Chapter 5 : Using Lnx4Win

Lnx4Win (Linux for Windows) is what you need if you don't want to partition your hard disk at all. This program will create two files on your Windows partition which will hold your Linux-Mandrake system: one file for the data and another for the swap. This installation mode is undoubtedly the easiest, but, as has already been mentioned, it has its disadvantages:

• it is slow in comparison with a real installation: loopback mounting of a file (this is the method used) is not as fast as a filesystem located on a dedicated partition;
• if you have to re-install Windows, your Linux-Mandrake system will also be lost...

However, this is a good way to discover Linux-Mandrake without tampering with your hard disk. For normal installation, you can skip this chapter.

Preparing for installation

All the programs required are to be found in the lnx4win directory of the CDROM (figure 10.1).

You will have to start the install.bat program which will install the files you need to run Lnx4Win. This is the install icon in figure 10.1. You should see the window of figure 5.2 appear.

Press a key. The program will ask you for the letter designating your CDROM drive, together with the letter corresponding to the "drive" where you want to install Lnx4Win (C: or another). Upon reception of this information, the program will end (figure 5.3).

You are now ready to start the Lnx4Win setup program.

Start of installation

The script needed to start installation, still in the lnx4win directory of the CDROM, is called setup.bat (icon setup). After starting this script, you should be able to see the window of figure 5.4.

You now have to decide on the amount of space you want to keep for Linux-Mandrake on the partition that you selected in the installation script. The figures are in MB.

Linux Native shows the space to keep for Linux-Mandrake data; choose a margin, because the quantity that you allocate here must be able to hold the file system, as well as the files themselves, and your personal data. For your information, a complete installation takes up more than 1.1 GB, and the size of the file created should not be more than 2 GB.

Linux swap shows the size of the file created for the swap. As a general rule, put 64 MB if you have 64 MB RAM or less, otherwise an amount which is equal to your RAM.

There are also three options:

• Create boot menu: if you activate this option (which is recommended), Lnx4Win will modify your config.sys file so as to create a menu when Windows boots up, so that you can choose whether to boot up Windows or Linux-Mandrake; a back-up copy of your old config.sys will be made, called config.mdk;
• Warn on exit: if this option is enabled, a warning message will appear each time you want to start Linux-Mandrake;
• Create desktop shortcut: if this option is activated, an icon will be created on your desktop, enabling you to boot up Linux-Mandrake directly.

And now...

Your files have been created, your Linux-Mandrake system is now ready for installation (figure 5.5).

From this point on, installation will be carried out as a traditional installation, so go to the chapter 7.0, dealing with the installation with DrakX.

Uninstallation is very simple: you simply have to start the script uninstall.bat, always in the lnx4win directory of the CDROM. However, the script will not delete the installation directory: you will have to do that by hand. The name of the directory is lnx4win and is located in the "drive" where you have installed Lnx4Win.