Ubuntu + XP on my Inspiron 6000.

Well I am setting up a dual boot config set up on my aging Inspiron 6000. I am very pleased with Ubuntu so far. The best thing is that everything is recognized and there is no need for drivers. For example, I installed Ubuntu and had sound, the correct resolution (1680 x 1050) and even wireless off the bat. To do this in Windows that would be three drivers! I also like all the gadgets such as CPU monitor and resource monitors, again, these are things that I would have to download from somewhere else for XP. Shoot, it even throttles the CPU on its own. It is great. The only struggle I am having thus far is partitioning, but I think I finally got it right on my third try. Anyways, just showing my appreciation for Linux. Good stuff.

 

Glad to hear that you're having success. One of the great things about linux is that it can still run on older systems without running into resource problems.

If your partitions are set up and you don't need to change anything, I'd recommend putting on ntfs3g so that you can access your XP partition from linux. There's also a way to access ext3 from windows, but as I use linux as my primary OS, i've never had the need to use it.

 

Thanks. I may ask you some more about that later. That is something I would probably like to do in the future. For now, I should stay plenty busy getting acquainted. I've used Linux and Unix in the past, but I have never had it on my own computer. I am pretty excited.

 

Windows Ext2 driver: http://www.fs-driver.org/
It can also read/write Ext3, but doesn't do any journaling.

As far as partitioning, I have no idea what sort of struggles you're having, but I recommend at the very least putting your /home directory on a different partition so you don't have to redo all your personal settings when/if you reformat or try a different distro.

 

Yea, I read about that, but didn't do it for now since I am a noob with this stuff. For now, I don't plan on using it as my main OS because I can't get Matlab and Maple installed. (Out of Maple licenses, haven't figured Matlab out yet). I am using it now for an OS that is quick to get into and isn't a resource hog. I really like it so far.