Backing Up Your Data

Whichever route you decide to take when installing SUSE Linux, you should back up the data currently on your computer beforehand. Possibly the easiest way of doing this is to burn the data to CD-R/RW discs using a program like Ahead's Nero and a CD-R/RW drive.

If you take the coexistence route, installing SUSE Linux alongside Windows, backing up your data should be done for insurance purposes. Although SUSE tests all its software thoroughly and relies on community reporting of bugs, there's always the chance that something might go wrong. Repartitioning a hard disk is a major operation and carries with it the potential of data loss.

If you intend to erase the hard disk when installing SUSE Linux (thereby removing Windows), you can back up your data, and then import it into SUSE Linux. Table 4-1 shows a list of common personal data file types, their file extensions, where they can be typically found on a Windows XP system, and notes on importing the data into SUSE Linux. Note that earlier versions of Windows may differ when it comes to data storage locations, particularly Windows 95, 98, and Me.

Table 4-1. Data That Should Be Backed Up

Type of File	File Extensions	Typical Location	Notes
Office files	DOC, XLS, PPT, PDF, etc.	My Documents	Microsoft Office files can be opened, edited, and saved under SUSE Linux using the OpenOffice.org suite. PDF documents can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat under SUSE Linux.
E-mail files	DBX	\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\ Application Data\ Identities\<user ID string>\ Microsoft\Outlook Express	Outlook Express mailboxes can be imported into Kmail under import Outlook messages into Outlook Express (select File ® Import ® Messages), and then back up the DBX file for importing into KDE later. Kmail is also able to import mail from the popular Pegasus e-mail client.
Digital images	JPG, BMP, TIF, PNG, GIF, etc.	My Pictures (within My Documents)	SUSE Linux includes a variety of programs to both view and edit image files.
Multimedia files	MP3, MPG, AVI	Various	SUSE Linux programs can play MP3 music files and some movie file formats. The Kaffeine Media Player under SUSE Linux is able to read a handful of video file for- mats by default, and more video file formats can be read after some additional downloads are installed.
Internet Explorer Favorites	None	\Documents and Settings\<username>\Favorites	Your Favorites list cannot be im- ported into SUSE Linux, but the a text editor in order to view their URLs, which can then be opened in a SUSE Linux web browser.
Miscellaneous Internet files	Various	Various	You might also want to back up web site archives or instant messenger chat logs, although hidden data such as cookies cannot be imported.