Adding Linux

I have a question on whether or not I can add a Linux operating system to my PC without reinstalling windows. I have two hard drives.

Another thing, is webfldrs xp something I need on my computer?

 

To answer your first question, it is possible to install linux on your system without re-installing windows. I don't know wich distro you're planning to install, but with Ubuntu you can install it on any drive you want.I have it installed on my second harddrive.

Lamehand

 

I have frespire. Do I just install it on the second drive? Would I have to reinstall it to put both operating systems on one drive?

 

I don't know frespire, but you should be able to install it on your main drive on a other partition. in fact you could install it on any drive, in a free partition of course.
Normally after the install, at start-up, the bootloader will present a menu from wich you can chose wich OS to start, Ubuntu is using GRUB for this.

Lamehand

 

Will I have to change my bios so that I can boot up from either system?

 

You don't have to change your BIOS, I've found this link, wich will explain in detail what to do.

http://wiki.freespire.org/index.php/Download_Freespire

Lamehand

 

Another option is to use VMWare Server (which is free) and launch Linux from within Windows. Your virtualized Linux system will effectively be a whole new system; I personally found this option more satisfying, it has a lot of benefits, and you can even make a whole new "totally encrypted" OS by dropping the image inside a TrueCrypt partition.

 

Great tip

Another solution to trying out linux is of course to also use cygwin, but it is pretty CLI orientated for those new to *nix (though you can install x.org).

If it is your first time installing linux, I would just use vmware server, and start from there. Mrkvonic has some nice tutorials dealing with it, so they should start you on your way.

Cheers,

Alphalutra1

 

Well, I'm running VMWare with an OpenBSD installation in a TrueCrypt partition on my laptop these days, and it really is pretty darn cool.

 

I would just like to interject at this point and say that if you run VMPlayer, then be sure you have enough RAM to support both Windows and your guest operating system. Many a time, I went through the downloading process and the installation only to find out that the system could not run due to insufficent resources.

Also, as safe as these Linux resizing partitioners are, just make sure to have a backup just incase anything goes wrong when you partition your main drive for your Linux OS. But they're really safe from my experience. Especially those that use some form of GParted.

And lastly to answer the question about BIOS, you don't have to tinker with any of that to boot into your operating system of choice. Basically your Linux distro should install a Boot Manager such as GRUB or LILO, and they shoudl give you the choice of which operating system you want to boot into once you start up your computer. I've set my default automatic boot as Windows from inside SUSE [I do need it for work and school]. It's a fairly automated process, so you don't have to worry much on how you should boot into your OS of choice.

 

Is this a process or is it a program that you have installed?

I do not have it on my system, but I do not know about others.

 

Yes, but the drawback is that the performance of the virtualized OS is markedly worse unless you allocate a considerable amount of RAM to the virtual machine. For me 512 MB wasn't good enough, but with 1 GB it's okay now.

 

What if i only have a total of 1 GB of RAM, i'm assuming then that i won't be able to allocate a recommended 1 GB?

 

Very true - I'm sorry for you But seriously: The VM is also running with 512 MB, of course, but the performance loss is more noticeable.

 

I have been very interested in virtualization software and Linux for a while now. The concept that TNT has mentioned does sound very convenient. As i have mentioned, i have only 1 GB of RAM in total. Would it be suitable to test this environment with my resources?

 

Sure. If you're unhappy with the performance you can still consider adding more RAM. I should add that I'm running Windows XP in a VM on a Linux host, so my situation is different from yours. Perhaps the performance drop for Linux in a VM is smaller than for WXP...

 

Thanks Thomas,
i'm downloading VMWare Server as we speak. I would imagine that windows XP would require more RAM on a Linux host opposed to Linux being in the RAM. I will test this and will let you know.
Thanks.

 

tony62, one more hint. Once you've created a VM with VMware Server, installed the VMware Tools (via the menu - very important for the performance!) and used the option in VMware Server to defrag the VM, you might consider to deinstall VMware Server again and start the VM with VMware Player instead - its footprint is IMHO smaller than VMserver's.

 

Thomas,
there appears to be many variants of Linux, so far all of which i am having difficulty downloading. Could you advise me on which would be most appropriate, maybe a link, thanks.

 

I recommend Ubuntu (one important reason can be found here), available from their homepage. For most users coming from Windows, however, the version with the KDE GUI - called Kubuntu - is probably preferable (the default GUI is Gnome). You'll find the link on the above homepage.
The Ubuntu Desktop Guide can be found here, have also a look at the forums and the Wiki. Very useful is also the Easylinux Ubuntu Guide.

Have fun!

 

Excellent links Thomas, many thanks