Converting a Windows Machine for use with Linux

Until recently, you could not purchase an Intel x86 based machine without some version of Windows factory installed. This has been true since 1990, and was one of the main points pointed out in the MS-DOJ antitrust case of 1998, as evidence that Microsoft denied consumers freedom of choice. It is possible to purchase an Intel-based machine with Linux installed, with Mac OS-X installed (in the case of a Intel-based Macintosh), or without an operating system installed. However, the practice of Windows being factory installed continues for the most part. This does not mean you cannot have Linux installed on that machine.

There are two ways of going about getting Linux installed. The first is to install Linux alongside Windows, i.e. create a dual-boot machine. The second is to replace Windows with Linux. Of course, the latter is far easier.

Back up your data first!

Before you undertake a task such as this, you absolutely need to back up your data files. This is critical becuase if anything happens in the process and you have to reinstall the operating system, you will want to be able to restore your data. This is one of the cardinal rules of any kind of system administration!

There are many ways for you to do this. If you have a CD-RW or a DVD-RW drive, backing your data to a CD-R(W) or DVD-R(W) is the most convenient and the safest way to accomplish this.

Of course, if you have another machine available, you can backup your files to that machine. Whatever means you have for doing backups, be sure that you do backup your system. In the worst case, you may have to use floppies, but I do not recommend that unless you are backing up only documents and simple graphics.

Make room for Linux

If you are going to replace Windows with Linux, making room for Linux is very easy. Simply install your Linux distribution and tell it to erase the hard drive.

For those of you who want to keep Windows, and install Linux, you will need to repartition the hard drive. There are commercial products and open source products that can accomplish the same task. If you wish to use a commercial product, I recommend a recent version of Partition Magic, as it is one of the most reliable products around when it comes to a task such as this. This is recommended if you are repartitioning systems containing NT 4.0, Windows 2000, XP or later.

Among open source partitioners, I recommend FIPS. For Windows 9.x and ME, you must enter MS-DOS mode to be able to run this. FIPS creates the needed space in a non-destructive manner. GNU parted (and QTParted) should work with the NT-based Windows systems.

Here is where Live CD based Linux distributions such as Knoppix come in. Novell SuSE 10.0 and later (not the OSS edition) and Ubuntu also come with Live CD options. Live CD distributions allow you to run Linux and be able to repartition your hard drive in relative safety.

The next issue is how much space to open up for Linux. This depends upon what distribution you are installing. For a new distribution, you should allow at least 5GB for the software and data files, plus three times the system memory for swap space. For example, if you have 256MB of system memory, you will need at least 768MB for swap space.

Plan your partitions

After you have opened space on your hard drive for Linux, you will need to plan how your Linux distribution is to be setup.

The easiest way to do this is to allow the installer to do the partitioning for you. However, the easiest way if not always the best way.

The Red Hat/Fedora Core distributions have the system boot files stored in a separate partition, mounted as /boot. This is a good idea if you have a hard drive that is larger than your system was designed to handle. This ensures that older systems will be able to boot Linux by having the startup files located in an area where the hardware is able to access your hard drive.

The SimplyMEPIS distribution takes a much simpler approach. This distribution allocates one partition for swap space, and depending on whether you want /home to be separate from the rest of the installation, one or two partitions for the entire installation.

The swap area is kept separate from the rest of the Linux system on the hard disk. On Windows, a swap file, rather than assigning a separate disk partition, is used for swap space. This presents a potential problem where the swap file can grow so large as to fill up the logical drive (or physical partition) where Windows itself is stored. When this happens, the system will come to a halt and very bad things will happen.

Of course, this can happen on a Linux system if the swap partition is filled. However, with careful planning, this should never happen. I recommend a swap partition of three times the physical memory to ensure that even the most memory intensive applications will not crash your Linux system. Of course, if you plan to place a heavy workload on your Linux system, you should allocate as much as four times the physical memory. Ubuntu and Novell SuSE by default allocate twice the physical memory. Current Red Hat and Fedora distributions allocate three times the physical memory by default.

Some people prefer to have their data files stored in a different partition. This allows for easier system backups. Others prefer to have temporary files in a separate partition. While doing this may be a good idea, it is possible to crash your Linux system if you allocate too little disk space for temporary files (i.e. files created in the /var and /tmp directories, both of which are generally accessed by the Linux system itself). Ubuntu by default places everything in one partition, which is the safest way to allocate space for your Linux system (unless of course you have a hard drive whose capacity is greater than the capacity your system was designed to handle, in which case, you will need to create a partition containing the /boot directory before you create the root directory).

In general, you would want to give Linux itself enough disk space to work with. If you are going to create a separate partition for your data files, I recommend the following guidelines:

Allocate 1.4GB if you plan to burn CDs. This space includes 700MB for the CD image file, and 700MB for the data files you are going to put on that CD.
Allocate 9.4GB if you plan to burn DVDs. This space includes 4.7GB for the DVD image file, and 4.7GB for the data files you are going to put on the DVD.
Allow space for your documents, file downloads and uploads, music files, photographs, and for everything else you plan to do with your Linux machine.

Install Linux

Now, choose your distribution, place it in the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM and restart your system. Most systems built over the past ten years can boot from a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, or can be made, through a single download, to boot from a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. If your system cannot boot from a CD-ROM, chances are it is too old to run a modern Linux distribution, as it may not have the system memory needed for running today's distributions. Of course, you can always find an older Linux distribution that is usable on that system.

Create a Normal User Account for Your Linux System

During the installation process, you will be creating two accounts, the system administrator account, called root, and a normal user account.

Most of the time you should use your normal user account for everyday tasks. Only if you are doing an extensive amount of system administration should you use the root account. Using the normal user account minimizes the possibility of irreparable (usually accidental) damage to your Linux machine.

If you are using Ubuntu, your system administrator password is the same as the normal user account for the first user account your create, which should have been created at the time of Ubuntu installation.

Most Hardware Should Be Setup Already

Modern distributions should have your system hardware setup for you automatically. The major distributions also contain utilities that allow you to set up and/or configure your hardware for specific needs. Some devices, such as Hewlett-Packard's all-in one machines, need special configuration, and I have written a page about that.

Of course, Linux is not perfect when it comes to being ready out of the box, but neither is Windows. One of the reasons I recommend SimplyMEPIS, PCLinuxOS, or Mandriva for those just starting out is that they provide the best configuration tools of any distribution available.