User's Manual

14 Chapter 1:Steps to Get You Started
1.1.2 Why You Should Register Your Red Hat Linux Boxed
Set
If you have purchased an Official Red Hat Linux 7.2 boxed set, you should register your product.
Registration offers many useful services, such as installation support, access to Red Hat Network, and
more.
To register your product, go to http://www.redhat.com/apps/activate/. You will find your Product ID
on the Registration Information card in your Official Red Hat Linux boxed set. Once registered, you
will have access to all the extras that Red Hat provides to its registered users.
For more information on registering and the scope of Red Hat’s technical support offerings, see Ap-
pendix C, Getting Technical Support.
1.1.3 No Boxed Set? No Problem!
Of course, not everyone purchases a Red Hat Linux boxed set. It is entirely possible to install Red
Hat Linux using a CD created by another company, or even via FTP. In these cases, you may need to
create one or more diskettes to get started.
For information on downloading and installing Red Hat Linux, refer to http://www.redhat.com/down-
load/howto_download.html.
For people installing Red Hat Linux from a CD-ROM not from Red Hat, you may need a boot disk.
It may also be able to start the installation directly from the CD. We will discuss this in more detail
when we outline the various installation methods.
For information on making diskettes, see Booting the Installation Program from an LS-120 Diskette
in Section 2.2.3.
1.2 Is Your Hardware Compatible?
Hardware compatibility is particularly important if you have an older system or a system that you built
yourself. Red Hat Linux 7.2 should be compatible with most hardware in systems that were factory
built within the last two years. However, hardware specifications change almost daily, so it is hard to
guarantee that your hardware will be 100% compatible.
The most recent list of supported hardware can be found at http://hardware.redhat.com.
1.3 Do You Have Enough Disk Space?
Nearly every modern-day operating system (OS) uses disk partitions, and Red Hat Linux is no ex-
ception. When you install Red Hat Linux, you may have to work with disk partitions. If you have not