when install mandrake within winxp error occur

[goldenjordan]

i want to know from the basic how to install linux within windows xp
i am now have xp run on my pc but the probleme when i putthe mandrake 8 cd 1 it boot good and appear the startup screen which say
press f1 or enter

1) when i press enter it going to load some txt and finally say

vfs: unable tomount root fs 8:00

2) when i press F1 and write lnx4win it say the same thing

please help me to find solution and learn how to install linux in my pc
from scratch

thank you at all[/list][/code]

[sabin]

First you should download a more recent Mandrake (or should I say mandriva now ^_^) version.

The latest is 10.2, also called Mandriva Limited Edition.
For free you can download the 10.1 version, from http://mandrakelinux.com

Maybe your install problems will be solved with those recent versions. Because a version 8.x is really really really old, you know.

[AlexK]

I remember that there was an option with MDK 8 where you could install mandrake as a folder on the C drive and launch mandrake like any other windows program. I don;t think that is supported by any of the newer versions.

Your error may be occuring because Linux can't mount a NTFS drive with write permissions. But it may be possible if you use Cygwin (www.cygwin.org) or VMware to emulate Linux on your windows desktop. Once cygwin or vmware is installed, you can install linux onto windows. However, you may want to try this with a newer version of linux.