What if I want to change from Windows 7 to LINUX?
 

If I wanted to change from Windows 7 to LINUX 5.6(or current LINUX OS), what do I have to do? Also being a newbie at the LINUX OS how would I go about the installation methods? Because now that I am beginning to understand LINUX, I love it a lot better than Windows...lmao. Thanks guys all who post replies are AWESOME! Thanks a bunch.

Also one more thing on this question...if I change to LINUX and for some reason I wanted to change back to Windows 7(which I have the ISO for) is it possible to change back to the Windows 7 OS?

Make a backup of any important data
Insert installation cd and boot from it
Somewhere along the line, you can partition your HD
- create a partition for swap; my rules of thumb is 2x amount of memory; for a desktop you can limit it to 1GB
- create a reasonable sized partition for the root file system; 25GB is already quite big
- create a partition for /home for the remaining space
Let it install

Enjoy Linux

If you have the cd's its really easy to change back to Windows 7. Just put it in and re-install(make sure you save important files on an external source or another hdd).

How about dual booting for a while? Until you find a distrobution that you like? That way you can still use Windows until you fully adjust to Linux.

You should be able to install Windows over the existing installation; you might need a linux live CD to remove all partitions from the HD first as Windows might complain (I've seen some threads about that issue).

PS There is a difference between a Windows CD and a Windows ISO.

Dual boot
 

Most linux distro installers have provisions for it and include GRUB that will enable dual booting. In other words dual booting is included in most distro's installer software. At no addition cost! What a deal!

Don't disturb your Windows install by installing Linux or it's swap space on top of it.

The only difficult part of a linux install is the partitioning software;that is part of the installer-software, and maybe your graphics card. Study "gparted" before you try the install.Usually the installer will have an option of the likes of "save changes" so the drive is not partitioned on the fly. If you make a wrong choice before this point no harm to your windows install is done. When I say difficult I mean "requires any understanding". The rest is mostly just pressing yes or no.

Pick a distro that you don't have to complile the kernel or applications yourself.

Windows is useful when you have a Linux problem and need to get on the net to fix it and also ,some web sites only work with Windows. If you are looking to make the install process easier , it would be but not by much. My own rule of thumb is to put an O.S on 20 gigs on up to 60 gigs of space. If you have a 120 gig drive just split it or if you have a huge drive start with the 20 gig size. I don't think optimizing your hard drive as a beginner will have benefits for a long long time so why bother. :twocents:

Is there a way where I can have both operating systems and switch back and forth if needed? Like for example at my college when we are learning about Windows 7 Configuration, they have the workstations to where on start up you can choose either Windows XP or Windows 7. Although I do have a Virtualbox of LINUX. But I appreciate the heads up. I am not looking to change anytime soon, but I do enjoy LINUX a lot better...lol.

You can easily dual boot systems. The Linux (Not "LINUX" - It's a name, not an acronym) installer should provide the options for adding itself to an existing system running windows 7.

You mention running "Linux 5.6" This is not possible, the Linux Kernel itself is only on version 2.6.38, I guess you mean RHEL 5.6 or CentOS 5.6 and in that case I would *REALLY* not recommend these for desktop usage. They are for servers really and lack the user experience and comfort that other distros like Fedora or Ubuntu provide.

Exactly. I would also recommend Mint, too.

Also, you might want to try playing around with Linux in a virtual machine first (VirtualBox is a good choice). It's risk-free and doesn't require you to close all your programs and reboot to switch to and from Linux (that way, you will probably be far less reluctant to play with it).

If you get comfortable enough with Linux that you want to use it as you main OS, then go ahead and dual-boot.

These pages will give you an idea of what to expect
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Move-from-Windows-to-Linux
http://www.alandmoore.com/linux/file...s_to_mepis.pdf

You'll probably want to keep Windows; after all, you paid for it when you bought the computer. You need to decide how much space to free up on your hard drive, and to run the Windows defragmentation tool.

You can then run a Linux installer, shrink the Windows partition, and create 2 or 3 new ones:
one for the software, say 10GB, with the mount-pont "/"
one for your data, with the mount-point "/home"
a swap partition if you want to hibernate or if you have a small memory (512MB or less), at least equal in size to your memory

As has been said, you can try before you install using a "live" CD or DVD. I'd recommend Mepis and Mint. Get CDs of both and have a look. The user interface is rather different and one or the other will take your fancy. Both are reliable and easy to install and configure.

Why get rid of Windows 7, after all you already paid for it! Install Linux as a dual boot and enjoy them both!