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A simple question on Linux installation?

I have a 4 GB HD.Its already partitioned into C and D drives 2GB each.I have Win98 installed in C drive and D drive just has few unimportant data.So I want to install Linux in D drive.So the only thing I have to do is to format D drive using Format D:
right? I have Linux distro in CD.So after formatting my D drive I can boot Linux installation from that CD ROM and proceed with installation? Or should I have to do something else like repartitioning? Will it automatically ask for repartitioning after I boot from CD or should I have to repartition myself?
What I mean by repartition is like under that D drive creating partitions for root,swap,etc..
Thanks.

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avizit

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Karl Heinz Kremer

The 'format' command is the wrong command in this case. Use 'fdisk' instead and remove the second partition. This will mark the 2GB section of your disk as available. The installer will then have no problem to determine where the new Linux partition should go. If you don't run fdisk, the format command does not make any difference - you are wasting your time by formatting the partition: Linux will reformat it again. Most (all?) Linux installers will allow you to perform the fdisk equivalent during the installation, but it's probably easier for you to do it in Windows. The advantage is that Windows will display drive letters, so you know exactly which partition to remove. The Linux installer may or may not display the drive letters, so it may be a bit more complicated to determine which partition you want to remove.

As avizit said, you can also specify how many partitions get created during the installation. In most cases, it's however better to just let the installer decide. Again, depending on which Linux distribution you are using, you will very likely end up with two partitions: One for swap, and one for /.