windows and linux ?

M

meanman

Active Member
i am running windows xp home but i have three hdd in my system is it possible to install linux on one of the other hdd and if so will i be able to choose what os i want to boot to on startup if so is there a leagally free version of linux and were would i get it
 
meanman said:
i am running windows xp home but i have three hdd in my system is it possible to install linux on one of the other hdd and if so will i be able to choose what os i want to boot to on startup if so is there a leagally free version of linux and were would i get it
Click to expand...

You can do what you're talking about on one hard drive. You just have to divide it up into partitions. It's just as easy on multiple drives, too.

Your choice to boot program is called the boot loader. It goes at the beginning of the master hard disk and lists all the OSes installed on your computer. That'll be taken care of by your Linux.

All Linux is free. Sometimes, they are sold, but that's just for the privilege of support and the warm fuzzy feeling of supporting the OS that works so well for you.

For a beginner, I'd recommend using a "Live CD" first. It runs the same Linux that you'd install on your hard drive off of a CD. It will have a performance lag, especially if you have a slow drive, but will show you what will work out of the box, what won't, and how it'll all go down. Most Linuxes have this as an option.

I'm assuming from your multiple hard drives that this computer is a tower. Towers are WELL supported by Linux. Chances are most everything, including your high-speed Internet connections, will be automatically configured (like Plug-n-Play) to work by itself.

For a "n00b" Linux, I recommend Mandriva Linux. There is a Live CD for it, too. Both the version you run off CD and the installed version both have great hardware support and are cake to set up and use. Plus, there's a large community ready and willing to help.

It's good to see more and more people interested in Linux. Windows is... just more and more irresponsible and expensive at the same time, and Vista will keep up the family business even more so. It's not 100% as easy as Windows, but that is very arguably a strong point. (If it takes a little doing to install something yourself, imagine how hard it is for a virus or spyware to get in. ;))
 
hi

cheers for your help but here is a few more hopefully not silly questions how do you put linux to cd and when thats done do you set first boot device in bios to cd or do you run the cd from windows cheers for any advice
 
meanman said:
cheers for your help but here is a few more hopefully not silly questions how do you put linux to cd and when thats done do you set first boot device in bios to cd or do you run the cd from windows cheers for any advice
Click to expand...

No silly questions, only silly people. LOL

There's different downloads for the LiveCDs and installable versions. (Sometimes, the LiveCD has an option to install from the LiveCD, but that's not usually a good option, and it's not worth cutting corners on your operating system.)

When you download the Linux, it will be an ISO file(s). That's a disk image, the layout of an entire CD. You need a CD burner app to burn it. Windows XP burning WILL NOT DO IT. Luckily, there are lots of free apps that will. Google time!

As far as first boot, I would not change the BIOS. It's not bad to do it that way. You just have to make sure to turn it back, or you will get slow bootup later on (as the computer will check for that disk and wait for timeouts on EVERY bootup). Usually, a bootable CD will boot in the drive first by default, or there is a key to push during the BIOS splash screen to bring up a chooser. It could be 'C' for CD or a function key or something like that to start from the disk THIS TIME.
 
look at knoppix, it runs off a cd drive, good for getting the hang of linux without having to mess with hard drives
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top