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Thread ID: 78646 2007-04-23 09:59:00 Linux setup Bryan (147) Press F1
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543562 2007-04-23 23:53:00 Hi Bryan,
Like you I wanted to try Linux - and see what the hype was about (I'm still an avid learner - only using it for 3 months). My suggestion (if you haven't already) is to try a live-CD first, have a play around, and then go the step further once you're sure you want to go to HD installation.

Based on own experience - would recommend you try Mepis (www.mepis.org) Live CD. Their unofficial catch phrase "it just works" - basically for me worked without hassles of hardware configuration. I've tried quite a few distros now - even new Kubuntu 7.04 - and just switched back to Mepis again.

As long as you have time, download a few CD's - try other distros - but if you start with the live CDs you can at least try and find something that should work with your hardware specs. Try distro-watch to see the live CDs available. For me Mepis was the 'standout'.

If you want to make a dual boot (hd install) after you've experimented a bit with the live CD, (if you use Mepis) you can actually install off the live CD. Some others give this option as well (Kubuntu is one of them).

I didn't try repartitioning my drive in the end (was worried about losing XP) - so just bought & installed 2nd HD drive (for safety sake). Then followed the instructions for installation making sure it was installed on 2nd hard drive (hdb). Other nice thing about having 2 drives with Mepis is that from Linux I can easily access (and write to) the windows drive. Good for backing up files while I've been playing around with other distros.

Hope this helps.
Brooko (8444)
543563 2007-04-24 01:11:00 Thank you Brooko, and everyone else who took the time to reply. I at least feel a little more comfortable now. Thanks again. Bryan (147)
543564 2007-04-24 04:11:00 Just take your time, and make sure you are sure before you push the "OK" button. :D

If there is an unallocated partition, Linux installers will always ask if you want to use that. They will never delete and overwrite a partition which is in use by another OS, unless they are told to do that, by a "sure" user. (There is one exception ... some of the dedicated firewall packages assume they own the hardware ... but Linus OS installations are careful).
Graham L (2)
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