cheapest linux/xp combo

[uzi]

hey all, k heres tha prob.

i gotta:
dell
2.40GHz
128+256 megs of ram
cheap factory monitor
40gig hdd
win xp home
(anything else, lemme know)

k, now i would like to install linux on my comp, but since i'm tha only one in the family that is willing enuf to use it (unfortunately) i would like to keep my xp as well. i would like to have a duel boot setup to run either linux or xp.

i wanted to get linux to play around with and learn and hopefully be using it when i get my own comp as tha only os. first problem is what do i need to do to set up the duel boot? i would like to do this w/o adding any x-tra hdd's or partitioning if possible. i am a student and currently broke as hell. so i'd like this to be the cheapest setup ever if not free (if possible)

next, which linux should i get!?!? so many out there!!! i've heard of red hat a lot and seem to be heading towards it, but is there a better one?

if you can't answer em, plz link me to some places where i can find answer's to my probs. thanks very much

[gehidore]

i dont remember the name as of now but there are distros out there that support using the existing fat32 install of any version of windoze by just adding there own 'folder'

does anyone remember a name of one of these distros?
ill do some JL and G4L searches and get back.

[rocketpcguy]

try
http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/lnx4win.php3
but i don't know anything about it. you can download mandrake for free, but the 9.2 version will be polished, and the 10 version slightly buggy but fast and featureful.

[carbon-12]

Theres Cooperative Linux (http://www.colinux.org/).

[gamblor01]

uzi, first of all let me say that if you want to put Linux on your machine, unless you told Windows to use only a portion of the hard drive when it was installed, you're going to have to repartition the hard drive, or buy another one. See if perhaps you could find some old like 10GB drive or something from a friend. Or partition your existing drive. If you want to know how to set up a dual boot system, check out my webpage which is in my signature below.

As for which Linux to pick, Red Hat and Mandrake are typically the best choices for the newbies, but I prefer Slackware. They're all Linux though. Most of the stuff works exactly the same. Mandrake and Red Hat hold your hand much more than most distros though so I'd recommend either one of those for the newbies.

[tony_t73]

OK, I may be a little partial here, but I say if you're gonna start out with Linux, try Mandrake 9.2. Like said previously, it is more polished than 10.0. Anyway, as a débutant I would wait for the Official release of 10.0 if I were to use it.

Second, consider making more than just a Linux partition. Most preinstalled Windows XP systems take the whole disk and put it in an NTFS format. That's not good for you or Linux. See if you can have (or can find) an XP install disk- NOT a recovery disk, cause a recovery disk demands that your whole 37GB is taken just for Windows (a pain, isn't it?) You should have a small partition for WINDOWS itsself, and a partition where you install most of your progs, keep your documents, and anything that you would liketo keep should your boot loader mess up and you can't boot anything (highly unlikely, but I have found myself trying to reconfigure things and then it's time to reinstall Windows) .

You can then install windows to the "litle" partiion. When you get everything just like you like it, make a backup of the windows partition on the other (larger) partition. If you have to reinstall windows, you do it on that same "little" partition, use your backup, and you won' have to reinstall anything else!!

Then, attack your Linux partition- with your actual 37GB, I woud fork about 10GB to Linux, unless you're really into games with HUGE installs and saves (in Windows, obviously...) Anyways, install the Linux onto the free, formatted space- BUT when you are configuring the bootloader, I would advise NOT TO PUT IT ON THE MBR.

I may sound a little more skeptic than the others, but let's just say that there are some people for which bootloaders do not always work...

It's tough being a beginner, but it's even tougher when people expect that you know something... Haha!

Good luck!!

[carbon-12]

Anyway, as a débutant I would wait for the Official release of 10.0 if I were to use it.

But Official is already available. :)

[XiaoKJ]

I see you just want to try out, thus a live cd distro that does not require installation would be nice.

Mepis? then after getting used to MEPIS change to puppy. They are both live cds and do not require installation.

The transformation from MEPIS to puppy is because I want to introduce the first linux distro Ive used to you. Its muLinux. muLinux is very console orientated and can exist in the windows partition. Or maybe Dragonlinux. I would like you to learn the command line and to configure simple stuff like Xfree as it will benefit you a lot... In which you would be able to run muLinux with Xfree! I remember mulinux and dragon can do Xfree, but both are quite hard to configure and require you to know all the basic stuff.

All these distros can be easily found on www.linux.org/dist/list.html with all the html and stuff you need to know.

[mdwatts]

We have lots of previous threads in this forum on setting up dualbooting with Windows (XP etc.) that will help.

If you are using ntfs for XP and have no $$$ for i.e. Partition Magic, have a look at Mandrake (and perhaps other recent distros) as it includes ntfsresizer that apparently works with NT/W2K/XP's ntfs.

[uzi]

thanks for all your replies! keep em comin if u got some more advice.

i just had another question. now i was thinking about formatting my drive and doing what many of u have told me...to partition like 4 or 5 gigs to hold windows and the rest for everything else. now if i am partitioning, should i bother setting up another part for linux alone, or can i just leave it in my "other" part?

well, actually i was looking thru and i have a old pc that has like a 2 gig hd. do u think that'll be enuf to keep linux on??? and can i have it read off the second hd all my files and stuff?

[angeljusto]

I was looking for a similar solution to learn Linux 3 months ago. I built an Athlon box with used and cheap components, about $200 without display (another $60). And it's an xp 2200+, with 256 RAM, 10GB hard disk. Really fast in fact!

It was the first time i built a system by myself, so i learned A LOT of hardware mysteries :eek: But you need lots of time and some money.

I installed redhat 9 in quite less than 2GB (1,8 now, but with lots of soft installed).

[tony_t73]

2 GB should definitely be enough to put the OS on by itsself, but if you want to dl stuff and the like, I would suggest making a partition for your /home directory. And the /tmp folder should be a symbolic link to the folder /home/tmp. If the system doesn't do this, then you need to, because there are sometimes programs that use up the /tmp space, and if you run out of it, Linux won't run. I had that happen with MDK 9.2.

Anyway- the amount of space you want to give to Linux depends on what you want to do with it. If you just want to mess around a bit, don't feel like you need to give a lot of space- you can always fork some more over later. As for your Windows files, they should be easily readable with your versoin of Linux. If you have to mount them yourself, a quick search for fstab entries for ntfs should give you the answer, but if not, you can always PM me.

One thing to consider, however, with your old HDD is that it's only 2 GB- meaning it's rather old- and thus it turns pretty slow, I would guess. What that means for you is that if you run anything that depends on reading a large quantity of data from that HDD, the resulting speed in linux will be much less than you want/expect. It's fine to use it, just know that when you hear the relatively loud turning of the disks, and whatever you're doing seems to be "slower than in XP," it's your HDD and not Linux.

And, I can't say this enough, but DO NOT INSTALL YOUR BOOTLOADER TO THE MBR!!! Yes, it can be fine, etc... But if you ever decide to get rid of it, you could have some problems! Take it from me- I think that after meeting Linux, I became a professional at reinstalling/reconfiguring Windows...:(

Of course, it could just simply work... :D

Take care, and if you have any more questions, ask them- or search first. It is true that usually someone already asked it. No, it's more true that LOTS of people already asked! (Which stinks cause I never get to post- I search too much... HAHA!):D

[XiaoKJ]

If you want just linux, 2GB is nice, but not quite enough!

Like me, I would allocate 4~6GB of hd space for linux as I use it often to do important tasks and I d/l a lot of stuff off the net.

For the windows partition, I would deem 5GB little due to the bloat it contains. I would install everything all over again to cover up stuff like IE.

If you like, you could make the 5GB for windows and 5GB for linux(for the 10GB HD) and make the 2 GB HD hold unimportant stuff to the OS and all your work. It can be fat 32 to hold your dire needs between windows and linux. Better -- you could do real work in linux and print in windows!

(I think that linux is for real work, learning and experimenting, but windows is for gaming and printing and scanning...:D)