Can Vista and Linux live in harmony?

[LinuxVista]

Hi heres the breakdown whenever i look for tutorials for dual boot setup they always talk about having older and earlier versions of windows so im thinking to myself what about this linux i keep hearing about?

I did a bit of looking into it and i was amazed linux just looks so fun a new challenge to the same old windows (i just got vista 2 months ago but im already tiring of it) Im already spun with the amount of versions there is and that comes to my first question?
Im want a version which has a good graphical interface (possibly one which could rival vista if possible) and be able to quite simply mess around with programs which allow you to video edit and photoshop. Ububtu has caught my fancy but even when i look at that theres even more versions to choose from! So could someone give me a few choices with just a little simplified explanation on its main features.



Now back to my story i think it would be a good time to tell you my computers specifications

Current os: Windows Vista Home Premium

AMD athalon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+

1.75 GD Ram (im pretty sure its 2 just that vista takes so much)

Nvidea GeForce 6150SE nForce 430

I have 2 110gb (C and D) hard drives which are NTFS file system (i do have a suspicion they maybe the same hard drive just split so if you could tell me how to find out appreciated)

I also have a 320 gb external hard drive plugged in by USB in a FAT32 file system which i can imagine may be of some use if i need to move some files around eg. clear my D drive of the stuff on it cause i use that one for storage for some reason even though i have a 320gb one???

Anyway i wish to be able to run both windows vista and a version of linux on my computer with windows on C and Linux on D but im not sure how to do it so i need to know that if at all possible (in the most noob proof manner i really dont want to screw anything up when it comes to OS's)

Well thank you for reading i know it must have been an effort to read all of my post so any help would be much appreciated for a future linux user! (i hope lolz)

[Freston]

You could also first try a lifeCD. (K)Ubuntu has one, it doesn't touch your drive and you can find out what it's like. The differences in the Ubuntu family are mainly about the used GUI (Graphical User Interface). If you want to learn more about them this is a good place to start.

Ubuntu and Kubuntu come with a 3D desktop preinstalled, and are very customizable.

Also, you don't need to dedicate an entire drive to Linux. If you have some mass data storage you want to have access to from both OS'es, you can. First, download them .iso's and run the lifeCD's. See what you like

[Agent-X]

Ubuntu versions are decent for beginners. However, the most recent versions of Ubuntu have caused slight problems for wireless cards, because they took out ndiswrapper. You'd have to go through the process of setting up your card a good 90% of the time, unless you buy a card with drivers for Linux. Ebay would be a good choice.

How to dual-boot Vista with Linux (Vista installed first) | APC Magazine

Maybe using an older version of ubuntu would help, also.

I think the most annoying thing about any Linux OS would be the wireless card. Once you have that, you can tap into forums and talk to people about problems. I've been reading about some problems with Vista and Linux under dual-boot. I'm reading about it at the moment.

I'm moving to Debian soon, because I've read it's more serious and a lot more can be done with it. However, I'm not too sure it's good for a beginner. Many operating systems are built on Debian, too.

Of course, you could always do Linux from Scratch.

As always, backup everything that is important to you before playing with Linux. Always backup.

Yeah, plus that's a LOT LOT LOT of memory. I don't know why someone needs that much memory. You could have maybe 60 types of Linux just on that one USB drive.

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

Im want a version which has a good graphical interface (possibly one which could rival vista if possible) and be able to quite simply mess around with programs which allow you to video edit and photoshop. Ububtu has caught my fancy but even when i look at that theres even more versions to choose from! So could someone give me a few choices with just a little simplified explanation on its main features.

KUbuntu, Ubuntu Studio ( it has lot of Multimedia Tools ) or PCLinuxOS.
check this thread too.

I have 2 110gb (C and D) hard drives which are NTFS file system (i do have a suspicion they maybe the same hard drive just split so if you could tell me how to find out appreciated)

check in Disk Management Tool of Vista. if it shows C: and D: on separate rows, you have two harddisks.

Anyway i wish to be able to run both windows vista and a version of linux on my computer with windows on C and Linux on D but im not sure how to do it so i need to know that if at all possible (in the most noob proof manner i really dont want to screw anything up when it comes to OS's)

Back up data from D: drive and delete it. dont use any third party partition manager. delete partition through Disk Management Tool only coz Vista stores two copies of Partition Table and it complains on using third party tool. leave space as unpartitioned. start Linux Installation and select unpartitioned/free space in Partition Section during installation. installer will create/format partitions and setup dual boot for you.

[LinuxVista]

ok thanks alot guys for the advice ill try out this livecd first to give it a whirl and don't worry wireless cards are not a problem i do have a wireless router but im directly connected to it

ive downloaded a iso now so im just gonna go get some blank cds now and burn it i hope the next post i make will be in linux

[devils casper]

ive downloaded a iso now so im just gonna go get some blank cds now and burn it i hope the next post i make will be in linux

dont forget to burn .iso image as an Image. .iso images are bootable by default. select BURN DISK TO IMAGE option in your CD Burner.
Good Luck !

[LinuxVista]

linux so far is awesome im gonna start trying to use it as much as i can the only problem is that some things i cant do because i havent installed it yet but its very tempting to do a dual boot configuration when i finally install this.

Im already in the process of cleaning my D drive so i can reformat it to FAT32 (i did my reading and NTFS is not supported by linux) and ill get in touch again once ive made my decision and again thanks for the info if youve got any suggestions on things i should try out id love to know!!

[valemon]

Im already in the process of cleaning my D drive so i can reformat it to FAT32

You can't install either in fat32. Anyway during the installation you will be asked which file system to use. Most common are ext3 and reiserFS

[LinuxVista]

You can't install either in fat32. Anyway during the installation you will be asked which file system to use. Most common are ext3 and reiserFS

well thats a bugger oh well ill just have to rely on file swapping through my external hard drive then which i smessed up alot so i better start doing a clear out

So far so good though with linux no hardware problems just a pity i cant get any new programs

[MikeTbob]

So far so good though with linux no hardware problems just a pity i cant get any new programs

Why can't you get any new programs? Do you have your network set up?