Re: Like to switch to Linux

On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 08:26:50 GMT, Gerben wrote:
At this point I really had it with Windows XP and want

Download/burn the partition manager iso from
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=115843&package_id=173828

Defrag XP then boot the burnt cd and shrink your XP partition at least
10 gig. Now click the free space and create a 512 meg swap partition
in then new free space.

Now you can install any linux in your free space if you pick manual/custom
during the partition phase. Just click the free/unknown space and set
it as /

If you have more space you can have a multi-boot system.
I have several 8 to 10 gig partitions where I install new releases
and other distributions. Sample snippet from my Linux boot Loader menu.

label="/mandriva"
label="/suse"
label="/kubuntu"
label="/fc5"
label="/ubuntu"
label="memtest-1.65"
label="XP_Home"
Which one for you depends on what you want. Simple email/web browser
to all sorts of stuff. Hope you have a fast connection. Some install a
starting base and the rest of the install comes in via download from
the internet.


I install Mandriva Linux and it comes with a firewall you set during install.
That allows you to play around with other services/deamons without
letting anyone in while your are learning.

See if you understand the install screens.
http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_mandriva_2007
Other linux screens shots found at bottom of articles.

Page 2 has the package selection screen
I load everything but LSB and just pick KDE and GNOME for desktop managers.
Do go through the Summary section and check everything and set the firewall.
I answer no to start GUI on boot just incase there are video setup
problems. After login, startx will fireup your gui desktop manager.
You can use the Mandriva Control Center to start gui on boot later.

Larger screen shots found here
http://doc.mandrivalinux.com/MandrakeLinux/101/en/Starter.html/drakx.html

Be sure to do a image burn. Do not just drag iso to cdrom. :(
When you download iso image/files always do a checksum check before burning.

You use md5sum or sha1sum depending on which checksum file you download.

ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/binary/sha1sum.exe
http://etree.org/md5com.html


For other distributions there is http://www.distrowatch.com
Note: Page Hit Ranking does not mean popular/best/easiest distribution.

You may want to think about the Usenet newsgroups for when you want help when
making your distro selection. Check that your news server has the
group for your selection.

Use the search engine to cruise a few weeks of posts for your
selections(s) to see how well the news group(s) works.


Do read http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html before
posting questions.

Please bookmark the following, very large,
Frequently Asked Questions (faq) Search engine:

http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search
key word(s) in the first box
*linux* in Newsgroup box. You need to use the two
asterisks around linux, pick English

If you want/need more control over the first box search,
.

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