reformating my hard drive and want to install Linux ?
 

I would like to format my hard drive and I know that reformating will erase all that is on the drive.#1 Will I be able to connect to the internet to download Linux? #2 Will my computor be safe, ie identity theft? very new to all of this so any help would be much appreciated.Maybe this is all too complicated for me.
Thanks

1. If you want to install Linux, no need to re-format first, Linux does that as part of the install.
2. obviously you need to download some Linux BEFORE overwriting your disk (unless you have access to another machine). I recommend getting a DVD iso download and ensure you burn it as 'iso', not as 'file'.
Note that many distros offer a LiveCD option, whereby you can take it for a test run, running purely from the CD/DVD, so no need to install at this point.
3. see www.distrowatch.com for list of distros
4. what do you intend to use this for, as the choice of distro (Linux distribution) may depend on this
5. identity theft: can you clarify your concerns here; its not clear (ie this is not a common qn from someone in this position)
Linux is pretty secure, but that doesn't absolve you from being careful.
We can also give plenty of advice in this area, but it would be dependent on what you are doing eg web-surfing vs running a web server.

Here's a couple of good articles to get you started
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz

Thank you very much for the info.I will try to get the trial cd. Again THANKS
cheers Ray

If your computer is a laptop, then identity theft is something you do need to think about. Even if you keep it indoors, laptops are very popular with burglars: easy to carry and easier to sell. Some Linuxes let you encrypt your home directory by just ticking a box when you install: e.g Fuduntu, Mint (not LMDE), and OpenSUSE — all of them very good.

When you set up the disk, give Linux three partitions:
/ (called the root partition), where the OS and software will go — say 10GB
swap, used if you run out of memory, or for hibernating — a bit bigger than your RAM
/home, where your files will go — that's the one to encrypt.

You might care to keep Windows: after all, you did pay for it when you bought the computer!