Linux Dual Boot on Laptop

[dusty550]

I'm about to start a computer science program in university and I was told that the majority of our programming would be done in Linux. I bought a Dell XPS M1530 laptop as a replacement for my aging PC and to use for school. I also use it for recording guitar tracks using my PodXT (I believe there is Linux drivers for it).

My laptop has a Core 2 Duo T9500 (2.6 ghz), 4 GB of ram, Geforce 8600M GT, Intel WiFi 4965AGN Wifi card, LED LCD @ 1440x900 Resolution

It came with Vista already installed on it (320 GB hard drive), which surprisingly has run really well and I haven't had a single problem with it. I'm looking at dual booting a Vista SP1 and a Linux install. I have Vista SP1 installed already and I don't want to delete its partition, and if possible use the same Vista boot loader to boot into Linux.

First any recommendations on a good Distro for a new Linux user? I've read some people using Ubuntu but with problems with my laptop model like Wifi issues, Eject Button problems (Although I think the solution to this has been posted), Some video card issues and touch pad issues (Although I usually use an external USB mouse it would be nice for it to work)

Second would 30 GB be plenty of space for Linux to run with my needs? And could Linux read files from my Vista partition (Docs, mp3's, videos, etc...)

What steps or guide should I follow after I have my Linux partition created to dual boot successfully?

Thanks, If you need any more information feel free to ask.

[kostasan]

In this link thay say that Ubuntu worked fine.
Dell XPS M1530 - Ubuntu Forums

Dell ships some laptops and desktops with Ubuntu installed, so i guess that yours should work fine, too.
For wifi and video driver you will go to System->Administration->Hardware Drivers and let it install the drivers it tells you. You will need to connect to the internet first with a network cable.

If Ubuntu doesn't work good, try Mandriva, Fedora or OpenSuse.

[yancek]

Most major Linux distributions should be able to read/write to ntfs partitions. If you want to use the vista bootloader to boot Linux, I would suggest you download neosmart's 'EasyBCD' as it will simplify the process considerably.

[dusty550]

I think I'm going to give Ubuntu a try later today. I found a guide on the Wiki for EasyBCD to dual boot Vista and Ubuntu
Ubuntu - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki
EasyBCD and Windows Disk management show I have 3 partitions on this drive (One being Vista and one Being Dell's MediaDirect, the other is a tiny EISA partition). Following that guide, I would put in (hd0,4) (4 Unless it says a different Partition #) for the location to install GRUB into correct?

Also, If I decide to keep Ubuntu, how easy is it to install/switch it to KDE?

Edit: If I give the Linux partition 20 GB now, and later I decide I want to make it larger or smaller, are there any programs in Linux that can shrink or increase the size of its partition without losing any data? (Just like the Vista Disk Management one)

[Jonathan183]

You can only have 4 primary partitions on a hard drive, one of which can be an extended partition - which can then contain logical partitions. From what you have said you are likely to need to create an extended partition.

Ed: you can install the kde environment as well as gnome, you then select session type when you login. If you prefer to use kde rather than gnome then you could try kubuntu instead - that way gnome will not be installed.

Gparted comes on the Ubuntu live CD and you can use this to resize/create/delete partitions, as with all partition manipulation you should backup user data first but you are unlikely to loose data during a partition resize operation (except for power loss part way through the operation).

[dusty550]

Ok, I'm installing Kubuntu as I write this, Vista only allowed me to partition off about 5.8 GB of space, 1 GB of which I set aside for Swap. I tried running GParted off of the LiveCD but it gave a caution exclamation mark next to my main Vista partition, and I didn't play with it as I don't want to loose any data.

Update: Kubuntu and Vista boot nicely together now everytime I log into Kubuntu I get the hardware drivers manager popping up. I already enabled my video card driver on there which it went on to download and install and reboot, but the window still shows up, how can I stop this? Also my WiFi card does not show up on this list, but it does need to be installed.