Can I really do this?

[Old Enough]

Dear all:

My computer (Windows XP Home SP2, P III 800 Mhz, ) is running pretty good.

It is just that with all this talk about Vista, and people eventually having to
switch to Vista (which would probably mean buying a new computer) I have again
become interested in Linux.

Reading http://www.linux.org/news/2007/01/30/0003.html , does that tell me that
I can install Linux along with my current XP?

Would I first have to install a program such as "Boot It"

Would I be able to use the various and several programs which are now installed
on my computer?

If - for whatever reason - the two programs do not cohabit well on my machine,
can I easily uninstall Linux?

Please enlighten me, including any answers to questions I have not thought of.

Thanks!!!!
____________________________
Old enough . . .
to know I don't know a thing.

[Benjamin Kwiecien]

It looks like the software referenced in the article is experimental; it may
not work as you expect!

The *usual* way of installing Linux is to first make sure that you have some
unused space on your hard drive set aside for it. In most cases, Windows
will be using _all_ of your hard drive, so making space for Linux might mean
having to reinstall Windows. An alternative method is to put a second hard
drive into your computer and have Linux go on that.

However you put Linux on your computer, it can live side-by-side with Windows,
and the presence of one won't hurt the other. Regardless of the method you
choose to install Linux, it can be removed easily.

The article you mentioned talked about a program that tries to install Linux
*on top* of Windows--not alongside it. This has some advantages and
disadvantages to it. The advantage is that you won't need to change your
system at all. The disadvantage is that it probably won't work.

Ben

[Old Enough]

Post by Benjamin Kwiecien
It looks like the software referenced in the article is experimental; it may
not work as you expect!
The *usual* way of installing Linux is to first make sure that you have some
unused space on your hard drive set aside for it. In most cases, Windows
will be using _all_ of your hard drive, so making space for Linux might mean
having to reinstall Windows. An alternative method is to put a second hard
drive into your computer and have Linux go on that.
However you put Linux on your computer, it can live side-by-side with Windows,
and the presence of one won't hurt the other. Regardless of the method you
choose to install Linux, it can be removed easily.
The article you mentioned talked about a program that tries to install Linux
*on top* of Windows--not alongside it. This has some advantages and
disadvantages to it. The advantage is that you won't need to change your
system at all. The disadvantage is that it probably won't work.
Ben

Thank you, Ben!
I don't use a lot of HD space - but I have two physical hard drives:
Drive C is 20 gig, and 14 gig is free
Drive D is 40 gig, and 30 gig is free.

I installed most of my programs on Drive D, so that if I have to reformat Drive
C I won't loose any of them.

So you suggest I download the Linux software, and install it on drive D?

____________________________
Old enough . . .
to know I don't know a thing.

[Benjamin Kwiecien]

You have lots of different choices available to you, but I will list to you
the ones that I think are best worth considering in your situation.

In the first case (this is what I would do): copy your data on D back on to
drive C. Just copy the files you need--in order to move your porgrams from
D to C, you will have to reinstall them, otherwise Windows will lose track of
them. With D vacant, choose your favorite Linux distribution (I recommend
either Ubuntu or Fedora in most cases) and simply tell it to erase drive D
and take it over. Linux won't call it D, but probably something like "hdb",
which probably stands for "hard disk B". This way of doing it is the easiest
and requires the fewest steps. After this, Windows will no longer see a "D"
drive, but Linux will be there.

If you understand disk partitions, another similar alternative is to move your
programs/data onto C, erase the partition on D, and have Linux install on only
*part* of your D drive. With what's left over, partition the rest for Windows
again. This way you will still have "D" in Windows like you have been before,
but there will simply be less space available. Linux will be taking that
space which you lost. There are some programs out there that will "shrink"
your partition on D to make room for Linux, but this does not always work, and
you risk losing your data. It's better to delete it and rebuild.

Linux can read files on Windows very easily. If your partitions use the FAT32
file system, you can use Linux to copy files back and forth between Windows.
Linux can read files from NTFS most of the time, but this is much more
restricted than FAT32. If you use the second approach I gave you (recreate D
on the second hard drive), make sure you use FAT32 so you can transfer files
back and forth.

Ben

Post by Old Enough
Thank you, Ben!
Drive C is 20 gig, and 14 gig is free
Drive D is 40 gig, and 30 gig is free.
I installed most of my programs on Drive D, so that if I have to reformat Drive
C I won't loose any of them.
So you suggest I download the Linux software, and install it on drive D?

[Bit Twister]

Post by Old Enough
My computer (Windows XP Home SP2, P III 800 Mhz, ) is running pretty good.
I can install Linux along with my current XP?

Yes. You can defag your Windows drive, use a partition tool to shrink
about 10 gig and you can install linux into that
free/unformated/unknown partition if you pick Custom/Manual during the
Partition Phase of linux install.

I'll suggest
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=115843&package_id=173828
for creating a stand alone partition tool to shrink one of your
windows partitions. Format the partition as ext3. Then you boot the linux
installation cd/dvd of your choice. There are 300+ so you have fun. :)

http://www.distrowatch.com for someplace to start research.


I use Mandriva. You can download the 4 free cd set or dvd. Want to see
some install screen shots.
http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_mandriva_2007

Usually a pretty friendly help/support group found in alt.os.linux.mandriva

In the Package Selection Phase, I pick all groups except LSB and in
Desktop I select kde and gnome for desktop managers.

During partition phase, I click custom, click the drive, click the
ext3 partition set it as / and click done, Then off to package
selection.

[Old Enough]

On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:01:48 -0600, Bit Twister <***@mouse-potato.com>
wrote:

<Helpful information deleted>

On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 04:20:35 GMT, Benjamin Kwiecien <***@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:

<Helpful information deleted>

Thanks folks, for your very helpful information.
One of these days I'll get to work on this.
____________________________
Old enough . . .
to know I don't know a thing.

[tomiro]

My wife, who had never installed any operating system before,
successfully installed PCLinuxOS on two seperate PCs and was able to
make them dual boot.

As far as moving to Vista, well, there are actually better choices
available. In fact Vista currently comes in about 8th or so on the "best
desktops" list. see: http://sweetcomputing.com/index.php?wiki=Linux2007
--
Hope that helps,
tomiro

Spread the word. Speed up full Linux support everywhere. Ask for Linux -
http://sweetcomputing.com/index.php?wiki=AskForLinux

Post by Old Enough
My computer (Windows XP Home SP2, P III 800 Mhz, ) is running pretty good.
It is just that with all this talk about Vista, and people eventually having to
switch to Vista (which would probably mean buying a new computer) I have again
become interested in Linux.
Reading http://www.linux.org/news/2007/01/30/0003.html , does that tell me that
I can install Linux along with my current XP?
Would I first have to install a program such as "Boot It"
Would I be able to use the various and several programs which are now installed
on my computer?
If - for whatever reason - the two programs do not cohabit well on my machine,
can I easily uninstall Linux?
Please enlighten me, including any answers to questions I have not thought of.
Thanks!!!!
____________________________
Old enough . . .
to know I don't know a thing.