Msta

Ok, this is a stupid thing I did (really stupid). I am making a server for a website, used for my world of warcraft guild. I have a computer it is a Dell Inspiron 1000 the only thing I did to modify it was to upgrade the ram to 512 (orginally 256) and switched the hard to to a 40GB instead of a 20GB, I believe it was a 20GB. So i erase all my games of of it to 21GB. So the first mistake I think i did was partition it with symantec partition magic 8.0, I thought u had to, to do that to install fedora core 5 (if you are wondering you core 5, I dont really want to download core 6 right now I just downloaded core 5 so I will upgrade it later). The second mistake I made was to make the other side of the hard drive to PRIMARY then is set it up boot to it the next time I started or restarted the computer. Ya, so i restarted it thinking I would install fedora after restarting. BIG PROBLEM!, when i restarted, it said "error loading operating system", I no why it said that beacuse there is none and i cant start fedora to install it. Could anyone please tell me how to reverse this without reformating the whole thing? And how to install fedora the right way with out partitioning it? Is there a key to press to make it to change it back to the C dive? If anyone can answer this pleaz do. this is my second post and i join yesterday, i say "it is the best". Thank you

K-B

Hello Msta, welcome to the forums.
First lets clarify a few things. When you partitioned the hard drive with Partition Magic, what file system did you format it with? For you FC5 install, it should have been something like "ext3", I'm not familiar with Partition Magic so I don't even know if it has the capability to format for a Linux filesystem. Whatever format it's in, during the installation when the FC5 installer asks you which partition you want it installed on, select the partition that you made. If it needs to re-format it, go ahead. That won't be a problem.

Fedora Core installs from several CDs or DVD media, (5, if i'm not mistaken) which you should have downloaded, and should have burnt onto disk. What you must do is boot into your BIOS, and change the boot sequence to boot FIRST from your CD-ROM drive, or DVD, if you have the Fedora Core disks on DVD. Then insert the Fedora Core disk number 1 in the drive and restart. It will then boot from the CD instead of the hard drive, and begin the installation.
If you have any more questions, just post 'em. Good luck!

Msta

how do u boot to bios and change the boot sequence to boot first?
I want this whole thing to be a server not a duel boot

K-B

Msta, have you tried inserting the Fedora Core disk 1 and restarting? If you haven't done that, you might not need to change anything in your BIOS. But if that doesn't work, do the following.
To enter BIOS you have to press a key during boot-up. I'm not sure which key it is for your machine, but it's usually either Esc for F2. I know that some Dell laptops use the F2 key to enter BIOS. When you start your computer, look very carefully at the first screens you say, it should say somewhere which key to press. You may have to restart a couple times until you figure out which one, because it doesn't give you much time usually. Once you figure out the key, press it when the screen comes up the says "Press (whatever key) to enter BIOS" or something like that. It might call it Setup, not BIOS. Once you're there, navigate through the menus until you find the place where you set the boot sequence. Change it to CD-ROM drive first instead of the hard drive. Be careful not to change anything else.

batty_professor

Pressing F-12 at boot will get you boot options on Dell laptops without upsetting the bios. If there's nothing on the hard disk that you wish to save, you can let the installer partition the entire drive. The installer (Anaconda) will also allow other options for partitioning and formatting. It should identify the partitions you made so you can select the one you intended to install on.