Very Very Quick Debian Download Question!

[giant_toaster]

Say I'm going to download Debian from here http://www.mirror.ac.uk/mirror/ftp.f...0a/i386/bt-cd/

Which file do I need? binary-1? binary-2? etc... are they all the same secretly? Or are they different? Which one do I need?

Thanks!

[Harry Kuhman]

I'm not going to follow the link that you gave and I strongly suggest using BitTorrent instead of a mirror, but the answer to the question is that there should be about 14 CD's in a full set. These include lots of extra software and in general, as long as you will have an Internet connection later, you'll want CD 1 and to install from that. If you do want any of the packages on later CDs you can download just what you need over the Internet with the Debian package system. On the other hand, if you are about to move away from having Internet access, the more CDs you get the more packages you will have access to. It is said that the packages on the CDs are sorted in order of how many people actually install them, and that even if you didn't have Internet access just the first few CDs would suit most users. My advice would be to start with just the first CD and only get others if you find a reason that you need them.

[giant_toaster]

That link is to the offical university network mirror in the UK, thats a link to the Bittorrent torrent hosted on their servers. As I'm at uni, I can VPN to them to get pretty fast downloads.

Anyway, ok, so just the first one will be ok for now. Do you know where I can find out what is on each CD?

In reference to my hard drive purchasing idea in the newbie forum, I understand that installing Debian lets you partion your drive. I am using an NTFS partition, but have around 25gb free. Will Debian corrupt my existing files if I let it partition my drive? I have no way to back up my files at the moment, hence the idea of buying a new drive.

If I don't buy a new drive, will Debian manage to re partion my drive without messing up my Xp install and files, or should I just bite the bullet and spend some money?

Thanks!

[UnderScore]

For your first post about Debian CDs http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtop...?p=86789#86789

If you intend to not purchase the additional HD, then you can repartition the existing HD and resize the NTFS partition. As with all things partition releated, there is ALWAYS A RISK of losing your files. Backup your important files to CDRs or if possible DVDs before the repartition/resize.