Please advise as to how to install linux side by side with windows 7 and retain both operating systems

Depends on what you want to do. I only ever had problems with dual boot so I gave up on that. I have the Ubuntu environment on Win 10 but never use it. I use Cygwin X to a separate Linux box and also run CentOS in a VM. Both of those work pretty well. I also have Windows 7 running well in a Virtual Box VM. I haven't tried Wine, but that is another option.

Usually the more tricky parts are changing the boot order so that the Linux install DVD or USB stick boots first and messing with UEFI and Secure Boot (if present). Oh, and creating a bootable Linux USB stick in Windows may take a couple of Google searches.
The installer for most distributions will shrink the Windows partition and install Linux and GRUB for you in a way that works fine. Ah, shrinking reminds me that running a defragment on the Windows drive from within Windows might be in order before the installation.

By far(!) the easiest way is to get a copy of VirtualBox, a free virtual-machine monitor backed by one of the largest software corporations in the world.

Simply install your Linux on a virtual machine that runs on your Windows host. You can have as many VM's as you want. No modifications to Windows nor to any aspect of your hard-drive setup is required. No VM will perceive the presence of the host, nor be able to affect it, unless you choose to designate shared file directories.

I would daresay that most of the world's web sites run either on "Containers" or "Virtual Machines."

I never "dual boot," always using VM's.

If Windows is already booted and working then why would one want to then boot an instance of Linux that runs a little slower and has to be manuall started and stopped from within Windows? might as well just use Windows.
I agree that VirtualBox and the like are great for experimenting with new OSs and, when it's possible, doing something like running a Windows only program but for day-to-day use they're just a faf on top of the perfectly usable Windows.
No, I don't like Windows but if I've a problem with a Linux install on a dual boot machine I'll not bother to faf around installing a Linux VM with all the appropriate slowness I'll just suffer Windows as the lesser evil.

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If you already have Windows 7 and wish to dual boot with Linux, search on the web for dual boot windows 7 linux (replace linux with your distro/version of choice if you want even better info). Basically you'll be setting up a separate partition for Linux, probably by grabbing some space from the existing Windows partition.

If you're thinking of eventually moving over to Linux, I started this way and also set up a Windows 7 Virtual Machine (using VirtualBox) under Linux. I then almost exclusively booted into Linux, transferring more and more functionality over to my Linux system or into the VM, until I eventually said goodbye to the Windows 7 partition itself (after several months of not needing to boot into it at all).

please post MORE!!!! information that just one short line !

you give almost ZERO NEEDED INFORMATION!!!!

Agree with others, Virtualbox is a way to go. Or VMware player can do the task as well.

Good luck! Enjoy Linux!

BTW,Here's a link to use Vbox and install Ubuntu.

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/virtualbox

The guide is just for Ubuntu, same logic applies to other Linux distro of your choice.

I understand where the users comments are coming from, virtual-box would be easier way to go but I myself prefer the dual boot method. There are so many websites and articles devoted to creating a dual boot with windows and linux. Here is a link that shows you how to create a dual boot system with Windows 7 and Ubuntu, you can always substitute your own linux distro. There is screenshots and should be easy to follow. Hope it helps! Let me know if you got anymore questions.

Windows 7 + Ubuntu Dual Boot Tutorial

I'll add my 2 cents to the crowd recommending initially trying things out in a virtual environment first (Virtualbox is my preferred solution).

That said, I dual-boot Windows and Arch Linux on all of my computers now, so it's not a problem. As with art3m above, I prefer this to VMs. As a matter of fact, I tend to do the opposite these days, I virtualize Windows sessions from my headless Arch Linux server via rdesktop-vrdp.

Cheers,

A web search for dual-boot linux windows 7 will turn up many tutorials.

I did this with Mint on my Win7 box some time ago and it worked out quite nicely. Since then, I've run Mageia and currently Debian dual-boot with Win7 on that box.

If Win7 has taken up all your primary partitions (that was the case with me), don't be alarmed. Linux can run quite nicely from an extended partition. It's only Windows that demands to run from a primary partition.