On Thu, May 18, 2006 at 11:29:19PM -0400, LavenderHerb@aol.com wrote: > I purchased a used laptop with Windows operating system, but I don't have > the disk. common problem. what kind of laptop? you might want to subscribe to debian-laptop as well. > > Can I install Linux directly over Windows? yes. you can also install it next to windows, if you feel you must. > Will it wipe out Windows and > everything in the computer? It can. but it doesn't have to. Ever used linux before? Do some reading. You can install what is called a dual-boot or multi-boot system where you can have multiple operating systems living on your hard-drive and boot up whichever one you want to use. It can be a little complicated, but is definitely do-able. There are many helpful, knowledgeable people on this list provided you are willing to do a couple of things: 1) please stick to debian here, if you wander off into fedora or suse or whatever, you'll have to look to their community for help. 2) you have to be willing to do some work on your own including googling your pants off to learn stuff. 3) be willing to take responses like RTFM (read the f[ull|scking] manual) with a grain of salt. 4) ask smart questions -- http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html. 5) be prepared to hose that system altogether with, in your case, no hope for recovery as you have no disk :) I hope you make it, and welcome, if appropriate. A
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