I want to do a trial run of a Linux OS on my HP Pavilion dv4000. I have Windows XP installed already and do not want to reformat just yet, so I want to run the new Linux OS on a separate virtual computer that is installed on my XP platform. I was just wondering (a) what you thought the best (easiest) way to do this would be and (b) how do I restore Windows XP to its original configuration/settings? Feel free to correct my use of terms or concepts because I am relatively noobish when it comes to this stuff.
My recommendation is to download a *buntu derivative, best suited to your needs. All of which you can actually run live from the media without installing. If you want to try before you "buy" (for free), I strongly recommend burning to a USB over an optical medium... much faster. Tell me what you want from the instance, and I will do my best to tie you to a distribution which will serve you best. http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick
You do not have to go with *buntu... it is simply the most user friendly, with the highest amount of support atm. Having never used linux before I typically recommend it. We can go rogue though depending on your tolerance. It sounds pretty much like you just want something that "works" out of the box that has a low learning curve. There is only a low learning curve for how you interact with the GUI... what's under the hood takes a tinkerer to appreciate and learn.
Ethereal wrote: Feel free to correct my use of terms or concepts because I am relatively noobish when it comes to this stuff. Steer clear of Linux till you've read up some on it... ... An Idiot's Guide to Linux... ... and Linux for Dummies... ... are available at most public libraries.
It isn't the plague. You aren't going to "use it" wrong. There is NO reason to steer clear of it. It isn't a grenade. If you cannot navigate dos... all you need is a desktop environment which suits you. It has NOTHING to do with security imo... as the alternative cannot BE secured, and linux is by design.
You can install most - but not all! - distros so that they will recognise Windows and offer you the choice of using the whole disk, thereby wiping out Windows, or sitting nicely alongside it. If you go for a dual-boot then you will find that the Linux distro takes over the booting process. On startup you will be offered a chance to boot the Linux distro or Windows. The Linux distro is usually the default. Ctrl has pointed out the advantage of using a Live version. I always do this to check out how the distro will live with my hardware. I have wireless so that's the first thing I check out. As long as everything works then you can go ahead. But it's also good to find out if the Linux distro you want to use will allow you to install alongside Windows. The *buntus do so. Some Linux distros will only offer to wipe out your Windows and use the whole of the hd. If you're asked to partition then for the automatic arrangements. Again the 'buntus will do this for you as will Mint, Fedora and some of the others. Some, like Gentoo, will drive you crazy and ask you to partition. Stay away from them. Have a look here - www.distrowatch.com - and have a little poke around and see which takes your fancy. I think one of the *buntus would be good. I see Ctrl has referred to Kubuntu but - this is just personal taste - I find the KDE desktop a bit cranky to work with (and it probably thinks the same about me ). - - - Updated - - - Backup before installing!
http://www.linuxmint.com/ Burn a Live cd and try it without installing. When installing the current Mint (based on Ubuntu) and Ubuntu it will detect Windows and create a partition on your unused space so do not make it too large on the Linux side, if you can give it 30GB, too much and you will probably never use it unless you turn Linux into a DVR. WARNING: Just make sure you have the disks for reinstalling windows if something goes wrong. And have a backup please! A couple of times in the past I have had a situation where a Live CD would give the impression that the distribution detects hardware, like the display properly, but once installed it does not. Ubuntu just upgraded itself to not displaying properly on my old Linux box. I do not believe from what I have read that Windows 8 allows for duel boot, but I have put Linux on Xp laptops before with no problems. Sometimes the installer will not detect existing Linux distributions, like if they are the same type, you can wind up making a mess of partitions, so be careful if you want to try more than one. Dont expect to use things like Ipods and stuff, a Kindle can be used as it just shows up as a drive. Forget about anything you use that needs to sync like in Windows unless it specifically says it can, and even then be skeptical. Linux people will sometimes lie their asses off and make claims that are not true. When my wifes XP went down I put Linux on a laptop for her and she hated it, even though I set it up to record her TV programs.
Mint is a VERY popular derivative of ubuntu. It is not supported by Ubuntu officially, so the really great support you get from an authorized derivative you will not get with mint. They have their own support channel, but it usually takes a lot longer to get answers than ubuntu. As support was one of your gripes, I was thinking you might appreciate an official derivative. I personally love mint.
Obviously, it comes down to personal preference, but I would also strongly recommend Kubuntu. It uses the KDE desktop, which is probably better for a Linux beginner than Gnome (used in Ubuntu). KDE is much more similar to Windows and it will take less time getting used to. Also, I feel the newer versions of Gnome are just horrible - I recommend avoiding it .
Ctrl strongly endorses this opinion. This should all look fairly familiar. That is this laptops kde desktop
Spot on. You can do a side by side install with any of the *buntus, and they have live disks. Wireless is a particular sticking point... as SO MANY use the utterly terrible broadcom 43xx series... which requires a little work to get going... for reasons I will explain if anyone cares. There are a couple of other oddballs which cause problems too... but it is almost always a broadcom adapter. Gentoo is a bit of a maddening experience. You really want to be comfortable in linux before you start playing with that... and the ultimate nightmare fun project, is LFS (linux from scratch) where you literally BUILD your own linux... from nothing. I recommend KDE because it is the environment most like windows, and is fully supported by Ubuntu. 12.xx has given me none of the fight of the older projects. Keep in mind, you can run KDE or XFCE or any of the desktops we are talking about on any flavor of linux... ubuntu just has the most support... which is why I keep talking about it. You can also load multiple desktop environments, and decide what you would like to load. They do not conflict. The most important thing said here was the last line though. Backup before you install.
Just in case you have an English version, what are the benefits of Linux over another...for the average user? Thanks
The main benefits are security (which is also afforded Macs as they are built on top of a type of nix), freedom... meaning the code is open source, and anything you want to do you are free to do. You can copy, modify, share anything... and there is no cost for this reason. It also performs faster on the same equipment.... and due to its openness, it is infinitely configurable... to do anything you want... though... that benefit is not directly absorbed by the average user, we are able to make interfaces etc to handle this stuff so end users just install it. It is a community of users, constantly bettering the code and fixing bugs, rather than a company with a handful of guys submitting patches to fix problems. All software is available from official repositories, and are KNOWN to be safe... the systems all utilize md5sum checking... and there simply is not a way for you to get harmful code natively. You can, of course, add various 3rd party repositories, or compile your own programs etc... but there is rarely a reason to do this, and you understand the relative risk you are taking doing so. The flip side of that is that sometimes you have to hit a terminal... and this freaks the average user out. You want to click buttons not issue alien looking commands. When you are having an audio problem, and someone tells you to dump this into a terminal to unmute everything and crank all volumes to 80% because it saves us time... people get really put off... Also as a root user you can COMPLETELY (and almost certainly will) make a mistake that chunks your install. rm -R ./* will delete all files and directories in the directory you are currently in. rm -R /* will erase your entire partition from root. What a change a period makes eh? So... another downside is, when you encounter a problem... you typically need someoens help. The community is great in this regard, but you have to know where to find them.
This is a step by step for installing kubuntu. Nothing scary here. This is really the only area of the installer where you might need help... but ONLY if you select the manual partition button. If there is already an OS, this window will detect it and recommend a side by side install btw.
We might want to mention a few other things, because in the imperfect world something might go wrong. First search and search some more, because usually someone has had the problem before; check out more than one solution. Once upon a time something caused the GUI to drop leaving me at a terminal, and when rebooting I still had nothing but a terminal. So now first thing I do when Linux is installed is find out how to turn on the GUI for that version (edit /etc/inittab to id:5:initdefault to enable GUI), and other stuff, but if one forgets shortcuts... I put the instructions in is a file called useful.txt, along with other useful stuff like how to untar stuff or what dll files I need for a particular program to run under wine , I also see to it I have nano and links installed and mc (if old enough to remember Norton Commander) is good too, if someone tells a new guy to use vi shoot them. Apt-get is our friend. His laptop comes with 512.0 MB, and should be no problem getting the thing running: http://www.cnet.com/laptops/hp-pavilion-dv4000/4507-3121_7-31394072.html Then again: https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/62728 As you know that could be fixed, but it being a laptop some function buttons may not work, like none of mine worked upgrading to Windows 8; and the drivers for mine did not work, had to use newer ones for a newer computer. My Plextor PX-AV100U is still a paperweight with Linux, well it wasnt for one kernel I built and patched, from someones instructions; something like more than 8 hours on a 256MB machine is about how long it took; it was just a curiosity to see what it would take if one knew what to patch. I was kind of encouraged by the hack DsLinux; still have a LiveCD with a working toolchain; man that would have been cool as hell with the newer more powerful systems. If say running the newest Linux Mint on a 256MB machine it seems to run with the LiveCD, but gives a terminal when installed, so sudo apt-get install lxde; even openoffice (name changed) runs under that. I had a bunch of macros in OpenOffice and I thought just copying the file to another machine and they would travel too like with Word the buttons traveled, the macros did not. And it is kind of funny, have to swipe my mouse over the buttons for them to show up. Considering that newer Word considers older Words macros to be a virus, it really was not that big of a deal. If not picky, and willing to learn, Linux can be useful.
Try before you buy** Do you have a 16GB USB stick or something ? You can install Linux on that. You can also build a Live DVD. Install from CD If you download the LTS version of Ubunutu they have an image file .iso that can fit on a CDRW. I use Fedora/RHEL/CentOS and Ubuntu.
Thanks NYCmitch... as you say the LTS version will still go on a CD... 12.10, however, is a little too fat at 756Mb to go on a proper CD.
If you are looking for a very quick, easy, and near-zero risk way to try Linux, you might want to install it into a virtual machine using a virtualizer like VirtualBox (available for free at www.virtualbox.org). The downsides are -- you need lots of memory (2G or more is best), but that is not a really big issue these days. Also, there can be issues getting the VM to talk directly to some hardware (certain USB devices, etc). The upsides are -- you can install Linux and try it out with *zero* risk to your file system or partition table. Also, getting rid of it if you don't want it any more is simply a matter of deleting a (big) file. You can do the VM install directly from the .iso installation file that you downloaded (no need to burn it to a CD/DVD). There is one complication that you should be aware of ahead of time -- you will want to install the VirtualBox "Guest Additions" for full functionality -- and that means running a shell-script (supplied by the VirtualBox package) at a terminal command-line in your new Linux virtual machine. Your Linux session will appear in its own window on your desktop. And one more thing -- when you first boot up your Linux VM, an "Auto capture keyboard" message will pop up. Read it and take note of the "host key". If you VM grabs the mouse/keyboard and won't let it go (a problem that the "Guest Additions" package will eliminate) simply press the "host key" to free them up. The host key is typically the left-ctrl button on your keyboard (left-command on Macs).
Shoot -- there's an even easier introduction to Linux. I found a couple of web-sites that have pre-built Linux virtual-machine appliance files, all ready to download and use. One is http://virtualboximages.com/ -- another one is http://virtualboxes.org For those who are completely new to Linux, or wish to try the latest KDE/Gnome goodies with the minimum amount of hassle, pre-built image files may be the way to go. Just install VirtualBox (www.virtualbox.org) -- VirtualBox installation is just a series of mouse-clicks (or a drag to the App folder for Mac folks). Then you simply import the image file you downloaded via FIle->Import Appliance..., hit the VirtualBox "Start" button, and you should be good to go. The downside: Virtual-machines created from pre-built appliance files may not have much "virtual disk space", so you may not have a lot of room to install additional software. Pre-built appliance files that have "room to grow" will be very big downloads. The upside: Super-easy, risk-free way to test an operating system environment on your own machine. Better than a live CD/DVD (which can be painfully slow to boot up and run, and which loses all of your customizations when you shut it down). And zero-risk to your file-system or partition table.
I will start a step by step VM thread shortly. I guess I will cover VirtualBox and Parallels as they are the most user friendly IMO. I will briefly go over some tricks in KVM and VMware... Thanks for the mention.
Just a quick note... That's not necessarily true. When creating a new VM image, it can be set to either a fixed or dynamic drive size. If set to dynamic, the image only takes up as much space on your hard drive as it is currently using, but it will grow as needed up to the specified maximum. So a VM image file you download might only be a couple GBs, but it may be configured with a 50GB drive (for example). Although, unless the page you're getting it from tells you, I suppose you won't really know until you have it downloaded. In either case, Linux has tools to allow you to expand the drive size, if needed.
Oops -- my bad. I had forgotten that you can create the VM with a dynamic drive size and then immediately export it to an appliance file (before it has had a chance to "grow" dynamically). I've created VM's a couple of times for specific problems (i.e. needed a legacy WinXP setup to run some *old* serial-port hardware -- a WinXP VM on one of our Linux workstations did the trick), but haven't done so recently enough to remember about all of the details. Nonetheless, the whole VM concept is extremely cool, and people interested in trying out Linux/whatever, but who (very understandably) don't want to risk "bricking" their machines with a physical OS install, will definitely want to consider the VM approach.
