLinuxOS which doesn't include diskdrake. Distros have certain things in common, but Mandriva isn't the same as PCLinux, so we are just confusing each other at this point.