I want to play around with Linux a bit, if I find it to be useable (for me, I'm not looking for a debate about Vista vs. Linux) I may switch over altogether. So, I have two questions -
The first is in two parts - Can I partition a HD w/o formatting or re-installing Vista and how? I should probably mention that I would prefer not to partition into two equally sized drives. I have 180GB and would probably, for testing purposes like 40-50GB on one side, the rest on the other.
The second - Which version of Linux do you recommend? Bearing in mind I want (for now) as little screwing around as possible. I don't mind command line stuff, but I want it to be useable without having to spend the next six months learning every command to get it working properly. Some have mentioned Ubuntu to me before. Any thought appreciated.
In the end, if it's not something I can't do w/o too much trouble I can use the other laptop (but that leaves my g/f w/o one for the duration of testing.)
Point one: Yes, any distro worth its salt will allow you to partition accordingly as you wish.
Point two: Imho opensuse is V good. Great hardware support, great opengl, comptiz support. All round good distro. I have converted many people to using this at work as well as at home.
go to www.opensuse.org
Originally posted by PacketmanWell now I'm sorry for being a d!ck in the other thread. Thanks man. But can I do it without losing my Vista setup now?
Point one: Yes, any distro worth its salt will allow you to partition accordingly as you wish.
Point two: Imho opensuse is V good. Great hardware support, great opengl, comptiz support. All round good distro. I have converted many people to using this at work as well as at home.
go to www.opensuse.org
Originally posted by st00p1dfac3You can set it up for dual boot. I have XP and Ubuntu on here - I would assume Vista is just as straightforward. Choose the size of the partition during the setup without losing any XP [in my case] settings or stuff.
Well now I'm sorry for being a d!ck in the other thread. Thanks man. But can I do it without losing my Vista setup now?
Originally posted by Dr StrangeloveI don't have to partition first and then install on the "new" part of the disk?
You can set it up for dual boot. I have XP and Ubuntu on here - I would assume Vista is just as straightforward. Choose the size of the partition during the setup without losing any XP [in my case] settings or stuff.
Originally posted by st00p1dfac3I did it with a free disk I got from the website at
I don't have to partition first and then install on the "new" part of the disk?
https://shipit.ubuntu.com/
then just installed it from that - it asked about the partition and all that then; I expect it's the same with a downloaded version.
btw - if anyone orders cds from that site the shipping is free too and mine only took about 10 days and not 10 weeks like it says it might.
Originally posted by st00p1dfac3No but it's the better way, you should use native tools for windows for changing the size of its partition. You may find you have to do it incrementally. You'll need to defragment the hard drive to make space at the top, and you could find that there isn't 40 gigs clear at the top as windows refuses to move certain files while it's running (this may have changed with Vista), so resize the windows partition to whatever windows allows you to and then repeat the process until you have however much space you want for the linux partition. Then all the windows settings will be unaffected by whatever you do with the linux stuff.
I don't have to partition first and then install on the "new" part of the disk?
Do back up every important file on your windows system before doing this, as when you set up the ext2 or ext3 partitions it's possible to accidentally wipe the entire hard drive. Also you will need at least two partitions for linux, one main one for the operating system, optionally one for user files, and one as a swap partition - otherwise your computer will be a little limited.
If you hunt around a little on the internet there are good instructions for doing all this stuff.
Originally posted by DeepThoughtWell, what you're saying actually backs up what I thought. This is a relatively new laptop, and I have about 170GB of the original 180GB available. I run disk cleanup every couple of days and defrag once a week (that's just because I've found Vista likes to rob disk space) so I should have the 40-50GB I want partitioned free in the right areas. I have recovery disks already. I just want to save the trouble of trying it and having to fix it rather than ask and find out beforehand.
No but it's the better way, you should use native tools for windows for changing the size of its partition. You may find you have to do it incrementally. You'll need to defragment the hard drive to make space at the top, and you could find that there isn't 40 gigs clear at the top as windows refuses to move certain files while it's running (this may hav ...[text shortened]... hunt around a little on the internet there are good instructions for doing all this stuff.
oh yeah, I also run the cleanup and defrag so often because I'm a spaz when it comes to my computers. I'm a memory miser, I keep my bits and bytes in a sock undr the mattress. I don't spend them on anything. Vista likes to store a lot of temp data, so it has to be done.
1. any linux distro will allow you to partition and resize your disk whichever way you want. and they all work fairly good, so i wouldn't worry about resizing your disk in windows first. but that's just preference.
2. i've used opensuse and suse enterprise linux, both are very good, i would also recommend sled (suse linux enterprise desktop) ...
hope this helps ...