Ubuntu 7.04

[meine]

Hey guys, I've decided to make the change to Linux, but I need your help. I have an idea of what I want to do: Because Linux is a much more secure OS I want to use it as my "main" OS, the one I use to go on the internet, chat, do homework, listen to music, etc., but not to play games-I will be using my Windows XP system for that. However the question is, how can I keep my Windows XP and have a different partition in my HD with Ubuntu in it? What program/s will I need to use? What else do I need to know before making that change? Has anyone else tried doing this with this Linux distro before?

Any type of positive and relevant feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks :)

[loki]

Check out the recent editions of MaximumPC, they've been doing a few articles on getting started with Linux. Also, the Ubuntu forums themselves are quite good. Personally I've got Xubuntu running on a second machine, and have had Linux dual booting with Windows without any troubles before.

loki

[meine]

Thanks Loki, I just went to Barnes and Noble to look for some Ubuntu books (Amazed at the variety I saw) but it's not worth IMHO spending 40 bucks when Ubuntu has such a broad and helpful community on the internet, for FREE! And yes, that's what I want...dual booting, which pretty much all I have I to do is launch my Ubuntu .iso file (Which I already have saved on a CD.)

[Hurricanez]

Hi. The ubuntu CD will take care of all partitioning for you during the install.

**ON WINDOWS, DEFRAG YOUR HARD DISK DRIVE FIRST**. Partitioning NTFS is better than it used to be, but it is important to defrag your hard drive so all the data is at the beginning of the drive so the partitioning is smooth and safe.

You need to burn the .iso as an image.

When you run it, initially it will be working as a "live CD", doesn't install anything, but runs directly off the CD (just somewhat slow).

If you decide you like it, there is an "install" option on the desktop.

During the install process, it'll ask you about partitioning. Something like this:
http://communitymx.com/content/sourc...disk_space.jpg

Just resize as needed.

Hope that helps.

Matt



All advice here is without warranty

[Adrian Wainer]

X Plane will run under Linux

Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer

[loki]

Probably the most important thing to do is back up your Windows data before partitioning. While I haven't had any problems yet with the partitioning apps used when installing Linux, it only takes once to loose all of your data.

For partitioning I use Acronis DiskDirector Suite to make free space on the drive. Then when installing Linux you can just tell it to use the free space on the drive. If things do go wrong, DiskDirector then has some tools to recover and repair damaged partitions.

loki

[angels355]

Hi Meine,

You might check out Kubuntu, it seems more similar in GUI layout to Windows I've heard, Ubuntu I've been told has a GUI that is more similar to a Mac. Both are Ubuntu, and available I believe on the same Ubuntu website. On one tech forum they were discussing dual booting and some distros seem more adept than others at installing next to Windows.

I am really good at messing up, when I was reinstalling Windows on one of my flight sim computers w/ FS on the slave HDD, using DOS somehow I managed to wipe out all data on both the master and slave HDD's. After that, when trying to reinstall Windows on the master HDD now I actually unplugged the IDE cable to the slave HDD to prevent it from being erased etc.

Any way, to be really cautious I'm hoping to put Ubuntu, or Kubuntu, or possibly Mandriva on a slave drive entirely separate from my Windows plus Flight Simulator HDD.

Ubuntu/Kubuntu has a live dvd where you can try them out without installing it onto your computer. What you do is check or change your bios so that on startup the computer will try booting from the dvd drive. Then put the Ubuntu/Kubuntu live dvd disk into your dvd drive, then restart the computer (start, shut down, restart). The live dvd should boot up, and you can run Ubuntu or Kubuntu straight from that dvd disk without even installing it onto your hard drive.

Like Loki was saying, be very cautious about backing up your data before doing all this. Backing up is not only a good practice, but also it can come in handy. I have a stack of maybe 3 or 4 inches of cd's that have backed up my computers, going all the way back to my original 150 mhz computer from several years ago. That computer was extremely slow (at that time it was only 120 mhz and 32 mb's of ram vs 150 mhz plus 96 mb's of ram now, a big difference), but it had great data on it that I still access often from those backup disks. Windows has been reinstalled two more times since then on that computer after a complete overhaul, but I'm still able to access all the original data, which is great.

I think it is great that you are exploring Linux. There are some cool free programs for it too, like openoffice.org , and Gimp which is a free photo editing program like Adobe Photoshop.

I have burned a couple of Linux disks, and have an older version of Ubuntu that I would like to try as a live dvd, but haven't reached the point of getting any of them going yet. I might try an older Knoppix on my internet computer, and the Ubuntu live dvd on my FS8 #2 computer.

Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

[loki]

While Kubuntu (which uses KDE for the windowing system) may be a little more like Windows, it is still something different. Ubuntu itself, which uses Gnome for the Windows, may have similar ideas to the Mac OS, it is quite different.

loki

[angels355]

I think Linux is exciting, there are several distros I'd like to check out, (K)Ubuntu of course, and I'd also like to check out Mandriva. The payware Mandriva is interesting, it comes with Cedega by Transgaming that will run a few Windows games (normally there is a monthly subscription to Cedega but I don't know how they work it with Mandriva payware version); payware Mandriva also has a special program that will legally play cd's and dvd's in Linux, has all the proper licensing.

And to think I owe it all to Microsoft! I had been a diehard Microsoft fan, until acivation programming came along in FSX (ultra sensitive activation programming in FSX, Vista, and Office 2007, and the Big Brother Windows Genuine Advantage program). MS has no idea how much I wrestle with my hardware, then they want to not only overcharge me for their products, but also they want me to contact them every time I change hardware? That was when I started exploring alternatives. In addition to what I already had I also recently purchased six 98SE licenses.

Well, times they are a-changing, so MS has quit supporting a lot of old technology, like I think 16 bit, and there is a new method of processing game sound files so if you want to run some old games in Vista you have to install an emulator for the sound, etc. Any way, as times are a-changing, I think it would be great if MS could port their games like Flight Simulator, and other games they produce, to be capable of running on Windows, Linux, or Mac. After all times are changing, and Linux is becoming more popular, and Apple to say the least is a superlative and very successful company. I think MS should port their games to be compatible to Linux and Macs also. After all these are game products that people pay money for, they are not freebies given away just because you purchased Windows. So since they are products we pay for, why not make them compatible for any of the three main operating systems, Windows, Linux, or Mac. On Windows systems, FSX declares on the box that the bare minimum is that you have to have XP with SP2, older versions of Windows won't run it like, the original XP, or Win 2000, or ME/98. So let's go ahead and forget about the past and past outdated operating systems like XP, Win 2000, 98/ME, and look toward the future, embrace the future! And the future is Vista/XP SP2, Linux, and Macs. I wonder what they would think of that suggestion? Clearly 98/ME, Win 2000, are inferior so they should not be supported, and clearly Linux and OSX are superior to these older products also, and certainly either comparable or superior to Vista. OSX 10.4 and 10.5 are vastly superior to Vista obviously in internet security, 10.4 only has SEVEN total malware threats on the internet. So, I think Microsoft should embrace the future, and port their games and other products to be compatible to Linux and Macs. Of course MS Office is ported to Macs, but it would be great if their games would get with the program also. I think this porting would have to include DX9 or DX10 which ever is applicable for the game, so that DX9 or DX10 themselves would also be ported to Linux or Macs.

Perhaps we'll have a bold new future!

[meine]

I appreciate all the replies. I guess this is more complicated than I thought, I will back up my data. Also, I have already burned the Ubuntu .iso file in my CD-but not as an "image" (?) is there a special program I need in order to do this???

Also, I think that I'm going to have to purchase a bigger HDD before I install Ubuntu, I currently have a 80GB WD with some 25GB of space left-should I purchase a new HDD before I make the switch? (HDDs nowadays are extremely cheap.)

I recently found this website that seems pretty helpful with the process:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/iso



Thank you very much, once again.