Thanks. I will try it out. --- Kim Lux <lux@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > The format may be messed up, but here is something > that might help. > > > The new laptop owner has a decision to make: dual > boot or not. For those > not â??in the knowâ?? about Linux, modern versions > of Linux can be installed > such that the user has the option to select which OS > he desires to run: > XP or various versions of Linux. > > > While it is more work to set the laptop up in this > manner, the > advantages to a dual boot system are several: > > > a) Windows software can be run on the same machine > in its native OS > (versus running it under wine in Linux) > > > b) One can boot back and forth into Windows and > Linux while one is > working out the hardware issues with setting Linux > up. This can be > extremely helpful if the laptop is your only > computer. > > > i. One can allow a user not familiar with Linux > to use the laptop > without having to educate them. > > > > > There are some downsides: > > > a) it is somewhat more work to set up a dual boot > system. > > > b) the XP partition takes up valuable hard drive > space. > > > i. one has to watch that the use of XP doesn't > introduce viruses > onto the laptop, ie XP viruses running under > XP that do damage > to the boot image or to the Linux > partitions. Luckily Linux is > relatively immune to such viruses, but > partition damage <from a > Windows virus to the Linux partition> is > partition damage. > > > > d) if one is just learning Linux, one has a tendency > to stick with using > Windows. If you want to learn to use Linux, I > recommend NOT installing a > dual boot system. Some people disagree with this > mentality. I guess it > depends what on your patience level, Unix knowledge, > how critical your > system is to you, etc. as well as your pain > threshold. > > > I needed my laptop for a project that had both Linux > and Windows > components, thus I chose to set up a dual boot > system. This is my first > dual boot system and it works great. I almost never > boot XP up, save for > work on a project that requires Windows software > development. > > > BTW: If you install a dual boot system and want to > uninstall Windows at > some point and regain the hard drive space for > Linux, you can. Linux has > a tool that can repartition NTFS (and other) file > systems such that the > Windows partition can be removed and the space used > by Linux, WITHOUT > THE LOSS OF ANY LINUX DATA. WOW ! > > > > Obtaining Linux Software and Tools. > > > The first thing you will need to do is obtain the > required software, ie > a Linux OS. > > > You can obtain Fedora Linux ISO files from > www.redhat.com/fedora. Click > on the download icon at the top of the page, select > a mirror site and > start downloading. I typically download the ISO > files necessary for a > complete installation. I do not download the source > RPMs unless I have a > specific use for them. > > > BTW: I recommend that you do NOT download > development or project ISOs. > While it can be fun to work on Fedora development > projects, unless you > are quite experienced with Linux this is a mistake. > As one developer put > it: â??nothing in a test release should be expected > to work without > problemsâ??. It is not unusual when running a test > release to spend as > much time debugging and documenting â??issuesâ?? as > using the software > productively. > > > Once you have the install ISO files, you'll need to > burn them to CDROMs. > For those not familiar with ISO files, they are a > file system image. > When an ISO file system is burned to a CDROM, the > file system image > should be expanded into the real file system, > resulting in a bootable, > ready to use CDROM. > > > It takes special software to burn an ISO file onto a > CDROM such that it > results in a usable file system. If the CDROM has > one file on it named > <file>.iso when it is done, the burner software did > NOT correctly burn > the ISO file. A correctly burnt CDROM will have a > complete file system > on it, with the files, holders, hidden files and > links that were > represented in the ISO image. > > > Windows typically does not include CDROM burning > software capable of > correctly burning an ISO image. A Windows user must > typically procure > and install software capable of burning an ISO > image. Luckily the ZD7000 > machines ship with the Sonic CDNOW software > installed, an application > that can burn your ISO files to CDROMs or a DVD. > > > Linux has several applications capable of burning an > ISO image file. > Xcdroast and cdrecord are just 2 applications that > will burn an ISO > image. My favorite Linux CD software is k3b. > > > > To install dual boot Linux from CDROMs: > > 1) Remove everything you donâ??t want on the Windows > hard drive. This > allows you to make the Windows partition as small as > possible. > > > 2) Download the Linux ISO files and burn the ISO > disks. Youâ??ll need to > find a Windows app that understands the concept of > ISO files ! > > > 3) Download a Linux Rescue Disk ISO and burn it to > CDROM. > http://www.sysresccd.org/ > > > 1. Boot with the Linux Rescue CDROM. I disabled > network > functionality and automatic device searching > finding. Run > â??run_qtpartedâ??. I resized the Windows > partition from 75 GB to 16 > GB, leaving 59 GB for Linux. Donâ??t forget > to commit the change ! > === message truncated === __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo
