Installing Over Top of Existing Linux Distro

[Alexhousek]

I am brand new to Puppy and relatively new to Linux. I do have a very old laptop (6-8 years old) that sits on my Out house table and I use for very basic use during breakfast to read email and some light web-surfing. It is currently dual-booted with Mint Julia and Peppermint 2; both fairly old distros.

I would like to replace both of these distros. I would like to install Puppy in one partition (replace either Julia or Peppermint) and will probably replace the other one with Vector linux.

I apologize if this has been asked before, but could you point me to a link or tell me how to install Puppy over top of one of my existing distros? I am pretty sure that I used Grub for the dual-boot.

Thank you in advance for any assistance.

[Wognath]

This may be the simplest way:
From the puppy iso file, copy initrd.gz, puppy_precise_5.6.sfs (or your version) and vmlinuz onto your partition, say sda2 = hd0,1

Edit the grub menu.lst file to contain

Code: Select all

title Precise (or yours)
  root(hd0,1)
  kernel (hd0,1)/vmlinuz 
  initrd (hd0,1)/initrd.gz

See http://puppylinux.org/main/How%20NOT%20 ... galInstall and the wiki for much more info. Enjoy!

[Alexhousek]

Thank you for your response; much appreciated.

However, I apologize, but I didn't realize that you can copy a file from an iso image?!

Edit the grub menu.lst file to contain
title Precise (or yours)

I am using 5.5 version of Puppy/Slacko. I am not clear what you mean by "title"?

And, can you point me to the wiki where I can find much more info?

[Wognath]

Since you already have dual boot with grub, I thought the "manual frugal install" was simplest route. Alternatively, if you boot into Puppy from the CD, you can use the Puppy Universal Installer in the Setup menu to install Puppy on your HD.

I didn't realize that you can copy a file from an iso image?!

In Puppy, just click on the iso file and it opens like a directory (read only)

I am using 5.5 version of Puppy/Slacko. I am not clear what you mean by "title"?

The title is what shows up in the Grub menu when you boot.

can you point me to the wiki where I can find much more info?

There's a handy link to the wiki on http://www.puppylinux.org
Maybe these are useful:
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/InstallationFrugal
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/GRUB
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/FrugalOrFullInstallation

[Wognath]

beginner's guide to installing puppy:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=29356

[don570]

The first time you use Puppy linux on a Windows machine it is probably
best to use a burnt copy of Puppy linux on a CD (not a DVD since older
computers rarely have a DVD reader)

Then run Shinobar's program 'grub4dos' which does a nice job of
setting up grub ---> The menu.lst file is created without the
computer user needing to know much about the method of booting.

Once the menu.lst file is created then a useful boot window
is shown each time you boot up. It shows the list of operating
systems that are available to the user at boot time.

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