[Luckyjfl]

Hi, I do hope this has not been already dealt with. I have had winxp for so long now, I have forgotten when I got it. But I would love to try Linux. I know there are quite a few to choose from, Ie, Fedora, Ubuntu,Linspire, and pclinuxos to name but a few. Would it be better to install it on a seperate HD , rather then Partition the Primary one. Also, does the 2nd HD need to be formatted, leaving it ext3. Not too sure what that means as yet. If the 2nd HD has NTFS system on it, will the Linux still be able to install.
I hope you can help a Linux Noob out here. Thank you

[CouchMaster]

Most Linux CD's will setup a dual boot system for itself and windows just by following instructions during the installation process. Don't worry about the NT file system, and you can choose something other than ext3 for Linux if you wish.
Just defrag and clean up the windows partition first.
Oh, and run the live CD first to see if it finds all of your hardware.

[saikee]

The safest way to install a Linux is to have the partition ready before the installation.

It can work if one choose to resize an existing partition, create new ones, format them and install Linux inside. However if one step is wrong one can lose both systems and does not know how to salvage the situation.

Having partitions ready, a minimum of two as 1Gb for a swap and a 10Gb for the distro, means the existing Windows has to be resized first, proved operational before the new partitions are created.

Resizing a ntfs partition reliably there are gparted and Parted Magic, both offer Live CD.

If a user has a 2nd hard disk it is easier. The Section A of the 2nd link in my signature was written for such application.

To create partition what can be better than running the distro as a Live CD and use its own terminal partitioning tool, like cfdisk.

[Luckyjfl]

Thanks for that info Guys. It gives me an idea how to go about installing Linux.
Cheers

[Luckyjfl]

Hi Guys, I actually installed Linux on my 40 gig slave. It went on with no bother except one, which I do not understand yet. If I type anything in note pad or whatever, it changs all the letters. This I can understand if I am install a Passwordb ut it fails me when I go to log into another web site. I guess it is a simple enough problem, if one can understand it. Any ideas please.

[saikee]

Are you talking the Linux has installed a keyboard for country A while the hardware you are using is country B?

If that is the case just change the keyboard in Linux.

You didn't tell us what disto you have got but for a KDE system you can configure it in the desktop. For a Gome system sometimes you can change the country setting at the login page.

[williamrobinsonb]

what you need is a live cd with the option to install, like pclinux2007 or knoppix
I have tried pclinux, pupy,suse,damsmall,knoppix,morphix,ubunto,debian,and many others
pclinux2007 just works the best for my wireless network
i havent had to edit one text based system file to get things to work
and pclinux has a fat repository
that means pclinux has a large group of free working programs that you can install from the web with just 2 clicks of a mouse that are tested and preconfigured for your pclinux2007 os

[williamrobinsonb]

remember to use the country of your native language

[TheRobatron]

Can anyone recommend a version of Linux to install, because I know there are lots out there...

[saikee]

I wrote this thread a few days ago just to answer this sort of question.

[Luckyjfl]

Hi Guys, thank you for the help. Sorry I did not get back to you sooner. Like you said a live cd was the best and I think putting it on a completly seperate Hard, is better still.

Cheers again.

Lucky