Installing Linux with XP

OK guys I have decided to try to install Linux on my PC on my D: drive, here is my specs
MAXTOR 6L040J2 [Hard drive] (40.03 GB) -- drive 0
MAXTOR 6L040J2 [Hard drive] (40.03 GB) -- drive 1


c: (on drive 0) 40.02 GB 34.21 GB free
d: (on drive 1) 40.01 GB 39.94 GB free
256 Megabytes Installed Memory
Board: Intel Corporation D850MV AAA56420-202

Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: Intel Corp. MV85010A.86A.0005.P02.01080113

1600 megahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Can someone tell me where I go to learn how to do this. and also I have been reading about "Compiling Kernels " and all sorts of things like this that I have never heard of before. Is this required, to know all about source codes and programming, in order to use this or get started. If so I am way over my head before I ever get started. Is there an easy way to install and get this up and running. I know absolutely nothing about Linux except what I have read on here but I want to learn just so I can migrate away from windows.

 

You dont need to know about programing or kernel compiling to use Linux. Thank goodness.
Get a distribution like Mandrake, Fedora or SuSE for easy installation or give Knoppix's Live-CD a try.
Most installs now are a few clicks and you're done.
In your case, you will have to tell the installer what drive to install to: your XP is on C:. In Linux it's called hda and your D: drive, depending on where it's at on the controller could be hdb, hdc, or hdd:
primary master = hda
primary slave = hdb
secondary master = hdc
secondary slave = hdd
Also check out the links in my signature; they answer a lot of questions.
HTH
lynch

 

Thanks Lynch, I will check these out. Its good to know that everyone will be here to answer and solve the problems when needed. and I am sure you will be needed

 

You may want to try knoppix first, just to give yourself a feel for linux. It will be a little slow, as it is an entire 2gb operating system jammed into a compressed cd. It will give you the feel for linux, whithout any problems. Then, if you like knoppix you can either install knoppix to your hard drive, making it a debian unstable install, or download one of the other distro's above, and install them. Most of these distros are easy to install and use, although its a little diffrent from windows. A knoppix hd install is a little more advanced than Suse or Mandrake.

 

I have installed both XP and Suse on my IBM A31p Notebook with ZERO problems. Here is how I did it:

1. XP having already been installed, needs to have the disk cleanup and defrag ran to clean up the "trash" and stick the files to the front of the HDD. This is a VERY important step. Restart with SUSE 9 CD or DVD in drive.

2. Installation instructions with give you a chance to install SUSE beside XP (FAT or NTFS). It will adjust existing partitions (including the hidden recovery partition, if you have one so be careful), and useually split the difference by default.

3. You may want to lower the linux partition and give yourself about 3-4 times the amount of RAM you have for a Linux Swap file. Think of this as adding more memory for your computer though it is actually HDD space. This is a watered down answer but it pays off. The example is say I have 512MB of RAM, then I create a 1.5GB Swap partition.

4. Once you get the partitioning correct, and by following the defaults you'll be pretty safe, it's smooth sailing from there. Honestly, this is about as simple as it gets, as I was able to pull it off without ever having installed Linux before. (Of course I had printed instructions basically outlining the above).

Enjoy