Creating a Boot Disk

If you're performing a custom-class installation, the Bootdisk dialog (see Figure 10-47) gives you the opportunity to create a customized boot disk for your Red Hat Linux system.

A boot disk can be handy in these situations:

• Use It Instead of LILO -- You can use a boot disk instead of LILO. This is handy if you're trying Red Hat Linux for the first time, and you'd feel more comfortable if the boot process for your other operating system is left unchanged. With a boot disk, going back to your other operating system is as easy as removing the boot disk and rebooting.

• Use It When Another Operating System Overwrites LILO -- Other operating systems may not be as flexible as Red Hat Linux when it comes to supported boot methods. Quite often, installing or updating another operating system can cause the master boot record (originally containing LILO) to be overwritten, making it impossible to boot your Red Hat Linux installation. The boot disk can then be used to boot Red Hat Linux so you can reinstall LILO.

Select Yes and press [Space] to create a boot disk. Next, you'll be prompted to insert a blank, formatted diskette.

For instructions on how to create a boot disk after the installation, read the mkbootdisk man page. Be sure you create a new boot disk if you make any changes to your kernel.