Welcome to the installation section. At present the links and information on this page cover Fedora Core 5, and some links for Fedora Core 4. Most instructions here are backwards compatable through the Fedora Core series, so you will find almost anything you are looking for. If you are looking at this thinking "Where am i??", then click to return to my Home Page
If you are a beginner, you probably want to know what to do. I shall assume you know what Fedora Core is, and i shall also assume that you are using an i686 PC. By i686, i mean a PC that has an Intel, or AMD, or VIA, or Cyrix processor. If you are not sure, it is pretty safe to say you will need this. For Mac or PPC users i will be writing a guide for Fedora Core 5_PPC users soon. Finally for x86_64 (64Bit processor users), i shall provide some assistance and links, but again, this is going to be thin on the ground until i can do more writing and research
The way this page works is that i shall provide links to the best pages. Simply go through each step of my list, visting the sites listed. Each section on my install guide will actually have at least one link to go to a guide that i have found the easiest. This guide will give you all you need to know. As i write more content, i will be making links to just the specific sections of these external guides. So for example, under the Installation Section and by the Java subsection, i will be linking to the Java section on, say, Stanton Finleys guide. This will be done very soon, but for now i shall just give a list of guides, and what i have learned.
1. Make sure you have read the preparation instructions from the Fedora Website
2. Prepare your computer for installation. Section 2a is for Windows users wishing to "Dual Boot", and section 2b is for users wishing to have just Fedora Core 5
a) If you plan to Dual Boot, and run Windows (Any version) and Fedora Core 5, you need to make sure you prepare your computer correctly. You will need a minimum of 3GB (Gigabytes, 1GB=1024MB) hard drive space to install Fedora Core 5, and all packages will take up over 9GB of space. I however recommend that you have around 20GB of hard drive space for you to play with and install stuff to without filling your partition.
If your PC has one hard drive, and it runs windows already, then simply see how much space you have remaining on your hard drive. You can do this by moving your mouse pointer to My Computer and double-clicking on the icon. You will see your drives listed. You are interested in "C:\", so right click on this icon. A drop down menu appears, and at the bottom it says "Properties". You need to click on this. It brings up a pie chart that will tell you how much space you have free on the hard drive. Make sure to free up over 9GB and preferably 20GB of space!!
Once you have done this, you will need to resize your partition. I like to use Knoppix, which is a LiveCD (A version of the Operating System that loads from the CDROM drive and does not install itself). I use a program called QTParted to resize partitions.
You need to start the program up and look for the resize tool. It will bring up a dialog that allows you to set the amount of space for the new partition. Type in the amount in MB, i.e. 20GB = 20,000MB. Then when you are done click to format and commit changes.
Reboot the PC, this time with CD 1 of the Fedora Core Installation CD or the DVD. Follow the instructions in Section 3.
b) If you wish to ditch Windows, install are easy. With anaconda (Fedora's graphical installer) you can select that you wish to erase everything and start with fresh partitions. This is easy to do and is covered in the notes on Section 3. Note that by removing all paritions and Windows, you will be without Windows. Back up files beforehand, in case you change your mind, but i doubt you will!!
3. This is section 3. This will cover the offical installation procedures. You can follow the exact instructions here!! Rest assured i will be placing my own guide up soon, but i wanted to provide the basics to get people up and running with the best resources.
Now dont be scared. This is very easy!! I have included some of the best install guides i have yet to find. Many consider the four i have included as great works. I shall be compiling my own notes and also wireless configuration soon. For beginners, i recommend starting with Stanton Finley's guide here, and for further reading, or if you dont get on with the featured one, try easylinux here and fedoraFAQ here and lastly mjmwired's guide here.
This website will also host all new documentation i write. It is intended to be used by both newbies and pros. This will be the focus of my project to unify all manner of information if Linux and in particular Fedora Core, into one place so that you can find what you need to, and find it fast. This will link to some of the best guides around, but will also have much of my own thoughts and knowledge that i have gained.
For more information on the Linux and Fedora Community, and for what to do after you have completed and installation and set everything up just the way you want to try my Linux Links
My name is MAniX. This is my website... Copyright (C) 2006 Adam "MAniX" Moreland, under the GNU/GPL