How to install Debian?

[ChatIndia]

I am running windows 7 ultimate now and my primary drive file format is NTFS. Till Now I've tried 5-6 times to install debian but everything i see the message "all data in this drive will be deleted" I abort the installation.

How to install debian in the same primary drive where i have windows 7.

 

[essellar]

Debian doesn't do NTFS natively -- you'd need a driver (ntfs-3g for read/write), and that's to access a non-system disk. (The driver won't be available at initial boot, so Debian won't be able to read itself.) You'll need to create a partition for Debian if you intend to use NTFS on your Windows (primary) partition; Debian can access files on the Windows partition using ntfs-3g.

 

[ChatIndia]

You mean i have to partition my current primary drive?! Will i lose my windows 7 if i partition my primary drive?

 

[essellar]

You shouldn't -- Either Windows itself or a third-party disk management utility (like Partition Magic) ought to be able to truncate the existing partition non-destructively (moving data if necessary) and create a new partition. It may have to be FAT32 for compatibility reasons, but since it only needs to be for the OS (and likely programs -- it's just a hassle to manage otherwise) it doesn't need to be very big.