Restoring Windows

[roger]

I have just had my windows Laptop crash and have used Knoppix to go in and sniff out the files I want so I am now ready to reinstall windows. However I also want to have Linux on a machine - I have two machines I use during the day. Two questions:

1. I want to completely wipe the Laptop hda. Can I use qparted on the Knoppix live CD? There is an "Operations" command where I can "Format" and gives me a choice of "Partition Type" - ntfs. Can I use this before I put in the Widows disk?

2. I have a completely unused hdj drive on my PC. I want to download a distro which will easily connect to my network at home (has a UK BT hub). I tried Ubuntu once but it was not intuitive to set up networking and gave up. Any recommendations?

[devils casper]

1. I want to completely wipe the Laptop hda. Can I use qparted on the Knoppix live CD? There is an "Operations" command where I can "Format" and gives me a choice of "Partition Type" - ntfs. Can I use this before I put in the Widows disk?

You can use QtParted to remove all partitions but I would suggest you not to create any partition with it. Let Windows Installer create/format partitions.

2. I have a completely unused hdj drive on my PC. I want to download a distro which will easily connect to my network at home (has a UK BT hub). I tried Ubuntu once but it was not intuitive to set up networking and gave up. Any recommendations?

We can't tell you which distro is best for you. Everyone has different likes/dislikes and one can install any package in any distro.
Check this Poll and decide yourself.