Replace one version of Linux with another 1047

On Fri, 28 Apr 2006 03:16:16 -0700, Dan

Q.1. Do you need access to what is on that system now? If yes, then back up the old system to some other media. Also new hard disks are cheap (see comment below.)

Q.2. Do you want to do other upgrades on that computer at the same time? Old computers are pretty much a dime a dozen. If you decide to get much RAM as you can get, say 256M-512M. In the simplest case, you would start with a new blank disk (or by formatting your old disk, after backing it up.) BTW, X works fine on some old 4M PCI graphics cards, YMMV.

Your question is fairly general. I'll give you some equally general advice. I think your question hits right to fundamentals: can you confidently backup and restore a system? In the simplest case, you would backup, then start over by running the setup program for the modern GNU-Linux distribution of your choice. The old disk could be used, or you could get a new one.

One of the first Linux Howto's I read was the "hard disk upgrade mini howto"

That document covers the basics. Every other backup-restore technique must address the same issues presented in that document.

General Advice: 1. Planning 1.A. Select hardware, considering budget. 1.B. Layout your disk parbreastioning scheme on paper (considering available devices. 1.C. Verify you have an installation method (boot from CDROM, floppy, or another start method) 1.D. Address other complicating factors. Will you system be dual boot, etc? 1.E. Decide which boot loader you will use. I use grub. Time spent learning about the loader can really pay off. One difficult concept for most people to understand is that the loader is a separate component, not directly part of Linux.

2. Action 2.A. buttemble your hardware. 2.B. Start your software installation. The modern GNU-Linux distributions make this very easy for newcomers. You'll find this to be a breeze if you have done some homework in advance (above planning and reading some documentation to understand what you're doing.)

I give similar advice quite often. This is a recent answer, and there are more entries in this linked thread, too:

I wrote this quite a while ago which explains using nc to perform backup-restore ops over the network:

Anyway, it becomes variations on the same theme once you understand the fundamentals.

-- Douglas Mayne