Linux & Duel Boot

nero

I am building a desktop & would like to duel boot with Linuz & Windows XP. I need someone with Linux savy to tell me if the components I have is adequate for Linux. Power Supply: Corsair 650 W. Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA785GT-UD3H. Memory: Corsair XMS3 (2X2 GB) DDR3 1333. CPU: AMD Athlon II x4 640. HDD 2x Seagate barracuda 7200.12 500 GB. Case: Cooler Master Gladiator 600.

I plan to load each OS onto it's own HDD & wifh seperate internet security for each, in other words, two seperate operating systems. I know the components are OK for XP, what I don't know, are they OK for Linus.

Also, which Linux OS would be recomended?

atreyu

That hardware should be fine (a quick googling suggests that anyway).

I would recommend you try Fedora or Ubuntu just b/c they are so user-friendly and you'll have a lot of community support with them (my personal choice is Fedora but whatever). They are both very friendly to dual-boot scenarios, too. Honestly, most Linux distros these days are dual-boot friendly.

I would also recommend trying the "Live CD/DVD" approach first, to see if the Linux distro you choose works best for you (are all hardware devices working properly, etc.). Then when you're happy, you can actually install it.

Good luck!

-bill

Goineasy9

For a Linux beginner, I would stay away from Fedora for now. The impending release of F15 is causing some problems with Beta releases, and, there is a big difference between what F14 offers and what F15 will look like, with the coming of Gnome3. I would look at Mint or Ubuntu. BTW - your hardware is more than adequate for Linux.
If your going to use Windows XP, that should be installed first, since, windows tends to overwrite anything else on the hard disk. Linux can be put on second, and it will recognize Windows XP and make an entry in the bootloader for it.

If you have anymore questions as you think about your setup, please ask.

asedt

I think there is no problem with the hardware, test some Live CD/DVD to see what distribution you like and what works. It's always good to choose on of the major ones: http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

mfillpot

Your listed hardware should have no issues with any Linux based OS. The components that suffer the most compatibility problems are wifi cards and video card (ATI cards don't perform as well as they should).

The thing you must remember about dual booting with windows is that windows must be installed on the first hard drive and installed first, windows expects to be the first OS and throws fits if it is not, also if it is installed second it will blow the bootloader from the other OS off of the computer.

nero

You are telling me that Windows must be installed first even though it will be on a seperate hard drive ?

Goineasy9

Windows will always overwrite the bootloader. If you are going to install on a separate hard drive, one solution would be to disconnect the first drive, install windows on the second drive, reattach the first drive and modify grub (the Linux bootloader) to point to the Windows install on the second drive. This sounds more complicated than it is, since the modification to grub is a simple 2 lines that has to be added that includes the chainloader command.
Each distro's forums, it seems, has at least one thread that explains how this is done. That's because most folks don't ask first like you did, and have to restore the Linux bootloader after Windows overwrites it. Restoring the Linux bootloader is also fairly simple, but it's easier to add a couple lines to grub, than do a grub restore.

So, if you need further explanation, have more questions or need more step by step instructions, please ask.

nero

I am seriously considering Linux Mint, from what I read the distribution (Distros) is very simple and lets the user choose the bootup sequence. Please reply & advise if I am heading into trouble.
Thanks

MikeEnIke

nero wrote:

You are telling me that Windows must be installed first even though it will be on a seperate hard drive ?

Though it's a on a separate hard drive, something called a 'boot loader' must be installed (it installs automatically with linux) - and this tell the computer which hard drive to boot. Because windows XP installs it's own Boot Loader that doesn't recognize linux, by installing Linux second, you can overwrite the XP boot loader and install the Linux one that recognized both OS's.

saqman2060

No, you are on the right track. Mint is designed for new users, and gives you the option to dual boot with your existing OS. You can also try Zorin OS as well, as it takes after the windows 7 look.

saqman2060

nero wrote:

You are telling me that Windows must be installed first even though it will be on a seperate hard drive ?

Yes. If you install Xp after you installed linux, you will overwrite linux's boot loader. Then you will have to manually re-write the bootloader for linux and windows to use.

It does not matter what hard drive your OS is installed on, it still needs the boot loader to load the system. The loader will install itself on every hard drive it finds that has an OS on it so it can boot.

It is much easier to install windows first then linux.B)

Goineasy9

You not heading into trouble, Mint is a good choice.

MikeEnIke

I'd also like to just say that Mint is perfect for the Windows convert. When you first run mint it will look basically familiar because of the layout and is a bit more intuitive. It also comes with a good amount of things you'd want (java, flash, etc.). Good Choice.

nero

I want to thank all of you for your help & advice. It will be a couple of month's before I complete this "Desktop Build", I'm waiting for Newegg to have a sale on the CPU: AMD Athlon II x4 640. I'm sure I'll be getting back with ya-all when I install the OS'S.

anand44

You should first install Windows & then try Ubuntu 10.10 (or wait for the 11.04 version just coming on 28th April) or Linux Mint 10.They are both based on Debian and supports various peripherals.

Goineasy9

As a new user, keep your eyes on Mint. Ubuntu is now changing over to the Unity Desktop, which, for some, is not the ideal way to start using Linux. Matt will probably argue that point with me, but, freedom of choice is what Linux is all about. I have yet to have a new user complain about any version of Mint, and it's way more stable than Ubuntu.

marc

Goineasy9 wrote:

As a new user, keep your eyes on Mint. Ubuntu is now changing over to the Unity Desktop, which, for some, is not the ideal way to start using Linux. Matt will probably argue that point with me, but, freedom of choice is what Linux is all about. I have yet to have a new user complain about any version of Mint, and it's way more stable than Ubuntu.

I'm not an Ubuntu fan but... all that's debatable.

You can give a try to OpenSuse or Fedora which are "friendly" to newcomers

Regards

Goineasy9

As someone who currently has Fedora 13 & 14 & 15 running on various machines, I would not recommend Fedora for a new user at the moment. Too many things to fix.

nero

I plan to download "Linux Mint 10 KDE, any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. remember, I'm new to Lenux.

Lman

That would be the best place to start. I started on Ubuntu when it ran gnome, and I almost wish I had used a distro that uses KDE before I did that lol. Good luck to ya and tell us how it turns out

Goineasy9

I agree with Logan, Linux Mint is good, and I'm liking the new KDE myself. Good choice.

nero

Could you be more specific on this issue: "Add a couple of lines to grub". As I said, Im new to this and can use all the help I can get. I am currently redoing the whole process. I had installed XP, then installed Mint, the computer would not boot at all.