New in the forum

[alguiendelmundo]

Hello I am new in this forum. I am very upset with Windows, specially my operating system Windows Vista in my laptop. I decided to switch to Linux but don´t know how to start. Mu question is:
Is it a good idea to beging installing some version of Linux in a 7.78 GB NTSF partition of my hard disk?.
Thanks:

[reed9]

7.78 GB is enough space, but without much room left over - an average install is probably 4-5 GB.

NTFS is the windows file system. You'll need to format the partition to a linux filesystem, such as ext3 or ext4. The majority of distros include setting up and formatting partitions as part of the install process.

I would recommend trying Linux Mint as a friendly distro to start with.

Here is a nicely illustrated guide. Ignore all the bits about installing tons of redundant software after the basic installation. You probably wouldn't have disk space.

[alguiendelmundo]

Thanks reed9.
So maybe it´s a good idea to increase the size of the new partition (G). My Windows Vista is installed in a partition (C) with 133 GB. Apparently there are 54.8GB in this partition already occupied by the system (I don´t know if it is possible) but I do not understand why the disk manager of Vista don´t let me free more space. My question then is:
Is there any way to free more space in (C).?

[reed9]

I'm really not familiar with Vista or its partitioning tools.

I would use something like Parted Magic, or any distro that includes gparted, run it as a live CD, and manage your partitions from that.

Using GParted to Resize Your Windows Vista Partition :: the How-To Geek

Make sure you back up any critical data first, since a mistake will overwrite your drive.

[oz]

Welcome to the forums... hope you will have lots of fun with Linux!

[alguiendelmundo]

Hi reed9.

Many thanks to you. I followed the link "Using GParted to Resize..." you provided me and there found a new link "Working around Windows Vista's "Shrink Volume" Inadequacy Problems" where are detailed explanations about the problem I mentioned with liberating space in the Vista partition. After two days trying I have finally got 104 GB of free memory. So I can use a considerable amount of memory to install Linux. I will make a partition for data and other for Linux. A question:

Are 40 GB enough space for a begginner willing to experiment with Linux?.

Many thanks again.

[reed9]

Yes, 40 GB is plenty of space.

[MikeTbob]

Hello and Welcome.
I agree, 40GB is enough for a nice fat Linux install and plenty of room for data storage too. Depending on how you manage the 40 GB, you could possibly squeeze out enough room to install two distros and still have room for data storage. You could create it as 15/15/10 GB partitions. Any way you decide to go, please keep us updated on your progress and good Luck.