Partition question "This will destroy all data . . ."

[gps]

" . . . on those partitions that have been removed as well as those to be formatted."

Exactly what does this mean? In the mount point dialog (step 5) I removed all partitions and mount points except for hda1 (/) and hda3 (swap) because I have another Linux installed there.
Then I got this message and chickened out.
I did not change the partitioning on the disk. I only deselected those partitions that I don't want touched.
I know I'm probably being paranoid, but I'm not willing to risk losing gigs of data (no backup, because I can't afford a dvd writer just now).
Thanks in advance for your help.

[joefrezza]

Re: Partition question "This will destroy all data . . ."

Nothing should really happen to your data if you don't instruct the partition program to delete and/or format your original partitions containing the data.

Having said that, in the absence of a backup, I don't recommend to mess with your partitions. Can't you ask a friend with a laptop or another PC to hook-up with yours and make a back-up that way?

Anyhow, the message you're getting is normal, but it means you have insrtucted the installer to delete and/or format one of the existing partitions. Whether that's correct or not depends on the what you're trying to do, and it's a bit risky to give you recommendations based on your description. A screenshot of the partition table may help...

Ciao!

[gps]

Re: Partition question "This will destroy all data . . ."

Thanks for your answer.

Nothing should really happen to your data if you don't instruct the partition program to delete and/or format your original partitions containing the data.

I know, and I've never known a distribution to do something like that (Not a newbie; been using Linux since '98). I'm just a little paranoid. But I do want the message to tell me exactly what the installer will do, e.g. "the following partitions will be formatted: hda1, hda3. Partition hda2 will be left as is."
Maybe the maintainers could consider this.

Can't you ask a friend with a laptop or another PC to hook-up with yours and make a back-up that way?
That's not an option. I'll just wait until after christmas and the January bills are paid and get a burner.

I installed Kubuntu on my secondary (ten year old) machine and it seems OK. The installer crashed a couple of times, but, honestly, that may be hardware. One ide controller is toast, and the other cable may be flaky, so I'm not blaming that on Kubuntu. Once the installer worked, it worked fine. I've been a Suse user for five or six years, and wanted to give this a try. I probably won't do much Kubuntu until next  week, but I'm looking forward to it.