Uninstaling Linux Suse 10.1

Would be grateful for any help in uninstalling Suse 10.1 which was instaled by disc and which is a complete disaster.My O.S is Windows XP Home Edition and my original intention was to try something different i.e Linux but do not wish to install a new version without first uninstalling the old one.
Thanks in advance

clabbyash

You don’t need to uninstall the old one if you are going to install another Linux. Just tell the new Linux to overwrite the previous Linux partition. However if you want to be sure and avoid any problem of the new Linux avoiding the current Linux, you can boot up with a rescue CD like gparted and change the Linux partition type to something non-Linux.

If I wish to completely replace an old version of openSUSE with a new version of openSUSE, what I typically do, is boot first to the old version of openSUSE, and save any files that I think I might want to use with the new version. For example, I keep copies of my /etc/fstab, /boot/grub/menu.lst, /etc/X11/xorg.conf, /etc/modprobe.d/sound, cups printer conf files, … etc … I also type “df -Th” and " su -c ‘fdisk -l’ " to get a copy of my partitioning.

Lets say in my previous openSUSE-10.1 Linux I had /dev/hda2 as " / " (root), and /dev/hda3 as “swap”, and /dev/hda5 as /home. Then I make a note of that, and when I install the lastest (openSUSE-11.1) I will ensure the openSUSE installer is setup to install 11.1 on those 10.1 partitions.

In 11.1 (as opposed to 10.1) instead of calling the partitions hdax, they will be called sdax (because of a change to libata). Also, in 11.1, the file format is ext3 by default, instead of reiser on 10.1.

There are various other differences (such as “zypper” for software package management, where “zypper” actually works (as opposed to “rug” (if my memory is not too faulty) where rug did not work well).

In my old openSUSE Linux, before replacing it, I also like to go YaST > System > Partitioning (or something like that - I’m not at a Linux PC so I can not check) and I check to see where Grub was located in the old install. I find that knowledge can be useful in the new install in giving me more confidence that the new install will work. But thats likely not necessary.