This Could be a very stupid question. Got my new laptop it has vista, and I was wondering if it would be possible without re-installing (formatting) if I would be able to partition part of my drive to instal linux.





On a side note, what version of linux do you recommend for a begginer.

 

Yeah. Ubuntu comes with a partition tool, G-Parted I think it is. Lets you resize a partition as long as you have free space on it to do it. Pretty simple to do, if you follow the directions properly.

S'what I did when I installed it on my secondary SATA HDD.

 

thanks for the help folks.

Ill give this a shot tomorow.

 

If you've been a long time Winblows user, I'd suggest getting the version of Ubuntu with KDE (aptly named Kubuntu). It's a pretty close mirror to Winblows, and still has the awesomeness of Ubuntu.

 

KDE++

Although, truth be told, outside of commands, there isnt much difference between GNOME and KDE. You can use either without much trouble.

I like KDE most because of its inbuilt ability to use more than one wallpaper with multiple monitors with no additional software or photo-editing needed.

 

For a fairly risk free method of trying Linux, I'd go with Wubi. It's a Windows installer for Ubuntu. It doesn't create a new partition, but instead stores itself as a file in Windows. If you want to move it to its own partition later on, you can. If you never want to see Linux again, you can completely uninstall it just as easily.

Wubi is also on the Ubuntu Live CD if you have that somewhere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wubi_(Ubuntu)
http://wubi.sourceforge.net/

ZDNet "The Wubi installer is as simple as it can be."

Ars Technica "The installer is trivially easy to use and works just like a regular Windows installation program."

InfoWorld "Installation itself may be Hardy Heron's biggest revelation. This release offers a new, optional installation utility called Wubi, which promises to lower the barrier to entry considerably."

Disclaimer: I haven't used Wubi myself, but I've never heard a bad word about it.

 

Gentoo is recommended for all beginners

 

There's a way to Install KDE on Ubuntu, http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/install-kde-kubuntu-on-ubuntu/ this gives you the option to choose which one you want to log into...

It worked about 6 months ago, since then I have deleted that partition because I wanted the space back for my porn

/me ponders giving Ubuntu another spin..

 

Check this site - you can choose whatever flavour of GNU/Linux you want, depending on your needs and tastes.

http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

Regards,
Maidros

 

Ubuntu's install has the partition resize option. Get The latest Ubuntu and give it a go. It is the most user friendly.

APC mag has some very good tutorial walkthroughs for installing linux when Vista is already on a PC.

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first.htm

 

Since murton so kindly bumped the thread im going to add this on, anyone know of any problems with Kunbuntu and wireless connections?

It Sees my network but will not let me connect. Keeps telling me unable to connect.

 

Most likely to do with incompatible/buggy driver issues with the driver Kubuntu has automatically downloaded. If you can get on the internet via Ethernet try and download/install the system updates it shows and see if that fixes your problem. If not, search in the numerous linux forums with details of your wireless card and the distro you are using. Most likely other people have encountered the problem and will post how they fixed it. I've done this with every problem I have encountered with Ubuntu and in every case someone has had the same problem and someone else has posted a quick fix to the problem.