Re: Planning a new Debian box!
On 03/26/2015 04:38 PM, Patrick Bartek wrote:
Shortly I will become the owner of a refurbished Dell
with Win7 already on its 160g sata hard drive.
I have no need or use for a multi-OS multi-boot
machine. I only want wheezy on this for now.
I hated dual-boot -- getting it working was painful enough. But
constantly rebooting and switching OS's to get something useful done was
a PITA. Hot-swap bays and multiple drives eliminates the first problem
(and simplifies imaging, backups, restores, and other administrative
chores; I recommend it). Multiple computers with one O/S each is best.
On Thu, 26 Mar 2015, Bob Bernstein wrote:
Make a Restore disk of W7 anyway. Get the codes, etc. You never know:
You may need to put W7 back on it.
+1 -- photograph the COA sticker, write down the code, create an
archival copy of the installation disc, verify the copy boots, and store
copies off-site.
On 03/26/2015 04:38 PM, Patrick Bartek wrote:
Or, are there steps I ought to take prior to launching
the installer,
Write down all the BIOS settings.
Take a binary image of the raw HDD and store a copy off-site.
Buy a power supply tester and test the power supply.
Download memtest86+, burn it to media, and run it for 24 hours:
http://www.memtest.org/
Download your disk drive manufacturer's diagnostic tool set, burn it to
media, and run all available tests. For example:
http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-dos-master/
On 03/26/2015 04:38 PM, Patrick Bartek wrote:
Question: can I entrust to the Debian installer the
task of repartitioning and formatting the HD with all
that Windoze cruft already on it?
The Debian installer is a powerful tool and can do many things
(partitioning, RAID, volume management, encryption, file systems, etc.),
but not all (notably ZFS). The noob approach is to let the installer do
things automatically.
On Thu, 26 Mar 2015, Bob Bernstein wrote:
Do it right, the first time.
1. Doing it right is a matter of experience.
2. Experience is a matter of doing it wrong.
Assuming this is a hobbyist machine, I'd say "go for it".
I've discovered that the Debian installer can install Debian onto
SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.0 flash drives and that they work as bootable
system drives. A 16 GB model runs for ~$11. I suggest that you
disconnect the HDD, get one of those flash drives, and play with that.
Once things stabilize and you start using the machine for "real" work,
you'll want to take a binary image of the system drive, implement a
backup system for your data, and store copies off-site.
David
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