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Post by movieman36 on Sept 6, 2010 15:01:47 GMT
Right, I have never ever played with Linux and to be honest never even been tempted as I like stuff to 'just work'. I have been told that Linux has moved on considerably over the last few years so here is what I was thinking.
I have one of the first Dual core laptops (a 1.6 Ghz) with 1 GB ram on WinXP. It is crawling along under windows now but I don't want to mess around with a new WinXP install as I don't have the back up disc anymore.. So thought..'Linux'.
The laptop will mainly be used for internet access and a bit of office work (Thinking open office)...what would your suggestions be? I will hopefully still have the windows installation in place if I should ever need it.
Ta
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Post by elvisuk on Sept 6, 2010 18:23:11 GMT
I use Linux Mint 64bit it's very good i like it better than W7 whether it will work on you laptop i don't know Mikkh will now more about it when he gets hear.
have a look at this link lots of Linux hear distrowatch.com/
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Post by mikkh on Sept 6, 2010 21:03:01 GMT
Yes, Linux has improved out of all recognition since my first faltering steps in it. I had to really struggle on even simple things, which was quite frustrating as a qualified Windows technician. I don't like things beating me though and I was determined to master it - I'm glad I did now
You'll always have the Windows install, unless you deliberately choose to delete it as part of the install. Linux is quite happy to acknowledge that Windows exists and always makes provisions for booting it
There are two ways of doing it - one involves partitioning the hard drive which seems to scare a lot of people but gives a lot more choice of which 'distro' you can put on the machine. The second way is via a 'wubi' type install which installs to a Windows folder on a Windows partition and does away with the (so called) hassle of partitioning
I'll assume you want the easiest option when installing, so you're basically restricted to Ubuntu or Mint (which is just Ubuntu in a prettier frock)
Unless you understand the principals of virtual CD drives, you'll have to burn the downloaded ISO file onto a CD or DVD first, then just pick the 'install inside Windows option - from Windows
If you want to be a bit more adventurous, making some Linux partitions will throw open the doors to every other version of Linux and it's a small price to pay IMO. A few will do the partitioning for you as part of the install - PClinuxOS comes to mind and once you've done one 'real' Linux install, you can easily use the same partitions to install another version if you get bored of it. The grass often seems greener with other versions of Linux - or it did for me at least, and I tried literally dozens before settling on a few favourites.
The ones I'd recommend for beginners are:
PClinuxOS Mepis OpenSuse (community edition) Parsix and Mint 9 if you want to do the 'wubi' type install
You'll need about 10 GB of hard drive space for all installs, but you could get away with 5 GB on most
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Post by movieman36 on Sept 7, 2010 8:35:29 GMT
If I go the windows folder route I am assuming I would still have to wait for the painfully slow windows to boot before booting into Linux, yes/no?
I have read that you can actually run Linus directly off a CD, yes /no and if so which one?
Ta
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Post by mikkh on Sept 7, 2010 10:26:11 GMT
No, the 'wubi' Windows folder route adds an entry to the Windows boot loader, so you run it instead of Windows not from inside Windows, which would be painfully slow. It also adds an entry to to add/remove programs, so you can uninstall it easily too. It really is heaven sent for Linux newcomers because it does away with nearly all the problems first time users occasionally struggle on - like partitioning drives, boot loader problems, unfriendly installs that ask too many questions and how to get rid of it if you don't like it The 'live CD' option available in most distros is great for testing purposes, but you wouldn't want to run it that way all the time because of the time it takes to load and the fact your settings are not kept in most of them. And because it fetches programs directly from a CD/DVD, that takes time and slows you down. There is one live CD (and probably others) that is *meant* to be run 'live' though. It's called 'Puppy' and gets round the usual restrictions of live CD's by loading all the programs into RAM first, so it runs extremely quickly. It also makes a personal storage file on your hard drive where you can keep settings and newly installed programs if you want to. On normal live CD's you boot into the same thing all the time, which is great if you want to do a bit of anonymous surfing, but annoying if you need to download an extra program because you'll have to do it every time. With Puppy, assuming you've used the personal storage option (it asks when you reboot or shutdown) You'll come back to the system you last used with all your settings and programs intact. I use it all the time as a rescue CD The list I gave you last time are all live CD compatible and Parsix has a new release today (just downloaded it myself) You can get them all from links on www.distrowatch.com
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Post by movieman36 on Sept 7, 2010 13:50:58 GMT
Cheers, I'll have a play....
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