Download and Install Red Hat Linux on Windows 7 – Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux will happily co-exist with almost any version of Windows up to and including Windows 8.1. This article will provide you guide to install Red Hat on Windows 7. Dual-booting concept will be employed in this procedure. It means that you will have the option to boot Windows or Linux version of operating system as you start your PC. You can run only one version of operating system at a time. It must be mentioned that the files on the Windows partition of the disk drive will be available to you from Red Hat Enterprise Linux regardless whether your Windows partition was formatted using FAT16, FAT32, or NTFS.
In order to have Windows 7 with Linux, we have to shrink the size of Windows in order to accommodate the installation of RHEL. Then, we proceed with RHEL installation on the system.
Resizing Partition
We have to shrink the Windows partition in order to allow RHEL to co-exist with the current version of Windows 7. You are recommended to use Windows Disk Management interface to reduce the size of partition before installing RHEL. You can access it very easily by right-clicking on My Computer, and choosing “Manage” option. Within this Computer Management Interface, select “Disk Management” to show the graphical representation of the disk drives available in your system.
Right-click on the volume that you want to shrink, and then select “Shrink Volume”. The tool will tell you the maximum amount by which the volume can be shrunk without losing data. This process may take some time depending on the overall size of your partition. You will see following dialog box after the procedure completion.
Select the parameters appropriately for shrinking the disk partition space, and then click “Shrink”. Now you are ready to proceed with the RHEL installation.
Installation Procedure for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 with Screenshots
This operating system is developed by Red Hat targeted for commercial market. It is released in server version for x86, x86-64 for Itanium, IBM System Z, Power PC, and Desktop systems. You may download RHEL 6 for your CD/DVD from the following link.
There are number of installation types. We will demonstrate with Graphical Installer. Choose packages for installation as per your requirements. Boot computer using RHEL 6 installation CD/DVD.
Select the option of “Install or upgrade an existing system” from the menu that appears.
Select language.
Select type of keyboard.
Check media test option will be provided. Click “Ok” or “Skip” as you desire.
Choose storage device.
Type your computer name.
Select your zone location.
Enter the password for root user.
Choose the type of installation and then review partitioning layout carefully. Check the option of “Encrypt “System” if you want.
Review the partitioning layout, and modify if required.
Manually configure LVM and RAID storage.
The process of creating partition and formatting file systems will start.
Configure your boot loading options. You can also assign boot loader password for security purposes.
Select appropriate applications to install.
Customize your package selections.
Wait until installation process is complete.
Restart your computer and login with your credentials.
Redhat support is available if any problem occurs during installation. You may install Red Hat Linux from USB also.