starting from scratch, need help please

[nofear2009]

Hi evereyone, I have a crashed laptop (HP Compaq nc6320) It had windows xp on it. It wont boot up and I dont have a boot disk, so I was thinking of putting Linux on it. good idea? problem is that I dont have a clue? anyone willing to guide me through it?

thanks scott

[oz]

Welcome to the forums!

Basically, you need to choose a distribution that suits you and your computer hardware, download the ISO file and burn it to disk as an image, boot with the newly created installation disk, then follow the on-screen instructions for installing the operating system.

You can check the link in my signature for lots of good information about getting started using Linux, and you'll find a couple of quizzes there that should help you to pick your first distribution. Unfortunately, nobody can ultimately tell you what you will or won't like, so it takes some testing and experimentation to finally find the distro that you will call home. If you are very lucky, you might find something that you like on the first attempt.

You can check this link for information on how to burn the ISO file to disk as an image:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/ins...ll-cd-dvd.html

Hope it all works out well for you.

[reed9]

It is probably outside the scope of a forum to try and give you a detailed installation guide or detail the differences between linux and windows. Fortunately, there is a lot of excellent information on the web.

It is an entirely new operating system, so my bet advice is to recognize there will be a learning curve and be patient with yourself and the operating system.

For a good linux variation (or distro as we say) to try as a beginner, I recommend linux mint.

Mint is based on Ubuntu, which has some of the best documentation out there to help you learn.

I have no idea where you are starting from, but first thing is to download Mint and burn the iso file to a CD.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

Some basics:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Sw...tu/FromWindows

And an installation guide.
The Perfect Desktop - Linux Mint 8 (Helena) | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

This guide recommends installing what is, in my opinion, an obnoxious and redundant amount of software. I chose it because the initial installation portion is easy to follow and illustrated, but I don't recommend installing all the crap they suggest afterwards.

The most likely piece of hardware that might not work out of the box is your wireless card. If it doesn't work, it is almost certain that it can work, and probably without too much effort, but it makes it easier if you have access to a wired connection initially.

If you have specific questions or stumbling points, post back and I'm sure someone will try and help out.