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(contributors welcome!)

Required configuration

• Pentium processor or compatible
• CDROM drive
• At least 32 MB RAM, 64 MB recommended

Installing MandrakeLinux is, in most cases, as simple as putting your Installation CD in your CDROM drive, and restarting your machine. Please refer to point 1.

NOTE:

• If you upgrade from 7.0, 7.1, 7.2 or 8.0 MandrakeLinux versions, do not forget to backup your system.
• Upgrading from earlier versions (prior to 7.0) is NOT supported. In that case, you need to do a fresh installation and not an update.

You can also install MandrakeLinux onto a Windows 95/98/ME system, using Linux for Windows. This does not require disk partitioning, and installs Linux in a Windows folder. It is a convenient way to discover MandrakeLinux without modifying your Windows system. It is however significantly slower than a regular installation. Also, your MandrakeLinux installation is lost if you re-install Windows. Please refer to point 2 to use Linux for Windows.

Below are listed the different ways to install MandrakeLinux:

1. Boot directly from CD
2. Installing onto Windows 95/98/ME
3. Make a boot floppy with Windows
4. Other install methods

1. Boot directly from CD

The Installation CDROM is bootable. In most cases, just insert the CD into the drive and reboot the machine. Follow the instructions displayed on screen: press the [Enter] key to start the installation, or press [F1] for additional help.

NOTE:

On some portable computers, the system may not reboot from the CD. If this is the case, you should prepare a boot floppy. See point 3 for details.

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2. Installing onto Windows 95/98/ME

To install MandrakeLinux within a Windows folder, avoiding any disk partitioning, you should:

1. Insert the first CD,
2. Reboot the system,
3. Press [F1] when the MandrakeLinux screen comes up,
4. Type lnx4win at the prompt, then press [Enter]

Additional details on lnx4win can be found in the appropriate readme file.

NOTE:

When inserting the CDROM under Windows, a window will popup to give you access to an installation summary and to MandrakeLinux demos and tutorial. It will also permit you to create directly the boot floppy described in point 3.

If the window does not popup, run:

D:\dosutils\autorun.exe

(assuming D is your CDROM's drive letter).

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4. Make a boot floppy with Windows

If your computer cannot boot from the CDROM and previous methods do not work, you must make a boot floppy under Windows as follows:

• insert the CDROM, then open the icon "My Computer", right click on the CDROM drive icon and select "Open"
• go into the "dosutils" directory and double-click on the "rawwritewin" icon
• insert a blank floppy in the floppy drive
• select "D:\images\cdrom.img" in the "Image File" field (assuming that your CDROM drive is "D:", otherwise replace "D:" as needed)
• select "A:" in the "Floppy Drive" field then click on "Write".

To begin the installation:

• insert the CDROM in the drive, as well as the boot floppy, then
• restart the computer.

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5. Other installation methods

If for any reason the previous methods do not fit your needs (you want to perform a network install, an install from pcmcia devices or ...), you will also need to make a boot floppy:

• Under Linux (or others modern UNIX systems) type at prompt:
  $ dd if=xxxxx.img of=/dev/fd0
• Under Windows, follow the method described in point 3, but using xxxxx.img (see below) instead of cdrom.img.
• Under DOS, assuming your CD is drive D:, type:
  D:\> dosutils\rawrite.exe -f images\xxxxx.img -d A

Here the liste of boot images:

blank.img is a minimal image to customize kernel installation.

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You can also use a text mode installation if, for any reason, you have trouble with the default graphical installation. To use it, press [F1] at MandrakeLinux welcome screen, then type text at the prompt.

If you need to rescue your existing MandrakeLinux system, insert your Installation CDROM (or any relevant boot floppy), press [F1] at MandrakeLinux welcome screen, then rescue at the prompt.

See http://www.linux-mandrake.com/drakx/README for more technical information.

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Below are the main stages of installation:

1. Insert your Installation CDROM (or Installation Floppy disk if necessary) and restart your machine.
2. Press [Enter] when the MandrakeLinux welcome screen appears and carefully follow the instructions.
3. When the installation is complete take out the CD-ROM when ejected (and any floppy disk if present in drive); your machine will restart. If it does not, restart it manually.
4. MandrakeLinux will start. After bootup, you can login on your machine under the user account setup during install, or as "root".

Important note:

The "root" account will give you unrestricted access to your Linux system. Do not use it except to configure or administer Linux. For every day use, use a normal user account which you can configure with the "userdrake" tool, or with the commands "adduser" and "passwd".

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For installation support see the MandrakeLinux diffusion list and FAQs at the web site:

• http://www.linux-mandrake.com/