Hello, new to Linux and hoping to learn

[DaveLee]

Hi, I'm very new to Linux. I've had Debian Etch for a few weeks and am just finding my way round it. I'm very inexperienced, so please forgive my ignorance - I've never even opened a terminal on my own.
I'm enjoying Debian but I want dual boot with Windows XP, because of various bits of software I want to continue using, and the fact that there is no Linux driver for the printer I use (a Lexmark Z604) as far as my googling can tell.
I'd be grateful if someone could direct me to some really simple instructions for installing XP on my Debian computer. Ta!

[techieMoe]

Do you have a spare empty partition or harddrive to put XP on? If not, you're going to need to shrink your largest existing Debian partition and make some space. Then install XP and fix your bootloader so you can boot back into Debian.

Or are you not worried about losing Debian? If that's the case, just wipe the drive and make two partitions. Install XP to one, first, then install Debian to the other. Your bootloader will take care of itself.

[Freston]

Welcome to the forums!

The easiest way to dual boot with XP is to install XP first. Otherwise Windows needs some convincing to play second fiddle

Another option, if you have the RAM and CPU for it is to run XP in a VM. VirtualBox or VMware.

As for your printerdriver. Don't give up on it yet. I found this: Ubuntu Lexmark Z600 series howto
Ubuntu is based on Debian so it should be relatively compatible. But I can understand if you can't make much sense of it. Maybe you do. I dunno. This was a quick google and looks promising
If you can't get it to work, don't hesitate to ask questions.

I don't know if you have found this already, but Linux uses CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) for all our printing needs. It's different from Windows in that you access it through your browser. Point your browser to

localhost:631

And bookmark it for future reference

[DaveLee]

I can install another hard drive, I've a few old ones to pick from. Sounds like that option makes it more straightforward?

Do you have a spare empty partition or harddrive to put XP on? If not, you're going to need to shrink your largest existing Debian partition and make some space. Then install XP and fix your bootloader so you can boot back into Debian.

Or are you not worried about losing Debian? If that's the case, just wipe the drive and make two partitions. Install XP to one, first, then install Debian to the other. Your bootloader will take care of itself.

[DaveLee]

Thanks Freston!
I tried the CUPS utility, it's great but I got the same problem as with my previous attempts to install - I can't find a ppd file on the installation CD I've got.
As for the 'how to' page, I'm afraid there was something I didn't understand on every line of it, so a steep learning curve for me, maybe some other year!

Welcome to the forums!
As for your printerdriver. Don't give up on it yet. I found this: Ubuntu Lexmark Z600 series howto
Ubuntu is based on Debian so it should be relatively compatible. But I can understand if you can't make much sense of it. Maybe you do. I dunno. This was a quick google and looks promising
If you can't get it to work, don't hesitate to ask questions.

I don't know if you have found this already, but Linux uses CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) for all our printing needs. It's different from Windows in that you access it through your browser. Point your browser to

localhost:631

And bookmark it for future reference

[Jonathan183]

If you have a second hard drive then I suggest ...
unplug Linux hard drive and plug in spare hard drive
do the Windows install ... 2k/XP/Vista
check the Windows install works
plug in the Linux and Windows hard drive but set Linux drive as master
Boot Linux, open a terminal and post the output of

sudo fdisk -l
cat /boot/grub/menu.lst
cat /boot/grub/grub.conf

and someone should be able to post the code to add to your grub menu to allow dual boot ... its normally something like

title Windows
	map (hd0) (hd1)
	map (hd1) (hd0)
	rootnoverify (hd1,0)
	makeactive
	chainloader +1

Ed: the advantage of doing things this way ... remove Windows hard disk & Linux still works ... remove Linux hard disk and Windows still works.

[techieMoe]

I can install another hard drive, I've a few old ones to pick from. Sounds like that option makes it more straightforward?

Yes, if you have a spare harddrive that simplifies things a great deal. You have a couple of options for that.

1. You can install just the spare harddrive and unplug your current, use that to install Linux, then plug both back in and install the bootloader on your Windows drive. It's not really any less complicated than dual-booting on the same harddrive.

2. You can plug both of them in and install Linux on the second, telling the Linux installer specifically to install the bootloader on your OTHER drive. The downside of this one is you have to be very careful which drive you're wiping so you don't accidentally overwrite your Windows install.

[oz]

Welcome to the forums!

Hope you have fun with Linux.

[DaveLee]

Thanks Jonathan, that sounds good. I'll get onto it when I have the time, then I'll have a couple more q's to ask.

If you have a second hard drive then I suggest ...
unplug Linux hard drive and plug in spare hard drive
do the Windows install ... 2k/XP/Vista
check the Windows install works
plug in the Linux and Windows hard drive but set Linux drive as master
Boot Linux, open a terminal and post the output of

sudo fdisk -l
cat /boot/grub/menu.lst
cat /boot/grub/grub.conf

and someone should be able to post the code to add to your grub menu to allow dual boot ... its normally something like

title Windows
	map (hd0) (hd1)
	map (hd1) (hd0)
	rootnoverify (hd1,0)
	makeactive
	chainloader +1

Ed: the advantage of doing things this way ... remove Windows hard disk & Linux still works ... remove Linux hard disk and Windows still works.

[vikas1234]

welcome to the forum ....