For some unknown reason, I decided to install Linux on my laptop. Being fairly tech-savvy (so I thought, naively), I believed this would be easy-peasy. I created a partition using the Windows tools for this, and I downloaded a disk image for Fedora from the web. I burned this to a disk (again in Windows), and installed Fedora from the disk onto the new partition.
And it was easy! More-or-less. I got an wireless internet connection going fairly quickly, too. If I recall correctly, it didn't want to play DVDs, so that could come later.
I felt a bit smug.
After a while, however, I realised I wasn't going into Linux on booting - ever. Except when I failed to select Windows in the allotted time (in "GIMP" - some sort of boot loader selector thingummy). Which was quite annoying when it happened.
I decided to remove Linux.
So I cleared the new partition. Linux was gone (hooray!) but GIMP was not (boo!). So I tried to reclaim the lost space my extending my Windows partition back into the ol' (empty) Linux one.
BIG mistake!
GIMP was _still_ there (I had assumed it sat on the Linux partition. NOT TRUE). And it didn't like that it couldn't find the partition it expected Linux to be on. So it crashed to a command line. What kind of command line, I couldn't really say, as it surely wasn't Windows or Linux as we hadn't booted anywhere yet!
I tried a few things to recover the situation but to no avail. In the end, I roped in my uncle-in-law, who managed to get somewhere buy installing OpenSUSE, and dropped me a few hints re getting Windows back. Another couple of hours that evening, and I was back in business.
... and then I realised I'd enjoyed playing around with this stuff, and peeking at Linux particularly. So after all the hassle ... I wanted to have another go!
TUNE IN NEXT TIME for more Linux shenanigans!
And it was easy! More-or-less. I got an wireless internet connection going fairly quickly, too. If I recall correctly, it didn't want to play DVDs, so that could come later.
I felt a bit smug.
After a while, however, I realised I wasn't going into Linux on booting - ever. Except when I failed to select Windows in the allotted time (in "GIMP" - some sort of boot loader selector thingummy). Which was quite annoying when it happened.
I decided to remove Linux.
So I cleared the new partition. Linux was gone (hooray!) but GIMP was not (boo!). So I tried to reclaim the lost space my extending my Windows partition back into the ol' (empty) Linux one.
BIG mistake!
GIMP was _still_ there (I had assumed it sat on the Linux partition. NOT TRUE). And it didn't like that it couldn't find the partition it expected Linux to be on. So it crashed to a command line. What kind of command line, I couldn't really say, as it surely wasn't Windows or Linux as we hadn't booted anywhere yet!
I tried a few things to recover the situation but to no avail. In the end, I roped in my uncle-in-law, who managed to get somewhere buy installing OpenSUSE, and dropped me a few hints re getting Windows back. Another couple of hours that evening, and I was back in business.
... and then I realised I'd enjoyed playing around with this stuff, and peeking at Linux particularly. So after all the hassle ... I wanted to have another go!
TUNE IN NEXT TIME for more Linux shenanigans!
