Might get Linux

[Macha]

I am thinking of getting Linux but I need a few things.
1. I need to know the best free distro
2. It needs as little command line as possible
3. I want to dual boot with WinXP (I don't know how can someone please explain)
4. The installation must not affect WinXP in anyway (other than dual-booting)(it runs poor enough as is.).
5. I need to partition it without reformatting.
6. Will Opera work on it.

 

[Chairman Meow]

I am thinking of getting Linux but I need a few things.
1. I need to know the best free distro
2. It needs as little command line as possible

Probably the least-command-line distro option is PCLinuxOS (which is based on Mandrake, which was very good at allowing things to be done without using the command line.) Others will suggest Ubuntu, but there are a lot of things in Ubuntu that require using the command line.

3. I want to dual boot with WinXP (I don't know how can someone please explain)

When you install Linux, you'll have the option to partition the hard drive. Make three partitions, the first one being the Windows partition, the second one being the Linux root partition, and the third one being the Linux swap partition. The sizes should be something like the following (for a 60GB hard drive. Adjust the first two to fit whatever size your hard drive is):

Partition   Size   Type
hda1        29GB   Windows (NTFS)
hda2        29GB   Linux (ext3 or ReiserFS)
hda3        1 GB   Linux swap

4. The installation must not affect WinXP in anyway (other than dual-booting)(it runs poor enough as is.).
5. I need to partition it without reformatting.

If your XP partition is formatted as NTFS (and it probably is) then you'll need to reformat and reinstall Windows, as, as far as I know, there is no NTFS resize tool for Linux.

6. Will Opera work on it.

Yes. You may need to download it from Opera's website, but there is a version of Opera that runs on Linux.

 

[Comraddict]

Probably the least-command-line distro option is PCLinuxOS (which is based on Mandrake, which was very good at allowing things to be done without using the command line.) Others will suggest Ubuntu, but there are a lot of things in Ubuntu that require using the command line.


If your XP partition is formatted as NTFS (and it probably is) then you'll need to reformat and reinstall Windows, as, as far as I know, there is no NTFS resize tool for Linux.


Yes. You may need to download it from Opera's website, but there is a version of Opera that runs on Linux.

sorry, but that is not true, any modern Linux distro will resize NTFS using gparted tool... any newer Ubuntu or Suse will.

For beginner, try Ubuntu 7.04, it will create dual boot for you.

 

[Phlegmak]

I'm using Mandriva 2006 at this moment. It's disappointing. I'll eventually try something else.

 

[Strider]

4. The installation must not affect WinXP in anyway (other than dual-booting)(it runs poor enough as is.).
5. I need to partition it without reformatting.

That would be extremely difficult if not impossible. Depends on the size of the current NTFS partition and how much you have stored on it. It's also a good way to screw up your Windows XP installation.

My recommendation is to reformat. Partitioning without a reformat is very difficult and still buggy. A fresh HD will allow you to install linux first.. and using the available partition manager built in.. specify a distinct XP and linux partition.

 

[GVBN]

That would be extremely difficult if not impossible. Depends on the size of the current NTFS partition and how much you have stored on it. It's also a good way to screw up your Windows XP installation.

It has never done that to me, and I don't even defrag my hard drive before resizing the NTFS partition

A fresh HD will allow you to install linux first..

Installing Linux first isn't recommended since Windows will replace the MBR and break your Linux bootloader. AFAIK Windows may also cause some trouble if it isn't installed on the first partition of the hard drive

 

[Mise]

If I were you, I'd buy a new Hard Drive and install Linux on that (or install it on an old HDD). Hard drives are fairly cheap these days.

Other thing to note is that Linux is pretty good at reading files stored on Windows file systems, but Windows isn't very good at reading files stored on the Linux file system. So you'd probably want to have the Windows partition bigger than the Linux one.

Also, I'm sure you will find the command line to be far more useful than the GUI for a lot of things, so don't be too afraid to play with it

 

[taper]

You could also buy a 2nd (or 3rd, or 4th) hard drive and install Linux on that, which will leave your XP install completely alone. HDs are dirt cheap, and installation is literally 4 screws and two cables.

I started using Ubuntu last year, and I only boot back into XP for gaming. What little command line I needed was fully explained in the forums. If you want to share files between the two, Linux will read NTFS, but writing is still troublesome, FAT32 is fine for either one, but is old and has it's own drawbacks. There's a couple of utilities that let XP read/write the ext2/3 file system Linux uses, which is what I do.

EDIT: bit of a cross post with Mise.

 

[Quintillus]

I'm almost sure you can get a re-formatting program for Windows that will allow you to repartition without reformatting. My dad used Partition Magic 2.0 and 4.0 for that with Windows 3.1/95/98, although PM 8.0 or so crashed XP (something tech support seemed familiar with), so if you do try a method like that be sure to back up your data first.

 

[Macha]

My Computer has an 80GB hard drive with 65GB full and a 20 GB hardrive (which I can reformat) with 12 GB full.

 

[Chairman Meow]

My Computer has an 80GB hard drive with 65GB full and a 20 GB hardrive (which I can reformat) with 12 GB full.

In that case, it's probably easiest to install it on the 20 GB hard drive.

 

[Padma]

I was going to go into some detail about re-partitioning without reformatting, but if you have a second hard drive, just install Linux on that. It will be much simpler.

And my personal recommendation would be PCLinuxOS.

 

[GenMarshall]

I may be just a Windows user, but I have played with Linux on a Virtual Machine.
At best I would recomend Kubuntu.

 

[cthom]

xp pro(ntfs) and mepis. install and go. another option, incidentally, is using a 'live cd'. knoppix allows you to save your preferences to a windows file, and otherwise never touches your hard drive.

 

[GVBN]

LiveCD is too slow

 

[Pentium]

Actually using Linux from LiveCD is not an option. It's slow, you lose a drive, and most important, you can't install anything.

I'm using Kubuntu and am happy with it, but I've never tried PCLinuxOS. I use the command line more often than an average user would like, but there are graphical tool for most things.

Other thing to note is that Linux is pretty good at reading files stored on Windows file systems, but Windows isn't very good at reading files stored on the Linux file system. So you'd probably want to have the Windows partition bigger than the Linux one.

The fs-driver makes Linux partitions readable and writable from Windows. The only problems you can face with it are special characted and files with same names but different capitalization.

 

[GenMarshall]

Ugh, I shy away from command lines.
I am only comfortable with a DOS (Both DOSbox and MS-DOS) based command line as well as the NT command line of Windows NT, 2k, XP, and Vista .

 

[Pentium]

Ugh, I shy away from command lines.
I am only comfortable with a DOS (Both DOSbox and MS-DOS) based command line as well as the NT command line of Windows NT, 2k, XP, and Vista .

Then you'll become comfortable with the Linux command line as well. Windows ones don't have integrated (and useful) help for each and every command

 

[GenMarshall]

Then you'll become comfortable with the Linux command line as well. Windows ones don't have integrated (and useful) help for each and every command

I am only used to the basic DOS/NT commands such as:
Copy, Mount & imgmount (DOSBox specific), cd & cd/, ping, dir, chkdsk, fdisk & format (I only do these when formating a virtual drive image), move, del, and scandisk.

:bush:

 

[Phlegmak]

In most Linux versions, you don't really have to worry too much about the command line. There are GUI shells similar to Windows Explorer. File managers.