Re: Net-install CD: What it does to existing partitions and installations

[Thierry Chatelet <tchatelet@free.fr>]

Ian Astley wrote:
> I currently run a Linux machine under Fedora Core 5. I am interested 
> in having a look at Debian too and downloaded and burnt the 
> Net-install CD from the main site, with a view to compiling a Debian 
> kernel which I would then have nominated in GRUB alongside the 
> existing FC5 kernels I have. The CD booted as it should but when I got 
> to the partitioning options I was not too sure exactly what it would 
> do to the existing partitions (which it identified correctly), since 
> the on-screen directions did not explicitly state that my existing 
> installation would be left unharmed. Fedora and SuSE, both of which I 
> have, are much clearer about this stage in the installation process. 
> Could anyone clarify this please? I downloaded the Net-install CD 
> because I did not want to go through the rigmarole of downloading a 
> full set of CDs when conceivable I would only need a fraction of the 
> data in the first instance.
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> Ian Astley
> tokyoi at mac com
It will do nothing to existing partitions unless you tell the installer 
to format them. Choose manual partionning, then you can either leave the 
existing partitions alone, mount them to a a mounting point you choose. 
In any case, the partitionner is showing you what it will do, and asking 
for confirmation.
Thierry