[1002richards]

Hi,
I'm planning on using "Puppy Installer for Windows XP" I love the speed it displays.
This program installs Puppy Linux on Windows drive (C:\). It will just download/copy files, but does not alter partitions. This version can be used for future versions of Puppy, too. It has a small entry, where you can enter the release to install.
http://www.puppylinux.org/user/downloads.php?cat_id=3

I want to use Open Office on this OS. However once I boot into Puppy I cannot access Internet via my USB lead (long story but I cannot access internet in Puppy)
If I download Open Office while in Windows is there a way of installing it in Puppy, as Puppy will be on my Windows C drive?

Many thanks for any tips/hints or help!

Richard

[saikee]

Things must be developing fast as Linux, without special program like ntfs-3g installed, officially does not write on a NTFS partition.

Grub also cannot read a ntfs partition.

Thus if Puppy can be installed into the "C" drive of XP it may require the partition to be in fat16 or fat32. This is my first point but advancement in technology in the last couple of months could be huge.

I know one can transfer data from a fat16 into a ntfs and then to ext2 filing format between Windows and Linux. Programs like Open Office, I would have thought, would need to be inside a Linux partition, with filing type Ext2 for example, in order to run. If Linux programs can run in XP then there is no need to install Linux.

I believe Puppy if installed in the "C" drive of XP and its partition in fat16/fat32 format as I suspect then the same partition is just being used by two different operating systems; Pupply Linux and XP, with only one system can run at a time. Grub would not take over as the boot loader but add itself to boot.ini to allow XP' NTLDR to boot Puppy as another choice.

Unless Open Office comes as part of Puppy it may not like the fat16/fat32 partition of XP.

Intersting prospect though but sounds a bit like a back-door approach. I would install Puppy as a normal Linux in its own partition and install whatever Linux software I see fit without being affected by XP.

[1002richards]

saikee,
Many thanks for your advice, I had an inkling that what I wanted to try to do sounded too simple to be workable.
I think I'll have to shelve my plan to use Linux as I can't find a small fast version with OpenOffice already installed.
Thanks again

Richard

[saikee]

1002richaards,

A 5Gb partition can install 95% of the distros. Most of them are no bigger than 3Gb when installed.

The kind of money you save on 5Gb hard disk space won't be enough to buy a beer. And you can't afford a 5Gb for a Linux? A lot of the Linux come with Open Office.

I am using Mepis 6.0.4 just installed an hour ago. Same as usual in a 5Gb partition. It has Open Office and took between 7.5 to 8 minutes to install.

[1002richards]

saikee,
I didn't realise that 5gb would suffice ... I'll do some research and see how I get on.
Many thanks.

Richard

[saikee]

If it helps to give you a bit of confidence out of 140+ distros I installed only about 3 of them exceed 5Gb. I think 7Gb just about enough to install any Linux. You can mount Windows partitions to put data there without inflating the Linux partitions.

Also Gparted 3.3 or Parted Magic 1.4, both in free downloadable iso images, are prettly reliable for resizing XP now.

ntfs-3g has matured to a level reiably write on ntfs partitions. It is not always packaged inside the distro but widely available.

I was surprised by how much Linux has advanced in the last 12 months.

[1002richards]

saikee,
Many thanks for your helpul advice, much appreciated.
Richard.