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 Post Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 6:11 pm 
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Hi, Is the Disk Management in Windows 7 (I did find it via Control Panel) allow me to set up a separate partition from the Windows 7 partition for Mageia?

If so, what would the file system type be for Mageia if not NTFS? I believe NTFS is a windows file system, would Disk Management give me a choice of NTFSclone or whatever is needed for Mageia?

If anyone has tried this, I'll greatly appreciate any advice!!! Thanks Katy

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 Post Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 7:31 pm 
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You can use Disk Manager to shrink the existing partition which will then put free space at the end of the drive -- unallocated. Disk Manager will be able to set up a new partition in that space -- NTFS, FAT, FAT32. However, you won't typically want to do this for a Linux installation. Note that most Linux installations will replace the boot manager.
If you really wish to proceed with this, you need to read the wiki for Mageia in detail. The specific section for installing in a dual boot environment with Windows starts here:
https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Installation ... th_Windows

Make sure that you have a Windows install disc, recovery disc, or similar and a complete backup of your data in case anything goes wrong.

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 Post Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 2:08 am 
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I disagree with Steve on one point... I don't care about install media in this case... You NEED to have a full system image of your system before you even think about starting. Actually this is probably what Steve meant about having a complete backup of your data. Part of that system image would be the creation of a restore disk within Windows to allow you to use the system image.

In another thread I stated that I have become obsolete but this is an area that is an exception to that fact. This is something that I know VERY well and can give good advice.

I am not going to go into details at this moment but you MAY want to look at other possibilities as to the Linux install such as using a virtual machine.

Before actual good advice can be given as to the Linux install one VERY important question needs an answer... Why do you want to install Linux?

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 Post Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 8:52 am 
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Thanks Steve & Jay! I guess it proves I know nothing about Linux if I thought a dual boot would be easy enough to set up :). I just wanted to learn more about a different OS. How would a virtual machine differ from a dual boot of Linux in the use of Mageia? I don't like that a dual boot would replace the boot manager for Linux's boot manager but a virtual machine would retain the windows boot manager and still provide all that a dual boot would?
It's been so long since I even played with virtual machine. I'm just wondering if I may be better off either wiping my Vista and replacing with Mageia or looking for a cheap machine for a dedicated Linux. It would be nice to see what advances, if any, have been made with this OS.

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 Post Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 2:36 pm 
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Linux has become a very strong OS but does have some issues just like any other OS.

Since it sounds like you just want to play and experiment with Linux I would go with a virtual machine. To be honest it is quite easy to set up a dual boot but it does not seem as though you need to do so.

BTW, you might also consider upgrading from Vista to either Win 7 or 8. ;)

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 Post Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:56 am 
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I've decided finally lol. It would be fun to attempt dual boot with the Vista machine but from what I've tried so far, Mageia install partitions such a huge chunk for itself, I can't live with that. I have looked through the wiki.mageia.org outline but the images they show aren't what I see when I begin the install. Which is why I wanted to try using Disk Management but don't know what file system type to use for Mageia. Maybe just wiping the Vista clean 'might' make this process a little cleaner. Thanks much guys! Have a super week!! katy ;)

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 Post Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 1:56 pm 
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Hi Again! I'm having trouble getting the Dell laptop with Vista on it to boot from the DVD drive. I've got the bootable DVD in the drive, it booted up in a different machine so it IS bootable. The Vista is 64 bit as is the bootable DVD. I've tried using F12 and setting the DVD/CD drive to boot first but instead it continues to boot to Windows. Same when I went to Bios to change order to boot, changed it from DVD/CD being in First place, then floppy drive in 2nd since it was in first, then internal hdd and 'saved' but the laptop keeps booting directly to windows. (I tested a different CD in that CD/DVD drive and I 'can' view those files.) When the bootable Mageia DVD is in the drive and I view it in Explore in windows, when I click on the F: drive to view files, the DVD drive door opens and says 'insert a disk in drive F'. when I take the bootable dvd to the win7 machine, I 'do' see the dvd, it is a CDFS file system. the dvd is just not 'recognized' in vista for some reason. The bootable DVD is DVD+R Memorex, my drive takes both DVD-R or DVD+R. It contains the Mageia downloadable OS.

Would anyone know why the files on the DVD aren't viewable in the Windows Vista? Or if there is another way to boot from this DVD besides changing boot sequence? I did double check and F2 still shows DVD drive as first boot. Thanks for your help always!! katy

PS: a little more info, this DVD+R was burned on someone else's computer, I wonder if burning it myself on the Vista laptop would make the DVD recognizable. Also, if this is a dual layer DVD, would it say 'dual layer' on the DVD? When I go to F12 to change boot order, the options are Internal HDD then 'CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive' so I arrow down to the CD/DVD/CD-RW option, press [Enter] to 'attempt the boot' as the screen directs, the CD/DVD drive light does NOT light up and Vista continues to load instead.

In Bios, there IS a boot sequence option for USB Storage Device, I wonder if I might be able to download this Mageia onto an 8GB FAT32 flashdrive?

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 Post Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 6:47 pm 
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First I'll go back a couple of posts. When you were thinking about doing a dual boot you stated that you did not know what file system to use if you went the Disk Management route. Simple answer would be that it does not matter as you would allow the Linux Distro to format the partition as it wanted, probably ext3. Actually it would probably create 2 partitions out of the one you set as Linux likes to have the swap file on its own partition.

Since the bootable disk was burnt on another system and won't read on yours it is possible that the disk was not closed or finalized when written. Vista was not as forgiving as Win 7 in this matter. You might do well to burn another disk making sure that it is finalized.

When you state the F2 and F12 is the key taking you to the BIOS or a device boot menu? I ask as you only mention the BIOS once and that is in relation to a USB device. I ALWAYS set the BIOS boot order to try the CD/DVD drive first. It add a few seconds to the boot time while it polls the drive but I never have to bother with the settings at a later time.

As to ff the disk is dual layer you can tell by the storage amount it says on the disk. A single layer DVD would be 4.7 gig while a dual layer would be 8.5 gig. I would be surprised if a Vista era machine could not real dual layer but if it can't and the disk is dual layer that would also cause an issue reading. A dual layer disk may also be designated as DVD+-R DL.

Now I'm going to drop back a bit. First you might find this article of interest as to setting up a virtual machine. This article is old and deals with MS Virtual PC 2007 but still applies.
http://jaylach.com/downloads/virtual-pc ... -guide.zip

Now I must say that I really believe that you are going about this in the wrong way. Why have you selected Mageia as the distro to use? When someone says Linux to me I tend to advise that they download several distros in 'Live CD/DVD' format. A live CD/DVD is a disk that will boot to the Linux distro without it ever being installed on the system, it runs from the CD/DVD. You should do at least 3-4 Live CD/DVDs. This can seriously lesson issues later on. One way it helps is with device drivers, If the Live CD/DVD can handle all your hardware so will an actual install. If the Live CD/DVD fails to handle all hardware the actual install will have the same failure. Using Live CD/DVDs has another advantage being that it lets you find the distro that you are most comfortable. In 2-3 weeks the one you keep going back to is probably the one that you want. In most cases a Live CD/DVD will also have the ability to do an install.

One definite warning about Linux. It REALLY is a decent OS but does not have features such as Compatibility Mode found in Windows. DO NOT buy software for a Linux system unless there is no choice. This is personal experience. If an update to a Linux Distro changes the kernel it is quite likely that earlier software will not run on the updated kernel.

List of Linux Live CD/DVDs.
http://livecdlist.com/
Don't choose just because I used but when I ran Linux I used Ubuntu. On the other hand do keep in mind that the Ubuntu Live CD is not intended as a long term solution but rather as a demo. The Ubuntu install is VERY pretty and in some ways the graphical aspect of the desktop surpasses Windows such as having (I think) 6 desktops running at the same time.

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 Post Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 8:22 pm 
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jaylach wrote:
First I'll go back a couple of posts. When you were thinking about doing a dual boot you stated that you did not know what file system to use if you went the Disk Management route. Simple answer would be that it does not matter as you would allow the Linux Distro to format the partition as it wanted, probably ext3. Actually it would probably create 2 partitions out of the one you set as Linux likes to have the swap file on its own partition. which is why I went to Disk Management. When I booted to partition 'part' of the Win7 laptop to install Mageia on a portion of it, the Mageia dvd allowed ONLY what windows was using 'now' plus the recovery partition and Mageia would take up the rest of the 200gb drive; I did NOT like or want that.

Since the bootable disk was burnt on another system and won't read on yours it is possible that the disk was not closed or finalized when written. Vista was not as forgiving as Win 7 in this matter. You might do well to burn another disk making sure that it is finalized. I will try that first. Vista definitely does not allow me to boot from the current dvd.

When you state the F2 and F12 is the key taking you to the BIOS or a device boot menu? F2 was Setup, includes to change boot sequence. F12 was boot options. So both took me to same boot sequence. I ask as you only mention the BIOS once and that is in relation to a USB device. sorry, F2 setup and F12 boot options both allowed for USB device. I ALWAYS set the BIOS boot order to try the CD/DVD drive first. It add a few seconds to the boot time while it polls the drive but I never have to bother with the settings at a later time. This would be good for me too. Because once I install Mageia, I'm afraid it's replacing the boot manager won't allow me to get 'into the bios' again to change anything. I wish I could keep the windows boot manager but I realize that is not what Mageia would allow.

As to ff the disk is dual layer you can tell by the storage amount it says on the disk. A single layer DVD would be 4.7 gig while a dual layer would be 8.5 gig. I would be surprised if a Vista era machine could not real dual layer but if it can't and the disk is dual layer that would also cause an issue reading. A dual layer disk may also be designated as DVD+-R DL. In looking at the properties in the Win7 laptop, total capacity is 3.62 so is likely not dual layer. Since I'll be doing a new download/burn dvd of Mageia (or Live DVD), I wonder, does Live DVD need a dual layer dvd, do you know?

Now I'm going to drop back a bit. First you might find this article of interest as to setting up a virtual machine. This article is old and deals with MS Virtual PC 2007 but still applies.
http://jaylach.com/downloads/virtual-pc ... -guide.zip I haven't looked at this link YET but would this virtual machine be doable on even this old and scrambled Vista machine? At one time I had a 2 user login. the primary login (mine) worked fine until a corrupt file prevented that login to load so I have been using the 2nd user login ever since; about a yr. (I know, I'm just making this even more complicated; that's why I thought a complete wipe clean and install fresh Mageia might work better).

Now I must say that I really believe that you are going about this in the wrong way. Why have you selected Mageia as the distro to use? because a friend who thinks he knows everything linux lol says I should try Mageia so he burned the dvd and mailed it to me. When someone says Linux to me I tend to advise that they download several distros in 'Live CD/DVD' format. that would be doable as long as it includes Mageia; I'm anxious to try a variety but I know I'll find it time consuming to use. This would be on a spare laptop so I'd still be using Win8 for normal day to day. A live CD/DVD is a disk that will boot to the Linux distro without it ever being installed on the system, it runs from the CD/DVD. I rather like that idea. You should do at least 3-4 Live CD/DVDs. This can seriously lesson issues later on. One way it helps is with device drivers, If the Live CD/DVD can handle all your hardware so will an actual install. If the Live CD/DVD fails to handle all hardware the actual install will have the same failure. Using Live CD/DVDs has another advantage being that it lets you find the distro that you are most comfortable. In 2-3 weeks the one you keep going back to is probably the one that you want. In most cases a Live CD/DVD will also have the ability to do an install. Would you have a link to that Live CD/DVD that would include the Mageia?

One definite warning about Linux. It REALLY is a decent OS but does not have features such as Compatibility Mode found in Windows. DO NOT buy software for a Linux system unless there is no choice. This is personal experience. If an update to a Linux Distro changes the kernel it is quite likely that earlier software will not run on the updated kernel. I won't go so far as to buy software for Linux, this is simply a learning process; I know I'll get frustrated with Linux like I always have in the past but once it's installed or the Live DVD is useable, I'll deal with frustration then.

List of Linux Live CD/DVDs.
http://livecdlist.com/
Don't choose just because I used but when I ran Linux I used Ubuntu. Ubuntu is one I've used in the past but got so frustrated, I gave up early. This Linux guy says Mageia is much easier lol. On the other hand do keep in mind that the Ubuntu Live CD is not intended as a long term solution but rather as a demo. The Ubuntu install is VERY pretty and in some ways the graphical aspect of the desktop surpasses Windows such as having (I think) 6 desktops running at the same time.
I'd like to try the Live DVD of Mageia, Ubuntu and if there are other 'similar desktop to windows' OS's available. I very much appreciate hearing what you know about Linux because you are a Windows user too. Thank you SO much for whatever help you can provide Jay!! katy

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 Post Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 1:29 pm 
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It does not matter what OS you run you will still be able to get to the BIOS. Accessing the BIOS is done well before an OS even starts to load.

If you do wipe the Vista system and go straight Linux I'd advise that you create a system image first so that you can restore your system to current if you change your mind. It all depends on the hardware in your machine as to how well a virtual machine would perform. Do keep in mind that the virtual hardware in a virtual machine will not be as strong as your physical hardware.

You should be able to track down a Live CD/DVD for Mageia at https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Installation ... _a_Live_CD

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 Post Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 6:40 pm 
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Thanks Jay, that is good to know that I could still get to Bios. I think the Live CD/DVD might be the better way to go. I haven't burned an ISO to any media in ages, since the old OS's. If the Live CD/DVD is too difficult for me, I'll just scrap it; it's not worth a lot of trouble. Thanks again Jay! katy

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 Post Posted: Sat May 17, 2014 2:10 am 
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Shoot, burning an ISO is easy. Win 7&8 have the feature but not sure about Vista. If Vista does not just do on Win 7 or 8. Right click on the ISO file and select to open with the Windows image burner. Another option would be to use Microburner4,
http://jaylach.com/downloads
This little gem is old but still my burner of choice. No install, just run the file. To do an ISO burn you would select the 'Show' tab and select ISO burner/creator. Click on the now present green gear looking icon and point to the ISO file. This is also portable, throw it on a flash drive and you have a good burner wherever you go on any windows system you access. The best that I can tell is that it works from Win 2000 to Win 8.1, pretty good compatibility. ;)

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 Post Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 6:11 pm 
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Thanks Jay for the info AND the file!! ;) (I just finished writing a reply but don't know where it went so am trying again; this time I'll copy first lol). 2 questions, if I install Mageia overtop of and replacing Vista, would it be possible down the road to overwrite Mageia with a reinstall of my Vista dvd or would the 2 differing file systems (or something else) prevent it?
On the other hand, if I choose LiveCD and install that to a flash drive, would a 6gb flashdrive be enough room? I also need to read more about this Mageia and also LiveCD so this will take a little bit.

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 Post Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 6:25 pm 
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You could restore Vista either by a clean install or by restoring a system image. I a clean install were to be done you would just format the partition during that install.

I've never put a live CD/DVD to a flash drive but it would seem that the 6gig should do as a DVD is only 4.7gig.

As a note... A live CD/DVD will tend to run slower than an actual install.

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 Post Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 6:49 pm 
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Good points to know, thanks Jay! I'm so addicted to Windows it's taking me forever to not find excuses to go ahead and install Mageia. But I will eventually ;).

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 Post Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 10:23 pm 
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jaylach wrote:
Shoot, burning an ISO is easy. Win 7&8 have the feature but not sure about Vista. If Vista does not just do on Win 7 or 8. Right click on the ISO file and select to open with the Windows image burner. Another option would be to use Microburner4,
http://jaylach.com/downloads
This little gem is old but still my burner of choice. No install, just run the file. To do an ISO burn you would select the 'Show' tab and select ISO burner/creator. Click on the now present green gear looking icon and point to the ISO file. This is also portable, throw it on a flash drive and you have a good burner wherever you go on any windows system you access. The best that I can tell is that it works from Win 2000 to Win 8.1, pretty good compatibility. ;)

Jay, I realize this is an old posting, but I have an important (to me) question, as I'm still struggling to fully understand ISO's and the burning thereof.

In the above paragraph, you say "click on the green gear looking icon and point to the ISO file". Where is this ISO file located? I thought the purpose of Microburner was to create this ISO file. What am I missing here? Thanks.

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 Post Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 10:44 pm 
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Microburner can do both create an ISO and burn one to CD/DVD.

The green gear icon refers to burning an existing ISO file. I have no way to tell you where it would be as it would depend on where you saved the ISO in the first place.

To be perfectly honest I still use Microburner now and then to create and ISO image but seldom to do a burn. In Windows 7 I just find the ISO and right click selecting to open with Windows Disk Image Burner. If you do this always select to verify the burn.

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