Learning Red Hat Linux, Second Edition

Start the Installation

To begin installing Linux, you must boot your system from the installation media. Most recently manufactured PCs can boot from the Disc 1 Red Hat Linux CD-ROM (obtain CD material online at http://examples.oreilly.com/redhat2). However, unless you generally boot from a CD-ROM—which is quite unlikely—you’ll need to reconfigure your PC’s BIOS so your PC is able to boot from a CD-ROM. To do so, enter your PC’s BIOS screen and look for a configuration item titled something like Boot Order or Boot Priority. Change the configuration so that the CD-ROM drive has the highest boot priority. Consult your PC’s documentation for details on entering and using its BIOS configuration screens.

Creating a Boot Floppy

If your PC can’t boot from a CD-ROM, you must create a boot floppy disk. Creating a boot floppy requires some special measures; you can’t simply copy files onto a disk and then boot from it. To create a Red Hat Linux installation boot floppy by using a PC that runs Microsoft Windows, perform the following steps:

1. Format a floppy.

2. Insert Disc 1 of Red Hat Linux (see http://examples.oreilly.com/redhat2) into your system’s CD-ROM drive.

3. Start an MS-DOS Prompt window by clicking on Start → Run, typing command, and pressing Enter (Windows 9x or NT) or Start → Programs → Accessories → Command Line Interface (Windows 2000).

4. In the command window, change to the drive letter that corresponds to your CD-ROM drive, for example, d:, e:, or some other letter (see Figure ...