Linux?

I'm attempting my first Linux installation as well (Gentoo). :)
 
I'm attempting my first Linux installation as well (Gentoo). :)
Good luck, it seems you're trying a harder distro than usual. But if you succeed, you'll be more aware of some inner mechanics that play in GNU/Linux systems.

Seems more and more people here are joining the crew. :)
 
How do I dual boot?


There are several programs, which let you dual boot. I used to employ LiLo, which was fairly straightforward to install and configure.

I don't really see the need for two operation systems on one machine, however. Most popular Open Source programs have a Windows port. And for those, which do not, Cygwin offers a way to get them to work under Windows. So if you already have Windows, i would stick with it (unless it gives you grief, of course, but your post didn't indicate that).
 
There's always the desire to try Linux. And the more we start migrating, the more the market will focus on Linux.

I don't really see the need for two operation systems on one machine, however. Most popular Open Source programs have a Windows port. And for those, which do not, Cygwin offers a way to get them to work under Windows.
My project in C++ invloved libraries written by the teacher, and he told us he was unable to make that work on Windows (with Cygwin). Can't tell you why technically, but basically I had to use Linux to work at home.

Chukchi, for dual-boot, just find some posts about it in this forum (I wrote some recently). Or you can Google and find a distro's website (Ubuntu, Mandriva, Fedora, Suse, Debian, etc...).
 
I would try it, except I have a lot of games.
Thats my situation. Plus I am used to the Windows XP GUI.

I am too naive on installing a new OS (especialy a dual boot) since I am unsure on what would happen.

If I do have to use *shutter* Linux, I would have to have it set up to dual boot between XP and Linux.
 
I did look at the Ubuntu website.
If you have Windows and then install Ubuntu on another partition, it will install the boot loader by itself and you'll be asked what system to run everytime you turn on your machine. I'm sure most (if not all) distros do that, but I can only speak for Ubuntu from experience.

It doesn't work the other way around, though. Windows will overwrite the boot sector and run their system only.
 
A small piece of advice: Don't jump into Linux head-first without some assistance. It can ruin your experience. While it's not hard to configure, there are always these small quirks that turn you off (I've had issues with copy-paste, quite a number of audio problems, 3d acceleration, ...). Anyway, most of it workable, but you need someone to guide you.
 
How do I make a partition?

the installation routine gives you various options. usually, one is 'let the installer work it out'. it'll create another two partitions, a small swap partition and a larger system partition. if the disks came with a magazine, it's a good idea to read through the step-by-step.
 
the installation routine gives you various options. usually, one is 'let the installer work it out'. it'll create another two partitions, a small swap partition and a larger system partition. if the disks came with a magazine, it's a good idea to read through the step-by-step.
Yeah, the installer creates all the partitions for you, but you need some empty space on your hard disk first. You can reinstall windows and create a partition that's smaller than your hard disk (for example a half of it) and then Linux will find the space and install itself there. Another option is to use something like PartitionMagic (you need the full version to resize partitions) and simply create some space by reducing the Windows partition.

A small piece of advice: Don't jump into Linux head-first without some assistance. It can ruin your experience. While it's not hard to configure, there are always these small quirks that turn you off (I've had issues with copy-paste, quite a number of audio problems, 3d acceleration, ...). Anyway, most of it workable, but you need someone to guide you.
That was my impression too. Some small niusances that you can quickly and easily fix but it's much easier if someone advises you. You can probably find a lot of help on that distro's forums, but luckily I never needed to use them.
 
@C_H - I would recomend first (If you have enough HD space and memory) is to first try out Linux through a Virtual Program like Microsoft Virtual PC 2003 and VMware Player (I recomend the VMware Player as it tends to be more Linux friendly). Its advantage in that you dont have to muck around with trying to burn a CD or go through the installation of an OS if you have no experiance in installing a new OS.

This is the route that I took and I have VMware Player emulate Linux, more specificly Kubuntu (in a separate window mind you ;)) on that program while running Windows XP. My laptop is a powerhouse (IE has lots of RAM and HD space) for me to do this :).

Fortunately, I have an older laptop lying around that I can experiment with later on while not touching the OS on my main Laptop.
 
A Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, 1024 MB RAM, 25G MB Radeon X700, 60 GB hard drive (with about half free).

Almost basicly the same set up I have on my Laptop. So you have enough to run a virtual program to try out Linux :).

I will have to post up details about it possibly tommorow after I gather up the details on how to do that (I got it off from another site). :)
 
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