We'll discuss the installation procedure of Red Hat Linux 6.2 here. If you have an older version, it's time to upgrade! The latest version is much easier to install and maintain. The procedure will vary depending on your distribution of Linux. Red Hat Linux is one of the simplest distributions to install, so we have described it here.
Linux follows a file system called the ext2 file system. Because of this, it will not install on a partition that is intended for use with DOS or Windows. Many distributions of Linux will install on a DOS partition. Red Hat does, but we DO NOT recommend this method. Linux will be fast and reliable if you install it on an ext2 partition.
You will need about 2.0 GB of free space on your hard disk to install Linux. Although the actual size of the packages it installs can be anywhere between about 200 - 1000 MB, we recommend 2 GB if you really want to enjoy Linux.
First of all, remember that you will lose all the data on the partition you're planning to install Linux on. Under Windows, you may have drives named C:, D:, E:, and so on. If you install Linux in the E: partition, all the data there will be wiped out. So, take backups.
Now shut down your system. Put the Linux CD on the tray on your CD drive and configure your system at startup (the BIOS) to boot from the CD. Refer your motherboard manual on how to do so. On reboot the Linux installation should start.
Press Enter to boot in the normal mode. We recommend the graphical install as it immediately tells you if your graphics card is supported. You might want to try the text install if you prefer it, or if your card is not detected.
The rest of the installation is self-explanatory. Choose your keyboard as generic -101 keyboard and see if your mouse is properly detected. Choose your time zone to the nearest place listed.
We recommend the custom install. It is more useful, so choose it the next window. Now for the dangerous part! Disk Druid should now run. Highlight the partition you decide to install Linux in. (for example if you had chosen D: drive it will be listed as /dev/hda5. The drives as in the order as they appear in Windows. So choose carefully, and please, DO NOT choose /dev/hda1 unless you are installing Linux on a completely blank hard disk!) and click delete. Say yes to the dialog box that appears. You can always press F5 to reverse the changes made before formatting. Now choose add and in the mount type choose /. You must allocate twice your ram to swap (you can choose 128 MB for swap if you have 64 MB RAM), so calculate the size of root properly. Click OK to confirm. Next click add again and choose the type as swap. You can allocate the remaining free unpartitioned space (typically you might have 1.7 GB for '/' and 133 Mb for swap, keep a calculator handy and fill all the unpartitioned space) to swap. Once all goes well press Next.
The installation will now format the disk. You can't reverse any changes now. If you had chosen the custom install you now have full freedom to choose what packages you want to install.
Then enter the root password and don't give it to anyone. Create atleast one user account. Click Next. When it asks you where to put lilo choose master boot record. Make the default boot up as dos (Windows). Now everytime you start the computer you will see the lilo prompt. Choose linux to boot to Linux or dos to boot to Windows. Now wait for a while for the packages to install.
After installation, reboot and remove the CD from the drive or the install will start all over again!
Type linux at the lilo prompt and start exploring! (Hope your installation goes well!)