Q I have just tried installing SUSE Linux 10.0. It stopped at the partitioning table stage with error 3027, 'storage modification failed', while shrinking partition /dev/hda1 to 12.6GB. I am using an old Intel Celeron-based PC running Windows XP Home SP2 on a 20GB hard drive with no partitions at present - and I'm completely new to all this.
A By "no partitions at present" I take it you mean no Linux partitions there must be a Windows partition or the installer would not be trying to shrink it. The usual cause of a failure when resizing is that the partition has not been sufficiently defragmented. While in Windows, go to My Computer, right-click on Drive C and select Properties. Now run Error-Checking in the Tools tab, followed by Defragmentation. Then put the SUSE disc in the drive and reboot. The Windows XP defragmenter is not particularly effective, so you may need to run it more than once before the disk is in a suitable state for resizing. While you are in the Properties windows, check whether the disk has been given a volume name in the box at the top of the General tab. This has been known to cause problems for the resizer, so delete it.