hi. first of all i`m sorry of my english, i`ll hope you will understand all that i am trying to say.
a just got an Acer Aspire 4315, and altough on the User's Guide it said that it will be equipped with an Windows Vista.. surprise.. i just saw that i have Linpus Linux.
i don`t want to learn linux, because i`m in a bit of a hurry with this notebook, i just want to remove linux and to put XP.
please help me as soon as possible.
thanks !

Well, buy (unless you have an OEM disc that is not used anywhere else) a Windows from the local store (XP or Vista, as you like), boot from the Windows setup disc and go trough the installer. It formats the disk and installs it's bootloader the way it wants, nothing difficult there.

You don't need to "remove" Linux any way, you can just overwrite it. Things are more complicated only if you wish to spare the Linux installation, but shrink it's size, or just reinstall an existing Windows. Giving the whole disk to another OS (any OS) means you'll just ask the installer to overwrite anything it finds.

EDIT: Linpus seems to be one of the Linux distributions that are preinstalled on some computers that don't ship with Windows. It used to be rare, but nowadays you can get them more easily. Linpus seems to be a distribution from the east, and as far as I remember, they had something to do with Microsoft anyway..I think Linpus is based on Fedora/RedHat, but I might be wrong with that. I've seen only one this far, and it didn't work all right here where I live (problems in the updater tool/mirrors), so it was switched pretty quickly.

so
the steps i have to do are these
i have to put my hands on an bootable Windows CD, go into BIOS and set to boot from the CD/DVD and then i have to follow the steps to install windows ?
is there any chance this wont work and i will have to use linux?

edit: if this is any help for your answer,i dont want to keep the linux, so its not a problem if windows overwrites itself on the linux space.

Not to usurp bouncer, but you're right, drgnitzu, that's all you have to do.

There is next to no chance that it won't work, unless either the windows install media is corrupted, or if your dvd drive is fudged, which shouldn't be the case, since it's brand new.

Neither Linux, nor Windows, can "wreck" your computer, so install away.

On a side note, unless you're really hung up on autocad, games, or specific proprietary software, there's really no reason to overwrite Linux and install windows. Linux does everything* windows does except overload your PC with viruses, spyware, malware, and bad code.

However, that's for another time and place, I guess.

cheers,

well... what can i say..i am so against linux because my linpus linux looks just like ms-dos and it isnt a very friendly interface.. probably if i would make my linux work properly, maybe i would remain to it, but when i see just a black screen with commands ...

Like I said, my last encounter with Linpus wasn't all smiling, so I don't blame you if you feel it's ugly or hostile. But that doesn't mean all Linux operating systems were the same..

You can test and try different Linux distributions without installing them, to get the feel of them, by trying live-cds offered by them. For example Ubuntu Desktop edition (or Kubuntu, same thing ,different-looking desktop) is a combined live-cd + installation media, which you can boot and use without installing - or install if you like, clicking an icon on the desktop. There's a live-cd for Fedora too I believe, and many others, like Mepis. Run off a cd, they don't work (mainly: boot) quite as quickly as harddisk-installed operating systems, but will give you a picture of what the thing is. Best part is that you can reboot the machine, take the live-cd off the tray and have your other harddisk-installed operating system back in action. If and when you have time, take a look at some live-cds if you feel like it; but if you are fine with Windows, nobody is forcing you to move off; I think an operating system shouldn't be something you're "meant" to be using, but something that you choose based on your needs and how it suits you overall.

At best Linux is way better than Windows, but at worst it is pretty easily worse place for a Linux-newcomer than Windows. The same applies to any other OS - when you get used to it, it's your best friend, but until that it may be your worst enemy.

Did someone sell this computer claiming that Windows was installed?

I've heard of the Linpus thing before--who is it that is foisting this on people??

...there seems to be a practise in some countries (Countries where piracy is common? Countries where the localisation isn't felt to be good? Who can tell?) of installing a version of Linux -not a particularly good version and/or a not particularly well set-up version - in order to sell computers at the lowest sticker price.

I think the vendors of these things accept that most people are going to overwrite the supplied Linux with something else. Which you might not get all that concerned about (Hey, it may be a problem, but its a problem for some commercial computer outfit!) but an incidental side effect is that it gives people with little Linux knowledge the impression that the Linux experience is about as fun as MS-DOS was in the 1980s.

Not sure if anything positive can be done about it though. I bet their support department isn't a place to be, though.

If you feel you were tricked into buying this Acer with windows vista preinstall, I suggest you contact them right away for either an exchange or refund.

Also, not all linux distros are the same. There are some linux distros that are just crap. Just stick to the popular distros. For a newbie like you
any variant of ubuntu, opensuse, pclinuxos.

There is no perfect OS. Windows, mac, linux or other, each has their goods and bads. For me, it's linux and unix. So, I live with the good and the bad of linux/unix.

Linux RULES!!!

So Acer sells a proprietary Linux distribution with no GUI... great!

And I guess they sell this at around the same price of vista.

...

One thing, though, you'll have to look all over the internet to find the drivers you need if you haven't got a disk with them for....XP

yes samael , i have a big problem.. my bootable Win Xp cd cant continue setup because it said that it didnt recognized any hard-disk or something like that.. where the f.. can i get SATA drivers? or what am i supposed to do? and after that what do i have to do? write them over the XP cd ore make another cd with those drivers?
heeelp


edit: i think i have done it. i`ve entered bios and modify there SATA mode : IDE and with i had press F6 with the XP SP 2 cd and now it looks like working.. 7 minutes till setup is finished.
well what can i say.. this is that situation when someone was very useful but you dont want to meet him again ( like in the hospitals )
so .. hope not to see you again !
thank you very much for everything !