i have a toshiba satellite a210/a215 2gb ram 160 gb harddrive i want to know if theres a way to duel boot vista and backtrack with step by step instructions


thanks

Hi, welcome!
I dont know whether or not backtrack provides installation CDs/DVDs but if so you can boot from that when you enter the bios and configure there to start the system from cdrom. Probably the box will tell you what key to press to enter bios, i.e. F1, DELETE or so.
If your vista installation supplies a harddisk drive on D: shift the data you got there to C: or somewhere else and install linux there. If there is only 1 mount point to your harddisk like C: you will probably need a tool like PartitionMagick to create another one where you can install linux.
cheers, j

This is a reasonably easy thing to do... (I assume that you are trying to dual boot with Linux as the other OS)

First thing is to make sure you have original Vista install media, so if all this goes wrong, you can get an OS reinstalled. Then take a full backup of all user files, so you don't loose anything if the dual boot install screws up!

Next get gpartd (google for it!) as a .ISO file and burn a CD with it. Then boot the CD you have just created, and use gpartd to split the disk into two partitions, the one with Vista, the other will be free. (I'm assuming you have a single disk system)

Then boot Vista, to be sure it is intact. If all is well, Vista will probably do a full disk check after the disk is split, then boot normally.

Then get your chosen distro and install. I cannot speak for all, but I have done this with Debian, Ububtu, Knoppix and Fedora, and during the install process, the partitioner will allow you to install on the largest free space (the one you just free'd with gpartd) and will detect your Vista installation.

As part of the install process, a boot loader (generally grub) will be installed and configured, then when its all installed, when you boot from cold, you will get a menu come up that allows you to chose from either the Linux or the Vista OS

Now the legal bit! The advice above is given in good faith, but users should recognise that there are risks to the installed operating systems when dual booting a system, and the advice above is given with no control over the process actually executed, so the writer will take no responsibility for lost or damaged hardware or software as a result of following the above instructions....sorry to do this, but you have to be careful when you mess with Bill's software!

whats the distro that is alot like windows? its like k[something]

you probably have heard of kde. It is but not a distro but a desktop environment. Whatever distro you choose you very likely are free to install any available desktop there.
If you need one that installs easily and belongs to the "high polished" distros you can take
kubuntu from kubuntu.org
(a lot of others could be mentioned instead...)

if you want sth like windows you better stick to windows.

cheers, j