linux?

Post Reply New Topic

Help a non-computer geek out here. I'm thinking about putting Linux on in place of my current version of Windows xp, which runs only in Japanese. If I decide to do this, will I be able to get detailed instructions, and can I expect to have to clear my hard drive in order to do so?

Ultimately I want to create a network and connect both my computers but I can't even do that at the moment because too much info is displayed in Japanese to even navigate the wizard. Arrgh!

Thoughts on Linux? I don't want to buy a new version of Windows and I don't want to install my old version from 5 years ago. Is open source a viable solution?

OK, lots of questions here so I'll try to answer them in order:

1) You can get detailed instructions on the installation but you probably will not need them. Instructions will probably be on the CDROM / DVD.

2) You do not need to clear your hard drive. Linux will guide you through a partitioning process which will leave you with an MS Windows partition, a Linux partition and a boot menu to choose between the two.

3) Open Source is a viable solution for most things but not all of them, for example some CAD programs will not run under Linux.

Your best bet as a new user is probably Ubuntu, either download it for free from http://www.ubuntu.com or request free CD's from https://shipit.ubuntu.com/login (you will need to create an account to get your free CD's.

Ed Almos

Wait, Japanese? Is it Windows or Linux which is in Japanese? Why?
Which distribution of Linux are you trying to install?

Well, the laptop I bought in Japan runs Windows, and I've been thinking I'd like to have the option to use English on it, so I've been debating the merits of installing Linux--which I assume is in English. At least, I assume I'd have the *option* of English, which saves me the trouble of buying a new copy of Windows, which is apparently my only option if I want that particular OS in my native language. Grr.

Good advice. I'd heard that partitioning the drive can be detrimental, and I worry that my little laptop might be too puny to handle it, but I'll boogie over to Ubuntu and see what there is to see. Danke!

I also second Ubuntu for a great dual-boot option. Firstly, if you use the Ubuntu LiveCD you can try Ubuntu without installing it. Secondly, the install process is very, very easy. It guides you through partitioning your drive. It guides you through everything, very user-friendly.

I recommend you read very, very closely and if you have any questions about the install or partitioning you ask them on the Ubuntu forums (very friendly lot they are over there!)

I dual-booted Ubuntu and XP on my laptop for quite awhile and enjoyed it. When I got a desktop PC I put Ubuntu on that and took it off my laptop. I now keep the two networked together. I use Ubuntu for pretty much everything though I run StyleMaster CSS editor on the XP computer and I have iTunes and my family's photos stored on the XP computer. Other than that, I use Ubuntu and I'm really pleased with it

Also, if you'd like to run Linux in Japanese I'm pretty sure Ubuntu supports it, but default language is English

Is Linux a viable option - I say YES!! !! !! !! ! Like I said, I use my XP computer for one professional program and for storing pictures (so they don't take up this computer's HDD space ) and for iTunes - and Linux is pretty viable for your iPod/mp3 player too, with Ubuntu shipping with support for both mp3 player syncing and software to manage your music collection.

I like Ubuntu because if I need something I can search the Ubuntu repositories and it's probably there. I wanted a great HTML editor - I found one (free!). Wanted a better FTP client - I found one (free!). Wanted a SNES emulator and a certain game - I found one (free!) - etc.

Ubuntu Linux also ships with the Open Office.org suite which I find as easy to use as the Microsoft Office suit. It can export to .pdf and read and save in Microsoft's document format. I use the OoO word processor and spreadsheet extensively for basic work and am pleased. I don't use Ubuntu's native email client (Evolution I think) - I use Gmail. For calendar I use Mozzilla's Sunbird which works very much like Outlook and I like very much The GIMP is the graphics manipulation program shipping with Ubuntu and I don't much care what any Photoshop fanatics say - it's powerful! After reading an excellent book on the GIMP and seeking out some tutorials I must say it's powerful enough for everything from photo touch-ups to my web graphics work

I also love the way I can customize my desktop any way I want, and I can have multiple desktops. I usually work across three - one which has open random personal stuff like WrongPlanet lol, one with client work open, and one with my own website stuff open. It handles this beautifully.

I've spent some time getting to know the command line and exploring Linux too which has been quite enjoyable. I have a LAMP server set up on my Linux box. As you can tell, I love it.

If you want to know if Linux can handle your needs and are considering the Ubuntu distro a great way to explore is to visit the forums and search for what you're interested in. I have been able to answer almost all my own questions and find my own solutions just by searching because almost always someone has asked the same before ( http://ubuntuforums.org/ )

Best of luck if you go for Linux

i've got a dual-boot computer with windows/ubuntu (i'm newish to linux). Ubuntu is not as user-friendly as windows, but it's safer, faster and lots of things are free (it's more difficult than windows, but it's not that bad either). for me, it was definitely worthwhile installing ubuntu.

Very important: you should turn off the windows page file then run disk defragmenter several times. After that, you should be able to install ubuntu without wrecking xp. The reason for doing this is that defrag doesnt move the page file around, and its usually in the middle of the hard disk. when you are done, you can go back and turn it back on.

Windows will run without a page file. Just not terrific! The more RAM you have, the less you will notice the lack of a page file.

To get to page file, right click "my computer" and select properties, then advanced.. then in preformance, click settings. in settings click advanced again, then near the bottom on the right is a change button. click that.

now just find the place that says no paging file, and click that. then click set and you are all done. to start it again(after ubuntu is installed), go back and select custom or system managed.

I also highly suggest that you place ubuntu on a second physical hard disk if you have one, and not touch xp at all. you can simply disconnect that windows hard drive and not worry about it until after. Then, when you get both working, it will default boot to which ever is first hard drive, and if you want to get the other, press f8 on start up and select that hard drive. each will then use its own boot method.

A helpful thing is to have a second computer handy for internet access, but the ubuntu install will allow you to web browse at the same time!

Hmm...I do have an external hard drive, I might try installing it there. Anyway I did download ubuntu but am having difficulty getting it installed. I'm not sure what the problem is--the files are there but the .exe files won't execute--they just keep extracting, and then it seems as if the .exe files aren't able to locate the rest of the files to run installer and whatever else it may need. I've ordered the CD and am going to wait for that and see if it doesn't work any better.

It's high time I defragmented my hard drive anyway. It's definitely been a kind of autumn cleaning around here in home computer town this last week.

I'm not clear what you are doing here. The Ubuntu file that you download is an "ISO" file, and needs to be burnt to a CD. XP home looks as if it can't do this, but it lies (almost). It just takes a minuscule program (http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm) that adds a "Burn CD" option to the right-click menu for ".iso" files.

However, it sounds as if you have got beyond this point. I.e. you've got the CD properly recorded, but you are viewing it from your running XP system. This gives you the opportunity to preview some odds and ends, but the next stage is to close down XP and see what happens when you boot up from the CD.

Booting from the CD may need you to get into the BIOS, to add it as an option to the boot list. Moving the CD to the top of the list is one way to go. Most CDs just aren't "bootable", so it won't be an issue.

Alternatively, most BIOSes give you a chance at choosing what to boot from (typically with F12...). Just catch it at that point and select the CD.

After some time, you'll find yourself in the Ubuntu desktop - running totally from the CD. You don't even have to have a hard drive in your machine. I once did that, just for amusement value... showed someone their machine, with the hard drive completely disconnected, and me happily surfing the web.

At that point, you'll have most things up and running, hopefully. If all your hardware (graphics, sound, internet, etc) seems fine, then you can tell it to install - via clicking on the "Install" icon on the desktop.

A slight word of caution. If you install to the removable drive, Ubuntu tends to put the "Grub" boot loader on your main drive. This could prove a little annoying, if you boot up without the external hard drive, as "Grub" will not be able to find itself. Also, when Linux is up-and-running off the removable drive, you can't then unplug it. Resizing the XP partition is pretty safe, these days. I agree with Fuzzy on everything, except I think he meant a separate internal hard drive. I'd only do the external hard drive install as an experiment, to see it run faster than off the CD (which can be painfully slow).

You can download InfraRecorder off the web for free, it's easy to use and you can burn the installation CD with that.

Thanks for the heads up, pbcoll. http://infrarecorder.sourceforge.net - looks pretty good.
A slight overkill, just to burn one iso (and then switch OS to one where such omissions don't crop up), but why not.

It took me several tries to get all the CDs for Fedora 6 in working order. I would create the CD from the downloaded iso and it would start installing but give me errors for files not found!! ! I had to download CD#3, 3 times until it worked right! If I had to do it over again I would get a checksum calculator.

Somewhat unwise, to start off with a multi-CD distribution. Once you have a simple single CD Linux installed, you will be able to use "md5sum" to validate downloads.

I don't believe I've ever had a erroneous download, other than gross failures. E.g. when a server between myself and the real source of a file was holding a truncated version of that file in its cache. I can't even remember how I got round that one. I think I just waited...

I have had distinctly less success with CD burners. Quite often I find that the burn seems to have succeeded, but I have a coaster. I now routinely do a loopback mount of the iso image and compare it to the written disc. Tedious, but it gives one some confidence in the disc.

Thanks for all the good advice. I feel like such a newbie, but at least I'm taking steps in the right direction. I think the thing to do is find a good reference book and follow the steps carefully. Right now I'm having zero luck with the .iso image, and since the chances are always higher that *I'm* doing something wrong, I'm going to play it safe and go with plan B--the CD from ubuntu and a good ref. book. After I've got the thing installed and done some serious reading, I'll get creative, but until then I think the chances are high I might do myself more harm than good fiddling around with settings and things.