dual boot ?

J

JlCollins005

New Member
k im gunna run xp pro and a version of linux on my pc but the thing is which do i install firstm and does ne 1 have any suggestions on which version linux i want something that looks cool
 
Linux comes in many flavors is one typical expression heard for that OS! :P Windows likes the first primary by rule on any drive. Linux can easily be put on a separate root and followed with the swap partition(usually 2gb works depending on memory installed). Some favor ubuntu while others go for Mandriva, SUSe, or some other.

One way to see which distro seems to be the best for you is to first try out the live for cd version where you simply see that load from removable media with no changes to the HD made. In fact having one or more live distro onhand can be a big help rescuing files from a drive when the partition somehow becomes inaccessible. I keep Knoppix, Mephis, ubuntu, Gentoo, and Mandriva live distros onhand for this.
 
Windows should definitely go on first, as Linux is much more kind to Windows than Windows is to Linux. Install windows on a partition and leave room for your etx2 (Linux file system) and ext3 (swap partition, ~512MB if RAM=1GB, etc). Or you can install Windows on an entire drive, and Linux can shrink down the Windows partition and make room for itself (provided you have room on that drive/partition).

I prefer and humbly recommend Ubuntu as my Linux OS of choice.
 
Since you are planning to run Linux with Windows there even with only Windows run and wanting to split a drive you may want to get familiar with GParted live for cd. That will easily create the primary for XP(NTFS) as well as the VFat type partitions needed for the distro you go with. You can easily shrink a primary but that takes a lonnnggg time over taking an existing and expanding it.

Creating the initial primary for XP and leaving about 12-15gb for Linux won't even be noticed on a larger capacity drive. Linux can run easily on small partitions since there's no space reserves for a 2gb or larger paging file. The swap partition covers virtual memory there usually about 2gb works well. The 0.3.3.0 version of GParted specifically is the one you want. The others are strictly Linux as that one is "platform independent" meaning any OS and partition type. You get that free at http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=115843&package_id=173828

Take a look at the screen shots on GParted seen at the lsite there for getting a little more familiar with the differences seen at http://gparted.sourceforge.net/larry/livecd/screenshots/gparted-livecd-0.3.4-0.jpg Note in the upper right corner on the menu bar the "/dev/hda" is the first hard drive seen on a system. The default 1024x768 screen resolution will insure that button is visible while the 1280x1024 is best with large screen monitors only.
 
This is why I suggested starting off with a live for cd distro since tarz files need some experience in using. For a Linux newbie you would want a live version with the option to install making life a little easier there. Linux is still based on the old UNIX platform and a review of a few tutorials will help you considerably. While often found more stable then Windows it's still a different OS to begin with.

Some distros like Kubuntu, Darnsmall, Puppy, Knoppix, Zenwalk, Gentoo, and a few others are smaller easier to learn to use over some Red Hat distros like Fedora which are more server orientated. One site geared with Linux tutrorials would happen to be a Linux forum as well. http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/answers/

A few here at CF are regular Linux users that help quite a bit on different things to get you started. But there still things to learn like bash commands and the Grub type console similar to a MS dos prompt with a different set of manual commands.
 
ive messed around with darn small before, but thus the reason i want to have a linux as the 2nd os so i can get used to it, the only thing is my wireless card prolly wont work
 
I would have to agree readily as seeing this as a second OS. Eventually you would find some drivers or help with wireless. But that will most likely take some. When running several distros here on different occasions I could never get online with hard wired dsl. The ISP simply has no Linux compatible drivers found. 98 was the minimum requirement or one version of Apple/Mac but not Linux.
 
Lately some have discussed means of running a distro on a virtual machine through Windows where you simply download the distro and it's files into a folder you create for them and load it through a virtual process. The live cds are still going to be the fast and easy approach on deciding which one or more you want to run on the system there. Those give you plenty of options to look over.
 
The live cd is usually just that for use there. The suggestion for first running a live cd version was to see which one or more you would want to see installed. Generally 2, 3, or more iso images depending on the size of the distro are first downloaded to a folder and burned onto disk where it forms a set of installation disks.

Linux does install a little bit differently where the information is usually available at the download site for installing if not included in one of the iso images. Once burned to disk the iso image is then seen as a set of files and folders where a text file provides details.
 
well it says install on there but when i do it it just locks up so im not sure if its a bad burn or not but if i need to download a dif iso of ubuntu to install it plz tell me i like the gui already
 
What are you using to burn the iso disk images with? One thought on seeing problems would be seen with the program used for burning the disks many simply are no good for working with iso type files and creating bootable cd-rs.

A free version of one retail product has been a great asset in burning GParted live versions along with different Live and install to drive distros callled BurnOn found at http://www.burnworld.com/burnoncddvd/

After a good burn an IE windows opens for buying the full version while there's no time limit on the free download there unlike sharewares. The blank media being used could be a problem unless you generally see good burns. But even with the best nrands you can easily see a few frisbies get tossed! :eek: :mad: :P
 
The size of the distro itself determines the need for a second swap partition which can easily be an extended type while the root is often on a primary type. If you have 2gb of memory installed you may want to go with a 3 or 4gb swap partition and simply create a good 10-15-20gb primary depending size of drive as well as having one or more distros installed.

You won't really want or need any super large primary and can have more space free for Windows. The one thing about a swap partition is that it can be shared between two separate distros on the same drive. For running two distros with a 3 or 4gb swap seen you can run each on a 10gb or even less sized primary. Once you get more experience with Linux and see more and more program added then you will have a need for increasing drive space on the one or more being run.
 
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