I got myself a new rig for gaming so i now have a spare vista pc with a gtx 260 card that struggles to run top games . As a project to take me away from gaming i want to try the linux system on my vista pc but i have no idea how to start.

I know that you can put 2 operating systems on one pc via a duel boot but i dont know how to do dual boot or make a pc boot up in windows or linux when it has been installed.

So , if you got the time and patience this is what i want to know.

1. how do i partition the hard drive( I got nothing on d drive) and set it up to dual boot so that i can set up the pc and install linux and turn on pc so that i can at some point go into windows or linux before i get to either desktop.

2. what are the names of the programs i would need that are the alternative of running a windows system , what are they called and what do they do, they need to be free as i dont really want to pay for something i might not like.

3. what browser would i use and what anti virus would i need , i am running kaspersky on the pc but i would asume that it wont be running when not in the windows partition of the pc.

Thanks to anyone who reads this far and answers me.

Hi.

vi$ta has partitioning tools to make free\blank space or on a GNU\Linux .iso that you download then burn to make an install DVD or USB, after telling the BIOS to boot to it... the installer will also have you setup GRUB (short for GNU GRand Unified Bootloader.) BACKUP anything you need to keep! Even vista if you don't have a reinstall CD, or factory reinstall partition can back that up if you want? I only run GNU\Linux.

Here are some starts, more if you look around:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...og.php?b=35750
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ps-4175594230/

Have fun!

Following up on that, you might start with one of the beginner-friendly distros like Linux Mint:

https://linuxmint.com/download.php

There are four choices, you can download to USB or DVD and boot a live distro to see which defaults you like best before installing. All four variants of Linux Mint are the same underneath, it's just that they've preconfigured the GUI slightly differently and pre-installed various programs for you. With any of the four you can add or remove programs to you liking. There is a package manager which securely and easily fetches and installs programs for you free of charge. If you do not like a program after trying it out, you can uninstall via the package manager and it will remove all traces of it for you, no loose ends lying about.

Once you've picked one that seems nice, you can try the installation. The installation is very easy and it will give you a choice on setting up dual boot. But with later versions of Vista, for example Vista10, M$ makes that harder, so you should read a guide on installing Linux Mint dual boot with your version of Vista. Even then it won't be hard, however.

1 members found this post helpful.

I am a little lost at why dual booting is really even necessary? You have just finished saying you have bought a new pc, which I assume will be some form of Windows, so why not just install linux over the
top of the old pc all together?

I would add that all of your questions can be answered with simple google searches.

Or, purchase an external hard drive, install Linux on this, and set your BIOS to boot from this device.

I strongly recommend against f*cking up fiddling with a Windows setup "in order to 'try Linux,'" especially when you are a newbie. This can result in a very quick and sometimes-irreversible trip into " land."

Another good strategy is to get a copy of VirtualBox (it's free ...), and to run Linux on top of Windows in a virtual machine.

There are Linux distributions for nearly any purpose, and some excellent ones for gamers that contain many games, links to games, emulators for game systems, and things like STEAM to run both free and commercial games that use that environment. Some of them are available as LiveCD or LiveDVD images. With these you can run them and try the games (expect somewhat slower performance than if they were installed to your hard drive) without changing ANYTHING on your system.

Installing Linux to replace Windows on a machine is pretty easy. Installing to dual boot CAN be pretty easy, if the installer can reduce the windows partition without loss, but is a slightly greater risk. Trying a liveCD or LiveDVD is painless, without risk, and fun.

PS. It is always good to test with a live-cd image first, to make sure the distro supports your hardware. WIFI is a particular problem, as there are several that do not cooperate with the FOSS community and make drivers only for Microsoft and Apple.

You might like to check out onebuck's sticky post at the top of the newbie forum list: Newbie Alert: 50 Open Source Replacements for Windows XP For XP, I'd read any Windows version.

Browser? Most distributions come with Firefox or Chrome pre-installed though others are available from the distribution's repositories. These two seem to be the most common.
My

Play Bonny!

I don't think you need antivirus at all in Linux unless you are running server programs, have a network with Windows machines on it, or regularly share files with Windows users. There's a thread here on the subject.

It's not too difficult.

1. Free up some space on the disk. Run Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) and shrink a partition.

2. Get a Linux installation medium: Mint is a good choice. Here's the manual
http://linuxmint.com/documentation/u...glish_18.0.pdf
You can run Mint (rather slowly) from a DVD or USB stick to make sure that it will suit you before installing.

3. Use gparted in a live Mint session to create suitable partitions. Create an extended partition on the free space and divide that into two logical partitions: one for your Linux (about 20GB) and another for your data.
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/gparted.html

4. Run the installer. On the screen where it asks about Installation Type, select the last option, "Something else" and tell it to use the small logical partition for / and the large one for /home. You might like to read this (the Mint installer is the same as the Ubuntu one) to see what the program will actually look like.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/34326.../343370#343370

The installer will give you Linux and a bundle of software: browser, graphics editor, office suite, email, internet messenger, media player, music manager, picture manager, etc. The Mint manual describes you to install extra programs (all free!) from the repository and how to update your system. To see the sort of software available, look here
http://linuxappfinder.com/

1 members found this post helpful.

I'd install linux to the completely separate PC to greatly simplify the process. Dual boot can be done, but can be a pain. Many tears may be shed if you're inexperienced with that particular process. You would not need to mess with partitions this way. Mint installer will nuke'em all for you.

Alternatively, if D is a separate physical drive, then use the BIOS/UEFI boot selector instead of leaving that up to either system's boot loader.

Mint is a great choice, as per above poster. I would pick the XFCE variant, and install Compton on that. "sudo apt install compton" should do you good. Disable XFCE compositor, which is just a checkbox in the control panel, and you're good for gaming. Compton basically eliminates screen-tearing that can be a problem with other linux compositors.

Oh, get the nvidia drivers while you're at it.

Go forth and try to your heart's content!

Mainly Broadcom, and some oddball chips that are out there, IME. OP: If you assemble your systems yourself, and if you are using WiFi, I'd suggest getting an Intel adapter and installing that if you don't have one already in there. Very simple job, and can be done on a laptop or a desktop. This will probably void any warranty if that's a pre-assembled system, however.

Keep it simple at first. Keep your Windows installation. Install VirtualBox until you get comfortable.

2 members found this post helpful.

Hello and welcome to the forum

As Hazel mentioned, an antivirus program is not really needed in Linux. However, if you prefer one, there is a list of some that are available free of charge here.

For a browser, if you want/need a recent version of Flash Player (Pepper version,) then you will need to install Google Chrome. Otherwise, for other browsers like Firefox, you will most likely have to use the last "regular" standalone version of Flash Player released for Linux, which is 11.2.

Regards...

OP's subject line reminded me of what I said to myself 11+ years ago. "I want to try this Linux thing." Then I booted into Knoppix and knew I wanted more of this.

But I didn't start simple.

Since I had a whole computer I could throw at Linux courtesy of a friend of mine, I started by self-hosting my website on Slackware v. 10 with the help of noip.com. It took me about three months to get the website to the point at which I thought it ready to go public (it had been an AOL members website and I did add a Wordpress blog to it in the process).

I did have a separate Windows laptop which was my primary computer, but six months later I put Slackware on my laptop and I haven't looked back.

Diving in can be an effective way of learning because it's sink or swim.

Yes, I do keep Windows around. I use it quite regretfully for running my U. S. income tax software every year.

Just my two cents.

I think everyone should just go back to playing kick the can or balls and jacks and leave all of this computer stuff behind.

1 members found this post helpful.

That's certainly an option.