Windows Xp & Linux Coexist On Same Computer
 

Hi evrybody ,
i have a few questions :
1. can windowsxp & linux co exist on the same computer.If yes how?
2. which software i require to play the song i used to play in windows?
3. what is linux repo in gaming.any well known games availabe for linux?

thax in advance for replies.............

Ok, first you will have to reformat your hard drive so that you can creat a linux partion and probably swap for your system or you can use any unpartioned space present.
Install windows first (it is easier that way) and linux later.
after the linux installation, linux will install a package called Grub or Lilo on your MBR which will anable you to dual boot your system (choose an OS to boot from)and walaaah..., you are ready for action.

Depending on thr distribution you have installed, you ca use either xmms, Noatun, Kaboodle, VLC, to play your audio files. But if they were not included in your distribution, you will have to download them and then install them onto your system.(But xmms is common to most distros you will find no trouble)
Mail me if any of this helps...Sorry i dont know much about linux games

Reformatting the hard drive may be overkill and it would destroy any important data you already have on the drive.

I converted my 7 year old 700 MHz Athlon running Win98 to a dual boot system in less than a week's time putting in only an hour or two a day at most. I chose to use PCLinuxOS (PCLOS) after looking at a couple other distros because it's very similar to the windows interface and easy to work with if you have no clue (that was me, no doubt).

You can download a PCLOS bootable cd image (*.iso file) and burn it to a disk, then boot your computer from that cd and see if you like the distro before installing it. It also gives you a failsafe way to get your computer up running linux if you have problems with the installation on your hard drive (and you will).

To get there you need to prepare your hard drive first (instead of reformatting it if at all possible).

Download the bootable version of GParted from sourceforge.net and burn it onto a cd. That cd will be bootable and it will allow you to move/resize your current partitions so that you can create a large unused spot on your drive. I'd recommend at least 5Gb of contiguous free space near the 'back' of your drive so you have enough room for PCLOS. If there's not enough room, the install just stops and you get no error message (a bug I guess). I discovered the 5Gb disk space minimum by repeatedly installing without enough freespace the first time around. I'd make the freespace bigger and try again. At 5 Gb it worked.

BE CAREFUL WORKING WITH PARTITIONS. YOU CAN LOSE EVERYTHING IF YOU GOOF. BE EXTRA SAFE AND BACK UP EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU START.

That said, GParted is pretty straightforward to use. Just do one thing at a time. It helps to plan out how you want your final partition setup to look so you can figure out the best way to change stuff without having to move partitions repeatedly.


The only other thing I can tell you is to keep working at it. I ran into all kinds of unexpected gotchas getting my system set up the first time. I could do today in about 4 or 5 hours what it took me a week to get through the first time. The 'experts' here on LQ are great for helping out when you meet what appears to be a dead end in your attempt. Don't get discouraged, you'll get there eventually. I had to restart from scratch about 3 or 4 times before I got it working.