elija

Pretty much all distros come with a live cd these days, some good ones to try
are Ubuntu, PC Linux OS, LinuxMint or Mandriva.

Out of those the two I prefer are PC Linux OS and LinuxMint.

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emanjamin2002

Thank you. I will go ahead and do that. I will let you know how it went.
Emmanuel

ozar

Take a look here for a listing of liveCDs and the primary purpose for each:

The LiveCD List

Hope you have lots of fun experimenting with Linux.

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emanjamin2002

Thanks a lot.
Emmanuel

emanjamin2002

Hello again,
So I got Linux Mint. I copied the ISO Image and it worked. So this is great. I am having fun. I wanted to thank you and the others for your help.
A question?? I am then running from the CD and this is not installed. If I create some files and save them, it will go directly to my hard drive. Yes? and if I use windows, can I open them even if they were written while using Lunix Mint? Maybe a stupid question but not sure about this?

Any advices you may have on anything else would be great too.

Thanks again to everyone.

Emmanuel

elija

I'll be honest, I don't actually know I usually install Linux rather than using
a live cd. If it is possible, I suspect you will have to mount the system, although
it may already be mounted. I don't know if it will be mounted read/write though.

You have chosen the distro I use.

Nice isn't it

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The Fifth Continent

Jonathan183

Glad you have things working. If you write data to the hard drive ntfs or fat32 partition you will be able to access it from windows. What you need to make sure is that you have a suitable application to access the file in Windows. Openoffice.org is available for both Linux and Windows, it will also read and write MS office file formats. You can also usually write a pdf file which you should be able to access in Windows. Some file formats like mp3 should just work anyway.

Did you have a particular application you want to be able to transfer data with?

Ed: you may want to use a USB pen drive to do the transfer ... if you open a terminal and type
and post the output we can check if hard drive partitions are mounted.
Also post the output of
the l is a small L. We can see your hard drive partitions and advise how you can mount them if you want to write data to the hard drive.

emanjamin2002

Yes this is nice. In fact, I heard a lot about Linux. Right now I am following a training program to assist/helping people with computer trouble or training them in Powerpoint, Excel... We will come up Networking in September and of course going over Linus a little bit - and really a little bit. I heard a lot about Linux and I wanted to see it for myself. I think that I will want to install it directly on my hard drive BUT I still have lots of questions like can I transfer what I have in window like my powerpoint files, word files... and pictures.... to linux even if it was open or created using Windows... I may have to save eveything and load those files afterward but I don't know if this is possible.
Also how do I load Linux and removing Windows. Or shall I keep windows.
Thanks again.
Emmanuel.

emanjamin2002

Yes I get it and this makes sense. Right now I am playing with it. I just wrote to Elija. You can maybe read it too and give me some advises. I hope I am not asking too much.
Thank you.
Emmanuel

elija

If you want both Windows and Linux installed you can use what is known as a
"dual boot system". This will allow you to choose which operating system to run
when you boot the computer.

To do this you would take the install option from the Mint desktop. Part of the
process will allow you to partition your hard disk using a graphical utility to make
space for Linux.

If you go this route, I recommend that you back up your Windows data before
proceeding. This is just a precaution. I have never needed my pre-install backup
but it is better to have one and not need it than to need one and not have it.

Again to use the Windows partition you would need to mount them as file
systems under Linux.

There are equivalent programs for Windows - Open Office for MS Office for
example should open most Office files OK.

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"I complement you - your facility of understatement is exceeded only by your mastery of silence, but measuring this with the word 'shame' surpasses all your previous achievements in articulation"

The Fifth Continent