1) I've seen a couple of threads about dual-booting Linux/WinXP and will read through them - but so far there's no indication as to whether certain Linux distributions are easier to set up for 'dual booting' than others. So, I guess it makes no difference which Linux distro I use?

2) I don't really need to keep winXP on this computer, but if I decide to get rid of winXP completely, is there a way to transfer all my active files from winXP to Linux?

Hello from Quebec, Canada, by the way.

(oops - I put this in the wrong forum - sorry!)

Most of the distros will do a default install your linux distro without bothering windows as long as there is enough free space. As for sharing files between the two you need to do more reading on the subject because linux will not read ntfs and XP will not read ext3 files. A solution is a fat 32 partition which both will read. Now you are leaving the world of simple default installation. As far as simple dual booting there are plenty of articles, just search here or Google.

dual boot with fedora core 6 is easy to do just make shure u have 256 ram and cup faster than a P2. quick and easy!! for me at least i have installed it 3 times,

Thanks for the replies. I'm new at this dual booting stuff.

BTW, Wiki has an entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_boot

Linux can read ntfs, from another partition that may be on your drive or over a network.
Ubuntu can do this easy, and many other distros as well.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux-General and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Many Linux can read ntfs and will add an entry in /etc/fstab to automatically mount it at boot up, such as Mandriva and Ubuntu etc. You can also install ntfs-3g in any Linux to read/write to ntfs. During the installation of a Linux in a dual boot environment with Windows already installed, make sure to install the boot loader to the MBR of the disc set to boot in the bios. If this is the first disc where Windows is installed (most likely scenario), you would install the boot loader in /dev/hda for a IDE drive, /dev/sda for a SCSI drive.

Thanks. I was aware I posted in the wrong forum but didn't know how to move the thread.

Again, thanks for the replies, some of which are a bit too techie for me.

Now, can I ask a really dumb question (I'm new to this, remember)? If I install PCLinux (or Mepis) on this computer, can I assume it will install alongside my current winXP, and both winXP or the LinuxOS will operate independently of the other? How would I go back and forth from one to the other?

So far I've been using both PCLinux and Mepis as Live CDs.

When you set up "dual-boot", it means that you boot (start up) the computer into one OS or the other. They do not run at the same time. Other than going into a partition to look at a file, the running OS does not know that the other one is there.

The alternative is a virtual machine setup, in which both OSes can be running at the same time---you would switch by simply switching windows.

The trick behind dual booting with Windows is to have Windows already installed. Once you have done that and have enough space for your Linux/*BSD distro(s) you are rockin'.

When you come to install your distro, there is often a choice of expert or simple install (wording varies). If you go "simple", the distro often takes over the whole hard drive - so make sure everything you want to keep is fully backed up. If you go expert you can tell the distro where to install.

Check the link to the Tutorials at the top of the page, there are a number of tutorials on multi-booting.

Ok, first back up all your files on xp, hopefully xp wont be overwritten, but it's not uncommon for things to go wrong (esp when you haven't done this before). Then u need to choose a linux flavour... i highly recommend suse (i'm using 10.1 atm) but whatever you feel like... once you've done that, and have the disk (if you downloaded it i hope you've got it on a disk now) let it install... (exactly <b>how</b> new r u at this? u do know how to get into the BIOS to tell the computer to boot from a cD right?)then it should ask you at some point if you want to partition the disk, you want to do this, give xp most of the space, since it is a bigger OS and it needs it, and use the rest for linux, then go ahead with the installation, once it's finished the GRUB loader is what you want to find, once it's recognised xp it should b all good...

btw this description may have left some things a little unclear... keep asking questions untill you understand and it should all go smoothly!
hope this helps a little!

Just back from being away a few days. Thanks for all the replies! BTW, I've changed BIOS on my other win98 computer to boot up from CD, I guess I can do it on this newer winXP computer.