Very Computer

Being fed up with Win 98, I want to give Red Hat a go with the thought
of eventually leaving Gates and his evil empire behind.

Here's what I have: Win 98 installed on an IBM Aptiva k6-2 300 with 64
mb built in LT WIN modem Kensington Turbo Mouse and Epson 600 printer.
Can I leave this undisturbed and install RH Linux 7.1 on a partition
and still get on line with earthlink and have my peripherals working?
Alternatively, is there a way to run WIN 98 in emulation on RH Linux,
so I can use it as necessary and be done with it? I can always add
more memory if need be.

Start by reading this:
http://www.kernel.org/LDP/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO/index.html

Quote:>Being fed up with Win 98, I want to give Red Hat a go with the thought
>of eventually leaving Gates and his evil empire behind.

>Here's what I have: Win 98 installed on an IBM Aptiva k6-2 300 with 64
>mb built in LT WIN modem Kensington Turbo Mouse and Epson 600 printer.
>Can I leave this undisturbed and install RH Linux 7.1 on a partition
>and still get on line with earthlink and have my peripherals working?
>Alternatively, is there a way to run WIN 98 in emulation on RH Linux,
>so I can use it as necessary and be done with it? I can always add
>more memory if need be.

You CAN dual boot to Windows 98 or Linux.  You can install linux on your
current hard drive by partitioning the Win 98 on the "front" part of your
hard drive, without losing any of the current settings and data.
Partitioning for a dual boot is a little complicated, but I have done it
twice, and had no problem.  It might be worth it to buy one of those books
(at the book store), which has an included CD of linux.  These books give
general instructions, but they also are targeted to the CD that comes with
the book.
I don't know if your computer is ideal for linux, but, generally, linux
supports everything except obscure or cutting-edge new hardware.  There are
only a few "win modems" that are supported by linux, so I would bet you have
to buy a hardware modem...( external modems are often recommended).
I encourage you take a look at Art's FAQ, which was posted on the 3rd (right
here on this newsgroup).
You can use fips to partition your hard drive without losing any of the
settings and data.  Then you can use Disk Druid (during the linux
installation) to add linux partitions.
How big is your hard drive and how much of it is taken up with win98?
db

Quote:> How big is your hard drive and how much of it is taken up with win98?
> db

Without looking, I think it's 5.5-6 gigs and probably less than about 2 gigs are used

Quote:>> How big is your hard drive and how much of it is taken up with win98?
>> db
>Without looking, I think it's 5.5-6 gigs and probably less than about 2 gigs are used

Great!!  Make sure you defrag your hard drive before you use fips (First
non-destructive partition splitting program).  It's a small program that
usually is included in most distro's, but easily downloaded from the net.
You'll have to decide how much room to leave on the windows partition for
future "growth".  
db