Am getting started in process to put Mint on my win 7 machine, maybe. Am still looking at versions and whether to change OS's completely. What do I have to do to hd to load Mint on it? I like only one OS on a hd. Any help appreciated.

If you haven't done this previously, best to read a few tutorials such as the one at the link below. If you don't like this one, just google it and select some other link. You said you want one OS per drive but not whether you want to keep windows?

http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/201...alongside.html

1 members found this post helpful.

You basically have four options:

1) Install Mint in a VM inside Windows. This will isolate Mint from the hardware and let it run in a sandbox you create for it. It will let you get to know Mint without any long-term modifications to your system.

2) Install Mint on its own drive (assuming your machine has a second drive), then just boot whichever drive you want.

3) Install Mint alongside Windows on one drive. This will require shrinking your Windows partition to make room for Mint, and then you'd use the Mint bootloader to choose which OS to load at boot.

4) Replace Windows with Mint, pretty straight forward.

The Mint installation routine is very user-friendly. Once you decide what you want to do, it will walk you through the steps nicely.

The second video at this link gives a good demo.

I guess I'd better say I'm a really new-newbie--unsure if I want to go Ubuntu or Mint. Had problem w/2 OS's on one drive--7 and XP. I didn't load 'em, store did that built this machine. Now I have 2 drives w/XP, and 2 w/7. I'd like to keep windows 7 sp1 'cause I'm familiar with it. Guess I got more homework to do before I jump!

Have you checked to see if there are any LUGs (Linux User Groups) in your area? If so, they would likely be happy to help. A web search for "Linux user group [city name]" might turn up something.

One thing that is wise to do before installing a new OS, regardless of how experienced you are, is to back up any crucial data to external media. There's always a chance that something can go wrong.

1 members found this post helpful.

The link below is an excellent tutorial on installing Ubuntu with a lot of useful and pertinent information in addition to how to install. The big difference in a Mint install compared to Ubuntu is the green background color. They both use the same installer. The suggestion above to install VirtualBox on windows is good as that will allow you to test both or additional systems without creating problems with your windows install.