Hi,
I've had some experience with "both worlds" Windows XP and Linux/Ubuntu. I don't have to tell you, there are advantages to both. I've had several dual bootings.
Recently, I've had problems w/ Trojan Delf 1727 and number pum viruses. They were so destructive I had wipe the dual boots and Acer Aspire system that came with 3680-2682 I have. I think I can learn more about IT in the kind of computation I do, by working w/ Linux Ubuntu. My goal is to understand enough about IT in order to handle updates and use code to get myself out of jams -- we'll see where it goes from there. Any advice, & keywords would be appreciated. Thanks.
puki0m

DBAN is quite useful and easy to use if you need it. To create a bootable flash drive or cd with it go to this page and download the image. Then download a program like unetbootin to set up a bootable flashdrive, or if you want a bootable disk you can dd the iso straight to the cdrom. When you have booted from this, simply type the command
and let this wipe the drive, but be careful because this will completely wipe all drives connected to the computer and there will be no possibility of data recovery.

Is that general advice re eg Linux and/or specifically Ubuntu, or a qn re usage of dban?
The title doesn't quite match your text.

In any case, welcome to LQ

For Linux at the cli try
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz

There's a lot(!) of free to read books at www.linuxtopia.org

Okay, I've had the hard drive written over innumerable times with dban. Now, how do I use my computer again with Debian GNU/Linux, or xfce and slackware?

well, if you 'nuked' (erased) your drive it means you will have to install "again" the distro you want.
Download an installation DVD and run the installation.

I have a 2007 version of PCLinuxOS and can get the CD distro going, but lack drivers and cannot get on-line (wifi) Linksys or Encore Ennu 802.11 G in order to queue Pkg Mgr and get up-dates.
I also have a copy of the rescue disk that comes w/ http://www.sysresccd.org.
This allows me to access a terminal, but I am only beginning to use bash shell lang.
I have referred to youtube pics on Debian Linux & Ubuntu.
I have to use community college and city/county library systems, so I have to contend with their fire walls and regulations.
I have tried to create bootable memory sticks and DVD's/CD's of .iso files, but cannot seem to get anything to "take".
I'd like to get to GUI, as it makes more sense, but I need to learn bash, as well.
Any helpful keywords, suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks