The Free Software Club will be hosting an InstallFest on Saturday September 29, 2007 from 10am to 4pm in Violette Hall 1200. If you would like help installing Linux (or BSD or similar), you should plan to arrive between 10-11am to give plenty of time to solve any problems that might arise during the install. Earlier is usually better.
To participate in an InstallFest, you should bring:
Bringing all of your hardware ensures that your installation of Linux can be tuned for the equipment you actually use. For example, different video monitors can accommodate different video resolutions and refresh rates, so having your actual monitor means that those parameters can be set optimally. Similarly, your actual keyboard and mouse can typically be auto-detected and configured correctly.
Generally, there are two ways to install Linux on a computer. The simplest procedure is to wipe everything currently on the computer and install only Linux. This may be perfect for you if your computer contains no valuable data or if your software has become so misconfigured that the computer is not useful as is.
If you wish to do a "wipe and install" installation, there is really nothing you need to prepare ahead of time.
You may already have an operating system, like Microsoft Windows, installed that you wish to keep using. In this case, Linux can be installed along side your Windows software in unused hard drive space.
Dual Linux/Windows installations are usually referred to as "dual boot" configurations. When you power on the computer, you will be presented with a menu and you can choose to boot up alternatively with Windows or Linux (you can't run both at the same time). Changing to the other operating system requires rebooting and selecting another menu option.
You should do some preparation before the InstallFest if you want to have a dual boot system. The first thing you should do is back up your data! It is uncommon but not unheard up for a Linux install (or a Windows install for that matter) to break the software that was previously working on your computer. There is a small but real risk of losing data you care about. Save yourself a nightmare and buy/borrow a USB storage device and save the data you care about before the InstallFest. You should be backing up your data anyway. It's just good practice.
Once you have backup up the data you care about, you should make sure you have sufficient free space to install Linux. Around 10 gigabytes of space should be enough, though you might want to leave more space if you want to try out lots of software. You may need to delete files to make sufficient room.
Part of the install will include shrinking the portion of your hard drive devoted to Windows to make room for a separate Linux "partition." Before this can be done, it is usually necessary to defragment your Windows drives. Defragmenting can be a very time-consuming process. Defragment your drives the day before you attend the InstallFest. If you wait to defragment at the InstallFest and it takes hours, you may go home at the end of the day without your Linux installation because there was no time to install it.
If you have questions about the InstallFest, or any of the steps you should take to prepare for it, direct them to Jason Novinger or Adam Gouge .
FSCK, 2008. Do you know you can Edit this page? About FSCK.