[StAndrews and Fife LUG] Linux newbie seeks help.

[Sharpnet Internet Solutions]

On Mon, 2003-08-11 at 21:30, Shaun Moran wrote:
> Hi everyone my name is Shaun Moran and I live in Dunfermline. I am
> interested in setting up a dual boot system with xp/me on an Athlon
> 1800 desktop with a 60g disk. I have no experience at all with linux
> systems. 

Welcome to the group!

>  
> Windows authentication procedures for xp have been the spur to
> investigate this possibility, however I remain nervous about the
> prospect of a)"messing about" with  a functioning system and b)
> learning about an unfamiliar OS. 

I can concede that at first it seems very duating to install a new OS on
a computer you are used to. No worries though, if you have backed up
your data the risk is "0".
>  
> Can I have some advice please?
>  
> I have read about different distros, what would you recommend to a new
> user? What information do I need to collect about my hardware prior to
> insatllation? I have never partitioned a drive before how do I do it? 
I personally have opted for Mandrake, but I heard that Suse in good even
perhaps better than Mandrake.

With the current versions available you don't even need to bother about
how to partition you HD; Mandrake 9.1, for example, I installed it over
my Mandrake 9 version from scratch using "default" configuration all the
way. it took a couple of minutes to install and everything was fine. 

Although I no longer have a machine with dual boot :-) I believe that
you will not have any big problems installing this new OS.

The thing you must be careful is mostly the kind of modem you have
(unless if you do use a LAN connection !) I heard that winmodems (ie
onboard modem) can be quite a pain in the neck. But otherwise all other
things are quite well supported and the risk is minimal.

If you are having problems, I recommend you to go on the
www.linuxformat.co.uk website where you can post questions (even if you
are a total newbie, the atmosphere is really nice and friendly) about
problem you may face on the Discussion Forum. If you are keen I also
encourage you to subscribe to the Linux Format magazine as it come with
a ton of (open source)[free] programs you can use on your Linux box
including games and other good products with no licencing worries!
Regular (FULL) OS updates like mandrake are regularly provided. Although
the installation of additional applications can still be somewhat of a
pain for a new user (to my reckoning and I have 15+ years Unix
experience), all you need to work efficiently is already installed,
email, office suite, etc...

Good luck.

Bib.



>  
> Thank you
>  
> Shaun Moran
>  
>  
>   
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