Install PCLinux

[DonaldM]

Hi this may seem daft but I want to install pclinux on its own.  I currently dual boot with win7.  However, I havea further 2 partitions on the drive which I want to keep.  Could someone please give me a step-by-step procedure for formatting and installing without affecting the other 2 partitions.

Thanks

[menotu]

Do you mean you want to remove Windows 7 and use that partition for installing PCLinuxOS?

Do the other 2 partitions hold data or do they too have an OS installed

[DonaldM]

Yes

[Xenaflux]

Yes...what ?

a--Do the other 2 partitions hold data

b--do they too have an OS installed

[DonaldM]

Partition 1 -windows 7
The other 2 partitions contain data.

I am not confident in installing in case I destroy the data.  One of the partitions is backed up the other is not.

[dvhenry]

I am not confident in installing in case I destroy the data.  One of the partitions is backed up the other is not.

You should always keep a backup of data you need, weather installing an OS or not,.

The list of ways to damage, make inaccessible, or destroy data unintentionally or by hardware failure is a long one, this can not be over stated!

Unless you are happy to loose the non backed-up data I suggest not using the machine except for securing that backup until you have all needed data backed-up (at least one, but for the most important data two back-ups on different disks).

Once you have the back-ups in place, you should open konsole in PCLOS (from the liveCD is fine), type su - then fdisk -l (lower case letter L), then copy all the output and paste it here.

 

[menotu]

Partition 1 -windows 7
The other 2 partitions contain data.

I am not confident in installing in case I destroy the data.  One of the partitions is backed up the other is not.

If you are a tad "nervous" about formatting stuff the first thing I'd suggest is backing up the important data to another medium - USB Stick - CD/DVD etc as a fail safe.

I think I'd then download a gparted LiveCD iso and burn that to make a LiveCD.

Booting the gparted CD will then allow you to format the Windows partition making it ready to install PCLinuxOS on to it.

Once that's done boot up with the PCLinuxOS CD and install to the newly formatted partition.

[demilord]

Always make backups better safe then sorry is my motto

[dvhenry]

Some notes: windows7 likes to install a small boot partition, If windows7 encrypted partitions are used even a reinstall of windows7 from the same disk can make the data irretrievable.

We Know nothing about this windows install or the partitioning, I believe we will only know what is needed after seeing fdisk -l and perhaps some further questions answered.

[DonaldM]

I think I will disconnect my present drive - install a new drive and install pclinux on the new one and then connect the old drive

[dvhenry]

I think I will disconnect my present drive - install a new drive and install pclinux on the new one and then connect the old drive

This is a safe option!
We can then show you how to set the mount points for the partitions on the old disk (if you are not sure how),  this  is easy to do.

[DonaldM]

I am also considering the live usb option.  Couple of questions.  Can I store files as normal on the usb?  What are the long term effects of running the OS on the USB?

[dvhenry]

The LiveUSB is intended mainly as a 'portable' system and an alternative install media, questions about it would be best answered here http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/board,3.0.html

With regard to a hard disk install, both options you have mentioned can be done easily and safely, If you don't know how to give us the fdisk -l output we can give better instructions, or you could boot a liveCD such as PartedMagic or Gparted LiveCD, run gparted and take some screen shots.
Editing fstab as required with your second option is also easy and would only take a few minutes

As for back up, have a close look at what you actually need and and what data you could easily replace, you may find you only need a relatively small amount of your data backed up.
 
The main real risks of actual data LOSS with an install are if you delete/format the wrong partition(s) to create the Linux ones, or a certain type of windows 'encrypted disk' partitions are used.
This too is easily avoided, and why we ask to see the actual partition table, instead of guessing.

[dvhenry]

I want to install pclinux on its own.  I currently dual boot with win7.  However, I havea further 2 partitions on the drive which I want to keep.  Could someone please give me a step-by-step procedure for formatting and installing without affecting the other 2 partitions.

The following is an outline of a procedure for the paranoid!

1.) Boot a liveCD and make a copy of fdisk -l output to somewhere other than the disk you are working on (as outlined in an earlier post for example).

2.) Mount the partitions and find the two you want to keep by checking their content , note down on paper their device names, for example /dev/sda3 and /dev/sda4 (note that if any are /dev/sda5 or above you need to also keep the extended partition, fdisk -l output or gpartrd will tell you which is the extended)

3.) On that disk only, (in this case /dev/sda) unmount the partitions and delete all except the the partitions in the above step using fdisk, gparted or other.

4.) Now reboot the liveCD (just to ensure the changes have been applied), mount and check the data in the partitions from step 2.
If you can't mount one of these partitions and read it's data (you won't read data from the extended of course), you can still repair your previous partition table with fdisk using the info gained from step 1...even if you didn't use step 1. you could still repair it with TestDisk. (bringing it back to its original 'glory' with your data (and windows) intact.  

5.) If all went well you should now have some free space to install Linux, and your data intact. As long as you use only that free space for the install, your data should be safe.
 How you use that free space depends on how much there is, where it is, which partitions have been deleted and which remain, how you intend to use the system, and other factors.

Or you could just give us fdisk -loutput   !