Installing Linux for the first time (& dual boot)

What if I don't need it to dual boot. Can I install it somehow so I can just change the boot order of the hard drives to get Linux/Windows to boot. I just want to get Linux working.

Thanks! I get a boot menu now and XP works when I select it. When I selected Linux for the first time I went through a bunch of stuff that all said OK and then my screen went blank. My screen would also do this when I tried to install Linux using the GUI instead of text mode. Now what do I do? I feel like I am so close!

I have a NVidea FX5200. The login screen came up but I did not create a login. I did a quick search and it said to login as root and use the PW i put in. I did this and the following came up:
[root@localhost root]#
Now what?

what next?

try

startx

I tried that but my screen still goes black???

no fear, i have figured out our problem. the graphics card driver for our card is not up to par with what it should be. go to http://nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-4349.html and download the driver. i made it simple, and downloaded it in windows and burned it to a cd, cause it is too big for a disk. then start up linux in text mode, as described earlier( addin S tin grub after command line), mount the cd drive to the hard drive("mount -t auto /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom" if the directory is not already created, which is was on mine, thenyou need to make the directory with "mkdir /mnt/cdrom" in the offchance that cdrom is not your cdrom drive, you need to mount whatever then name of the drive is) , then run the install program. after you install the drivers, open up the readme for the drivers and it will describe to you what you need to do to modify the xf86config(i think that is the name. i may be off a letter or sumtin, read the manual to get exact information. i used pico to modify it cause i like using pico from when i program in windows(it is what my cs classes used)) file, and where to find it( i believe it is etc/X11/). Once you modify that file, ie change Drive "nva" or whatever to Drive "nvidia" and add Load "glx" , then delete (load "dri") and (load "glore") , then you just restart into linux. make sure grub doesn't have the s after it now, which it shouldn't, and then everything should work. i am on linux now, so it worked for me. let me know if you have any problems. The readme file is in USR/share/NVidea(can't remember this directory, just hit NV then tab and it will fill out the name for you)/then the file name is Readme . open it with a text editor or sumtin, again i used pico. If i went into to much explaination, sorry, or not enough just ask.
-kevin

::edited 12/15/04 2:00::

Thank you so much for the help Kevin. I did everything you said and got the driver installed. I tried to StartX but got an error:
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA kernel module!
(EE) NVIDIA(0): ***Aborting***
(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.

Fatal server error:
no screens found

I am getting close but what is the problem now??? Thanks!!

I am posting this message from Linux. Thanks so much for everyones help! For some reason my keyboard still does not work in text mode but I went back and changed id:3.... to id:5... and it booted up. I have yet to reboot the machine but at least I am running Linux right now. What is the difference between the Linux and Linux-up on the boot screen? I think I am on Linux-up right now.

Hello.

First of all, the guide at the beginning of this post was great. I installed Feodora Core 3 with no problem. However, shortly after that I decided to reformat Windows. When I did, the boot loader went away.

To get it back, I tried booting for CD1 again. At the install screen, I chose to upgrade the package. I selected "Create new boot loader", configured it, and applied the "upgrade". After it prompted me for Disc 3 and was complete, it said that something was not installed and that the boot loader was left untouched.

Why is this? How do I get the boot loader back?

Thanks!

Did you use the GRUB bootloader originally or the Windows one?

You have to use the Rescue mode from the Linux CD to restore GRUB or LILO.

Yes, I was using GRUB. I have tried rescue mode, but I do not know what exactly to do there to restore GRUB. Any ideas?

Boot into rescue mode.
It tells you that your Linux system has been mounted under /mnt/sysimage or something similar.
Run "chroot /mnt/sysimage"
Then "grub_install /dev/hda" to reinstall the GRUB bootloader.

That is exactly correct.

(well, apart from the fact that its /sbin/grub-install /dev/hda but never mind)

I went to do this, but I got an error saying that the command grub_install was not recognized. When I came back I saw Phantasm66's post, which had the proper command. I am back in Fedora and it is working great. Thank you both!

For future reference:

hey guyz i decided to give Red Hat a try , but i got a lil question before downloading it , i found this site which gives me lotsa links for downloading Red Hat but in brackets it says Valhalla , shrike , and just 7.2 so what do u think which one should i download ,heres the link : "http://www.linuxiso.org/distro.php?distro=7" , and Phantasm66 when i need your help i want to make a dual boot have 2 hard's #1-80gb-2-partitions(c;d), #2(backup harddrive i just want to leave it alone, im probably gunan disconnect it while installing so noone of my precious files would be erased by mistake) .........okay so my win xp is on c drive and i have all my software installed on d which is 70 gb partition , so what i want to do is make d drive smaller and without formating anything install linux, btw all hard's are formatted with ntfs, hmm my pc specs are

--------------------------------------------
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Seanix
System Model AWRDACPI
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel ~2500 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Award Software International, Inc. F7d, 11/17/2003
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 125.99 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 738.03 MB
-----------------------------------------------

The free version of RedHat stopped at RedHat 9 (codenamed shrike) & is no longer supported/outdated. Get Fedora Core 3 instead -> Fedora Core 3 mirror list

Thanks for a link , so is fedora project actualy better then 7.2 or 8?

Yes, I would say so. IMO