thinking of going linux

You'll need to make some space for the Lniux partition. Use a partitioning tool like Paragon partition manager, and resize your NTFS partition to make it smaller. You need to leave about 5GB to have a comfortable desktop install. Less will do, but you'll have less space for files.

Once inside distro installer, you need to make 2 partitions, one root partition /, and one swap partition.

 

well my whole 80 gb hdd is empty so im gonig to use that should i partition it now or will the install ubuntu or whatever do it like xp does.

 

In Ubuntu you get LiveCD installation. In that installation you've got integrated partitioning program called GParted. It is one of the best. Easier to use than Partition Magic or any other in Windows (that I tried)

 

If you have a whole 80GB hard drive available, then thats excellent. You can tell Ubuntu installer to automatically use all of the space and create the partitions optimally, or do it yourself so you can have more than one distro installed (on different partitions).

 

so i dont have to partition it before i install ubuntu

 

The installation will need to write the boot manager to the master boot record of your first harddisk, otherwise you would have to boot from a floppy or CD. Other than that, it will leave your first drive alone. Access to this drive will be sketchy if you use NTFS. Support for NTFS has come a long way but not perfect and you may not be able to write to NTFS. FAT32, although a crappy format, is a good file system to use if you want to share data between windows and linux. I'm not saying that you need to reformat but I wanted to give fair warning.

 

i was thinking of using my large 250gb witch has windows on it now will use that for my games and the miss's uses it for msn messenger etc. and everything else i will use on ubuntu or whatever. so dont think il be sharing much between drives but when i sort out games and grow to like linux more then il bin xp all together. as im typing this message im on the live cd of kubuntu which looks decent enough had a go on MEPIS 6 before didnt like it that much. is kubutu better than ubuntu .

 

Here is little help for installing Ubuntu: Windows to Ubuntu

U could make a little FAT32 partition to share files between these 2 OSes...

 

Ubuntu / Kubuntu run the same 'engine' if you will. The only difference between the two is the graphical window manager that they use. Ubuntu uses the GNOME window manager whereas Kubuntu uses the KDE desktop.

As for which is better, well that's just down to personal taste. I prefer Kubuntu but I also have Ubuntu installed on another computer. Oh, and Xubuntu installed on my laptop

SimplyMEPIS is actually based on Ubuntu as well. So there are alot of similarities. However, SimplyMEPIS has no clear direction and is a waste of time IMO

 

just installed kubuntu so having a explore now . good thing is my internet still works on it lol. do i have to get another driver for my 7600gt from nvidia.

 

Have a look at this thread

Check out the links section for info on install multimedia codecs, nVidia drivers etc

 

ran into my first problem how do i mount a hdd so i an use it . cos i followed the above how to install ubuntu iv put it on a new partition on my large hdd but want to use my 80 for my linux stuff so how do i do it.

 

first create a directory to mount th HD or partition to (e.g. /mnt/spare
you'll need to be in konsole (as root) then use the mount command
(e.g. mount <device> -t <partition type> <location to mount to>)

Code:

mount /dev/hda3 -t msdos /mnt/spare

i think thats right

 

how do i log in as root as i cant even create a new file.

 

Code:

sudo su

- permanant
kdesu - temporary
preseed your command with kdesu

Code:

kdesu mount /dev/hda3 -t msdos /mnt/spare

 

when i boot up into grub i cant select anything cos my keyboard wont work until the next screen its like disabled or something anyone no how to sort this or else i wont be able to change back to xp when i need to.

oh yeah it a saitek gaming keyboard usb2

 

sorted the above by having a ps2 keyboard in aswell could do with sorting it out like but it will do for now.

 

I have wireless and for most of the wi-fi cards u need driver emulator called Ndiswrapper.

 

i think you need to enable USB Legacy devices in the BIOS