There are several tasks that need to be performed before installing Fedora 11. This includes:
Download and Burn the Fedora 11 DVD or Live Spins
Assuming that you have a 32-bit computer, download the 32-bit Fedora DVD ISO image and burn it to a DVD from your nearest mirror site. You are looking for:
• SHA1SUM
Alternatively, you can use the Fedora bittorrent to burn the DVD ISO bittorrent image once you download it (Fedora-11-dvd-i386.torrent). Better yet, if significant time has passed since the release date for Fedora 11 (May 31, 2007) you can use Fedora Re-Spins to download an updated version of Fedora 11 with updated packages using the Fedora Re-Spins bittorrent. If you need information about bittorrent, see:
Once you download the DVD ISO image (and before you burn it to a DVD!), it is wise to verify the checksums to the file(s). The checksum information is found at:
Now days, sha1sum is used, opposed to md5sum, due to a weakness in the MD5 hash function. If you need background information about sha1sum, or if you need to download the sha1sum program for either Windows or Linux, see:
If the checksums to not match the values given in the SHA1SUM file, there is an error in the download, and you will have to download the file(s) once again. Complain about it now, but it will save you a lot more time compared to burning a faulty DVD and trying to install Fedora 11 later.
If you need help burning the DVD ISO image, and are using Linux, I suggest gnomebaker. And if you are using Fedora, it's in the repository, so you can use yum to download it.
Partition your Hard Drive
Partitioning your hard drive is necessary to make room for F11 — there are a number of ways to do this. You can partition your hard drive with partition creation/editing tools (such as gparted or qtparted) on the Knoppix Live CD available at www.knoppix.org, or by using the same tools with the System Rescue CD available at www.sysresccd.org. Alternatively, gparted offers a Live CD at gparted-livecd.tuxfamily.org. I use the commercial product PartitionMagic 8.0.1, which used to be made by PowerQuest before it was bought out by Microsoft-owned Symantec, ...who killed the product line (of course). If you need insight into the number of partitions required, and their sizes and types, I strongly suggest that you read my Partition Sizes page.
Determine Dual Boot Options
Determining whether or not you want to dual boot will affect how your hard drive is partitioned. I feel that dual booting is an important enough topic that I have written a separate web page about it as well. See the Dual Boot Options page for details.
1. Pre-Installation Tasks
1.1 Partition Sizes
1.2 Dual Boot Options