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Old 04-17-2006, 09:43 AM   #1
PC3104
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Apr 2006
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Curious about getting started in Linux


Hello,
I am a computer student from Ireland. I have heard so much about the Linux OS, i was considering giving it a go. Before this i had a few questions and i was wondering if anyone could help me please.

Is it free to download?
How do i run it (currently running XP)?
If i decide to go back to XP is it possible without the Disc to reinstall XP?
If i use outlook as my email account can i still do this?
Are MS office File types supported, ie can i still use the MS Office programs i paid for?

These are just a few questions i was curious about. Im finding it difficult to find information for new users, or people who just want to try it out on the Web. I would greatly appreciate any responses.
Thank you
 
Old 04-17-2006, 10:07 AM   #2
rickh
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Registered: May 2004
Location: Albuquerque, NM USA
Distribution: Debian-Lenny/Sid 32/64 Desktop: Generic AMD64-EVGA 680i Laptop: Generic Intel SIS-AC97
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Normally, you would frre up space on your hard drive, or purchese and install another hard drive for Linux, then set both OSs up together as a dual-boot system. That way you can go back and forth from one to the other.

Your next step is to decide on a distribution (distro) you'd like to try. Why Debian...A sales Pitch
 
Old 04-17-2006, 10:20 AM   #3
MTBer
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Distribution: SUSE 10.3
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Yes it is free
Download a Knoppix live CD to try first- It won't touch your hard drive
Use mozilla thunderbird on linux
The openoffice.org suite supports MS Office files

When you are ready to install to your hard drive you can use a tool in knoppix (qtparted) to resize your xp partition and make room for a linux installation

I would reccomend openSUSE 10.0 as a distro because of it's ease of use with the GUI installer.
 
Old 04-17-2006, 10:20 AM   #4
XavierP
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PC3104
Is it free to download?
Yes for the vast majority of distros. Read Distrowatch and go here to download distros.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PC3104
How do i run it (currently running XP)?
Once you have burned the disk (go here to learn how) just boot off the disk and follow the prompts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PC3104
If i decide to go back to XP is it possible without the Disc to reinstall XP?
No. If you use the entire hard drive and want to reinstall XP, you will need your XP install disk or pc restore disk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PC3104
If i use outlook as my email account can i still do this?
Not really. You can install Outlook if you use another program to do so (Wine or Crossover Office). This may be a little beyond you at this stage of the game. Far better to defrag your current Windows install (to bunch all the files up at the start of the disk) and then repartition your hard drive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PC3104
Are MS office File types supported, ie can i still use the MS Office programs i paid for?
Again, you can install MS Office, etc but this may be a little advanced. Open Office and various other open source office programs can read and write in MS formats.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PC3104
These are just a few questions i was curious about. Im finding it difficult to find information for new users, or people who just want to try it out on the Web.
Check the Bookmark site as many of us have posted up "newbie" guides. Also read this article.

Welcome to LQ and to Linux
 
Old 04-17-2006, 10:24 AM   #5
augurseer
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Registered: Feb 2006
Location: Canada
Distribution: OpenSuSe 10.2 (Home and Laptop) CentOS 5.0 (Server)
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many many many distro have built in partitioning software and dual boot options right off the bat. ubuntu is a choice i recomend, only cause it is simply easy and fast, with so much support it could chock a horse.


once you have mastered or wnat a greater chalange you can move from ubuntu to debian and from there to whatever else you like......and this site and the general community will answer any stupdi question you come up with at any time of night adn day, jsut make it a good question......lol
 
Old 04-23-2006, 10:33 AM   #6
PC3104
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Registered: Apr 2006
Posts: 2

Original Poster
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Installing Ubuntu

Hello,
Thanks very much for all tyour help so far.
I ve decided to go with Ubuntu. So i downloaded it and burnt it onto a cd using the recommended way on the official ubuntu site(using an ios recorder).
Ive now got it on a cd, but when i go to run the exe file, windows says "D:\start.exe is not a valid Win32 Application".

Any ideas on what to do from here. Im trying to run the OS off the cd so i can also use XP if i so desire.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks again
Peter
 
Old 04-23-2006, 11:59 AM   #7
MTBer
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There is no .exe file. You must boot from your newly created cd. Restart your computer and set the bios to boot from cd.
 
Old 04-23-2006, 12:59 PM   #8
dmartins
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Location: Ontario, Canada
Distribution: Arch, Gentoo
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Be careful here. The ubuntu CD is not a LiveCD, it is simply an installer. This means it will want to format/partition your hard drive and possibly wipe windows off. If you are looking for a LiveCD to try, have a look at Knoppix or MEPIS(a livecd which allows you to try out then do an install to the hard disk if you want to)
 
Old 04-23-2006, 02:44 PM   #9
mcmillan
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Registered: Jul 2005
Distribution: Arch
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There is an ubuntu live cd also, but if he's working with the breezy you can't install off the live cd. The beta dapper version of the live cd has the ability to install, but I think it's still a bit buggy and forces a choices that the normal install has some options for. When I had an formatting my drives it just quit without any messages, and the xubuntu version wasn't able to install grub to the mbr, which I was kind of glad of actually since that is one of the forced choices that I would have rather made for myself to install somewhere else anyway.

If you want to be able to run windows and install linux to the hard drive you can make a separate partition for linux and install it alongside windows. Look for instructions on dual booting.
 
Old 04-24-2006, 07:37 PM   #10
MTBer
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You can install knoppix to a hard drive also.
 
Old 04-24-2006, 11:36 PM   #11
glidermike
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Registered: Nov 2005
Location: Toronto Canada
Distribution: Debian
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Download the latest Mepis; ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/dist...EPIS_3.4-3.iso

Burn it to a cd, set your bios to boot from your cd first (rather than your hard drive)Mepis is a "live" cd, so you can test all your hardware and check out linux.Mepis has support for mp3 and java out of the box, is Debian compatible and is perfect for a newcomer to use---plus an excellent forum with quick replies to questions if you get stuck. Try it you wont be sorry!
 
  


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