My First Question .

[zsycho]

Well, this will be my first post and linux brought me here.

I had been using Windows till now means that I am brand new to linux.

And now as a noob, here is my question . .

My PC is installed with win 7.
I want my win 7 to be intact and installing enterprise Redhat on other partition without deleting any data on my partition ( apart from installation partition ).

I had known some of my friends who while installing linux had lost all their data on the harddisk. ( which I am worried about )

Can someone help me here ?

Thanks

[GregBrannon]

I haven't done a RH install, but the several installs I've done have all given the option to repartition the target drive to create space for the Linux installation, promising to preserve the existing OS with its data. Sometimes, the options to repartition, what's being preserved, and what the risks might be are not explained in a way that everyone can understand. I suggest that you have one computer up and running for asking questions, researching the net, etc., and the computer you're doing the install on able to be ignored during the installation so that you can consider each option carefully and ask questions when needed. OR, get someone to help you, but not the friends who have lost data.

Mostly, take it slow, don't make choices carelessly or that you don't understand, and be prepared to have that computer unavailable for a short time AND backup your precious data. Why anyone would attempt what you're considering without backing up their data is beyond my ability to comprehend.

There may be guides or documentation where you found the RH install medium or in the RH forums.

Good luck!

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

If you have newer machine then you can install Linux inside Windows OS using Virtual Box. There is no need to create separate partition for that. Could you post your machine's specs here?

Or if you want to install Linux in separate partition, procedure is really easy. Create 2 partitions for Linux before starting installation. You can do that using PartedMagic LiveCD or USB.

SWAP - 1GB
ext3 / (root) - 12 GB or more

You can create one more partition for /home too but I don't think it is necessary for a new user.
Start installation and select Manual partitioning. Select 12GB partition for install. Installer will detect SWAP and Windows OS and setup dual boot itself.

[rokytnji]

Video for using Virtual Box in Windows

YouTube - Run Linux inside windows (without installing)

[zsycho]

Well, I had successfully dual booted redhat server on my PC.

But this time, I came across some other issue . . .

I wanted to use linux in GUI mode.

When I hit "startx" , I get message that command not found.

now, one of my friend told me that redhat server has no GUI mode. All is command line.

Is that right ?

If not, then how to get to GUI mode.

[rokytnji]

now, one of my friend told me that redhat server has no GUI mode. All is command line.

Is that right ?

Yes, your friend is correct. I don't run rpm distro so the command syntax will have to be provided by another user on this forum for installing Gnome,KDE,GDM, or KDM for redhat server.

[zsycho]

After a little bit of google research, I found a solution to start GUI mode of redhat by editing inittab file placing inittab default:5

after saving , when I rebooted my PC, linux didn't even booted.

What went wrong ?

[devils casper]

Correct code is id:5:initdefault:. But you haven't installed any Desktop Environment, how would you get Graphical Interface.
Boot up in command line mode and remove code from inittab file.
Which version of RHEL did you install? Have you purchased it's license?

[zsycho]

ok ok . . . lemme tel u that it is RHEL 6

& i havn't purchased it. can u temme which distro is similar to RHEL and is free xcept Fedora.

[rokytnji]

ok ok . . . lemme tel u that it is RHEL 6

& i havn't purchased it. can u temme which distro is similar to RHEL and is free xcept Fedora.

It's the same as redhat www.centos.org - The Community ENTerprise Operating System