Disclaimer: This document is provided "as is" without warranty. Use at your own risk. In no event shall I be liable for any damage resulting from the use of this work. I have used these directions to install numerous dual boots with Fedora Core 4 and Windows XP. I also suggest you read all of the directions completely before starting.

Things to CONSIDER
There are numerous distros of Linux out there, but these directions are for Fedora Core 4, which is basically the same as what we have in the labs. If you do not wish to install Linux onto your computer you can download versions such as Linux that are basically a Linux operating system on a disk.

Problems with Linux:
It can be difficult to acquire Linux Drivers for your components, this has gotten better, but needless to say it can still be a problem. (One area that caused me a lot of problems was trying to find a driver for my wireless card.)

One way to solve some common problems:
In my opinion for what it’s worth, I would install XP on your system and install Virtual PC(Microsoft Product) on XP and then install Fedora Core 4 in the Virtual PC. I have been running my laptop with this configuration for months. The reason it solves some of the issues above is that Linux will use the Microsoft Drivers for your components. You must have at least a minimum of 512RAM installed as the Virtual Machine minimum is 256RAM. If you can not or do not wish to use Virtual PC continue below.

FIRST STEP: ALWAYS BACKUP YOU’RE DATA.
Configure your bios settings to boot first from the CD drive.

Second step: You need to install Windows XP(this must be installed before Linux):
1. Delete all partitions.
2. Divide your hard drive into two partitions, ideally you should have a minimum of 10GB available for each partition.
3. The Windows partition should be NTFS and the other partition should be left empty(raw).
4. Continue the Windows XP installation.
Third Step: Linux installation:
Insert the Fedora Core CD and reboot your machine.
1. At the boot prompt hit enter.
2. Hit enter for "ok" to test your CD media or right arrow key and enter to skip this test. (I recommend testing your media to determine if your CDs are properly burned.)
3. Click "next" at the "welcome" page.
4. Click "next" at the "language selection" page for default English.
5. Click "next" at the "keyboard configuration" page for default U. S. English.
6. Install workstation or custom mode ***do not install server mode as this will wipe out your Windows partition.
7. Select manually edit your partition with Disk Druid.
A. should see
/dev/hda1 NTFS (partition size) ( don’t delete as this is the Windows partition)
/dev/hda2 basic (partition size) (only delete /dev/hda2 if not designated as free space)
8. Create new partitions (by pressing new button): specify mount pt and size and file type(ext3), unless creating the swap
A. they should look like this:
Partition Mount pt size
/dev/hda2 /boot 100mb
/dev/hda3 /home The largest size (this is your useable hard drive)
/dev/hda4 Extended
/dev/hda5 /
/dev/hda6 swap This size needs to be 2 x amount of RAM your system has.
9. Click "next" on the "disk setup" page.
10. If are dual booting Windows and Fedora Check the "other" check box on the "boot loader configuration" page. Click "edit". Type "Windows" in the "label" box and uncheck the "default boot target" check box. Click "ok".
11. Click the "default" check box next to "Fedora Core" to make it your default boot operating system. Click "next".
12. Leave "eth0" and hostname "automatically via DHCP" on the "network configuration" page. Click "next".
13. Leave "enable firewall" selected on the "firewall configuration" page and click the check boxes for "ssh", "http", "https", "ftp" and "smtp". Leave "Enable SELinux" "active". Click "next".
14. Click "next" at the "additional language support" page for default "English (USA)".
15. Click on the map for your location on the "time zone selection" page. Click "next".
16. Set your preferred root password on the "set root password" page. Click "next".
17. You will see a message "reading package information".
18. If you have the space I recommend installing everything. **** BUT do not install rhgb from X Windows system. This removes the Red Hat boot loader. You will be using the Grub boot loader . If you install everything there will be no question that package dependencies and inter-dependencies are met. Everything will be there.
19. You will see a message "checking dependencies..."
20. Click "next" on "about to install" page.
21. Click "continue" to get to the "installing packages" page. You will eventually be prompted to insert the remainder of the installation CDs.
22. When the installation is complete remove the last CD and click "reboot" for the first boot screen.
23. Make sure you can boot into XP.
24. Then restart and boot back into Linux.
25. Click "next" on the "welcome" page.
26. Click the appropriate radio button to agree to the license agreement and click "next".
27. If you are already connected to an "always on" LAN or broadband connection click on the "network time protocol" tab, click in the "enable network time protocol" check box, click the down arrow in the "server" box, select "clock.redhat.com" , click "add" and click "next".
28. On the "display" page select your preferred screen resolution and color depth based upon the capabilities of your monitor. Click "next".
29. On the "system user" page choose a user name (not "root"), a full name (any case), and a password for that default user. Click "next".
30. Click "play test sound" on the "sound card" page to test your sound system. Your should hear three chords in sequence. If you don't you can try to configure your sound card later. Click "next".
31. Click "next" on the "additional CDs" page.
32. Click "next" on the "finish setup" page.
Congratulations, you are done. There are numerous areas on the internet to find info about Linux. The best way to get started is starting at google.