Basic Linux Question

I was wondering if it it's advisable to install both Windows and Linux on the same notebook -
will having two OS create any problems?
(I've heard that some notebooks (like Vaios) have issues running Linux, and was also wondering if there are any other brands that have problems)

Also, is it difficult to do?

Thanks!

 

No it shouldn't be.

 

Please understand I am no Linux Expert. I just happen to know a bit about this because I have done it and look into this kinda of thing.

There are lots of tutorials out there for creating a dual boot lap top, let me know if you need a link I think I might have one del.iciou.us'd.

Drawbacks:
1st There is always a chance that you could lose everything when doing this! Just like anytime you mess with a partition that Windows is on. I am assuming that you don't have two harddrives if you do then nevermind sorta!

2nd Laptop hardware is sometimes not recognized as compared to a desktop. I put Red had on a compaq laptop I had back in 98 and it worked fine but I could not get on the internet (Dial up was all I had back then) because red hat would not recognize my "winmodem". These issues should be resolved with most current bradband networks.

I you have not tried a "Live CD" do that first. A Live CD let's you boot up from the CD without touching the harddriveLet me know if you need any links to that either.

If you know anything or more about Linux than me sorry for wasting your time just trying to help.

 

Just quick pointers. You won't be putting the linux at same partition with windows (I don't even know if it's possible). You can create multiple partitions on one disk. Lets just say that if you know what you do when installing windows you can install most linux distributions as well. Some of them are even easier to install than windows. One very easy distribution is ubuntu. You can download and burn the live-CD to try first.

 

Hey if you trying out Linux why dont you try the live cd version, no need to install

 

Just like happogiri said, make sure you put them on seperate partitions. Otherwise windows will have a fit. lol
Tim

 

With two os on one system you have to have two partitions.
The Lilo from linux lets you chose witch os you want to start.
Go for Linux.
Witch distro do you want to use?

 

i have tried installing fedora core on my laptop (asus v70va), put the first disc in..and i get a kernal panic...fun stuff...anyone have any idea what is going on?

tyia,

pb,out.

 

pb, I have had similiar issues with Fedora, I tried to install it on my desktop and downloaded the 4 cd's and burnt them in .iso images. When I went to install it checked the cd's and said they were incomplete, so I downloaded again. Same thing. I gave up and have ordered a book on amazon that has the cd's with it. I hope that helps me??

I did have much better luck with ubuntu, it loaded and installed nicely on my desktop. But if you want Fedora I would recommend buying the CD's.

Just a suggestion and I am assuming you burnt the ones you have??

Good Luck

 

yes i downloaded and burned the .iso to 4 discs .. took me forever to download all 4 discs, but im happy i had a download manager so i could continue them from where i left off.

mind linking the book you bought from amazon?

pb,out.

 

thanks for the advice...

I plan on using a distribution called Velouria, which is based on Fedora Core 3. I'd be installing it on a new laptop (yippee!).... I don't actually *have* to have Linux, I just find it more convenient for programming (also, it's my OS on my desktop at school).

Specifically, I am still wondering if there are certain laptops (like Vaio) that "disagree" with Linux, or if that's just a myth.

Any other problems caused by using both Windows and Linux??

 

If you go with a popular distro, you should have no major problems. imho, the biggest problem is if you actually are willing to do it

Then, the next step is partitioning (I'd assume you have justa big fat windows partition). Use the likes of PartitionMagic to shrink your windows partition (so you won't need to reinstall everything) and leave about 20G in total for linux (if you want to play with kde/gnome) or less (if you go with the likes of ubuntu (which offers gnome or kde - kubuntu). The quick way is with a single partition. however, a swap partition of 500M is "good for you" and it should be not the last one you create. Also, you might want to create another separate partition for /home (where your user is going to be located). this way, when/if you want to play around with more distros, you can reformat "/" partition without losing your settings & stuff.

In a short word, I think it's worth installing linux, just to have a comparison point. you might even like it as development or internet navigation (where not too many pests are present for linux).

Enjoy!

 

... the laptops don't "disagree" really. just given that stuff is developed by entushiasts (mostly) you can't expect that the latest SZ series vaio to have full support (i.e. I bet the camera and power management don't work properly). However, this is the fun of it: if you find it annoying, you can have a go at fixing it

btw, for dinstros, it's advisable that the distro is newer than your laptop. if you have a core duo latest and greatest, fedora 3 is a big no-no (unless you like updating your system a lot). for more details, go to www.distrowatch.com and check out the recent/popular distributions.

I'm a SuSE fan, but their downloads are 2+Gigs a pop (i.e. a DVD). maybe ubuntu on a CDRW is more advisable (even a "flight" release which would have a fairly recent kernel/tools/xwindows version)

 

Actually on the FedoraCore front, FC5 was released on Monday and can be torrented for download -- took about 5 hours to get the whole CD set (5 install, 1 recovery) -- I am doing a desktop install of it as I type this on my laptop...install is pretty straightforward (but make sure to burn the CD's in Disc-At-Once [Roxio] direct mode) and does give you the option of putting the boot-loader on the 1st linux partition instead of rewritting the MBR so doing multi-OS-boot is a breeze...

When I get my new laptop (either Core Duo or TurionX2 w/ 4GB) I am planning on running FC5 as primary OS w/ XP in a VMWare VM of 1GB..

 

ouch! vmware ... Probaly on 4G, it should be ok. 1G system is definitely not (when doing something useful in the guest OS).