Installing Red Hat 7.0 is a breeze. Unlike the previous version, which

promised support for the i810 chip but gave up when it came to the crunch,

RH 7.0 has come a long way in hardware auto detection. In fact, we hardly

had to make any manual selections with the exception of Time zone,

programs to install and the like. At last, Red Hat seems to have woken up

to the needs of the average user.

Pre-Install checklist

You would need the following survival equipment

1. Manuals for your computer monitor. If you do not have them, then try

the manufacturer's web site or try chasing the supplier.

2. A notebook to keep a log of the selections you have made (so you can

undo any mistakes)

3. A prayer book?

Pre-Install tasks

1. BIOS boot settings: Ensure your boot sequence reads CDROM/C/A.

2. Partition your hard disk using fdisk or a program like Partition Magic.

Unless you are confident, we highly recommend using Partition Magic. You

will need at least one partition for installing Red hat Linux. The size

should be at least 2GB with the ext2 format. Windows uses vfat format.

Installation

Insert Disk 1 in the CD--drive and boot the machine. You

will see a welcome screen and a series of startup messages.

Anaconda, the Red Hat installation tool is starting up.

The next screen gives you a choice of install modes:

Press enter to start the graphical installation, Text to start the

installation in text mode. Expert mode is for the more advanced users and

there is a rescue mode if you need to fix a previous installation. The

default is graphical and is recommended unless you have an unknown video

card. Once the selection is made, Anaconda probes your card and monitor.

This is the crucial part and it is time to bring out that prayer book. If

successful you should shortly see an X and a two-part screen, otherwise

it will either revert to Text mode install or worse -- shut down the

installation with a series of error messages. This could happen when you

are using an unsupported graphics card.

The next two steps are routine, select a language. The default is

English(US). Next, select the type of keyboard and mouse. Your mouse

should have been detected already but most of the time the installation

uses a generic mouse setup. You might want to change the mouse type to

your own from the list. Once this is done, the next screen gives a choice

of installation: