linux on a windows network?

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hxc87x

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i recently got a cd with hardy on it and started thinking about putting it on my laptop...
now the reason why i havent done so yet is because i need to know a few things first.
1stly - can i use this laptop at on a normal network? the reason im asking is because i mainly use my laptop to get stuff off the LAN network thing at res...
2ndly - can you use it's wireless to connect to a normal wifi router like the ones you find in some coffee shops/at home etc?
3rdly - does it use a different format for drives? would i need to format my portable that i normally use with windows for it to work on linux?

thanks =)
 
1. Yes, you can, although you'll need to manually connect to windows shares and the such (type in your username/password). I don't know of other Linux distros, but OpenSuSE 10.3 is able to authenticate and work on a Windows domain.

2. Sure you can, if the hardware is compatible. Just search the Ubuntu forums.

3. Yes, it does use different formats for hard drives. You can install Ubuntu and Windows with a dual-boot configuration, allowing you to have two different OS'es on the same hard drive.
 
+1
1. Yes. The only issues I ever have is with Samba now and then, but if it is set up properly (which isn't hard), it works fine.

2. Yes. Period. I actually get better wireless performance with Ubuntu than Windows...

3. Linux (usually) uses ext3. You can, however, read a fat/ntfs partition. If you have problems, install the ntfs tool from the package manager (although mine worked out of the box).
 
right. i've got another question...
where can i get drivers for my laptop? it's a dell latitude d610. i've just checked the dell site and they only have windows drivers for it...
thanks
 
Just slap the Ubuntu CD in and boot from it. It will boot into a live session and you will soon see what works and what doesn't. Hopefully you won't need to find any drivers.

I didn't have to do anything to set up access to my windows network. Ubuntu did it all for me.

Wireless performance as was said is superb. Works better than windows.

Enjoy it! ;)
 
what I mean is... you can boot from the CD and test everything without actually installing anything. That is the way it was designed.
 
hxc87x said:
3rdly - does it use a different format for drives? would i need to format my portable that i normally use with windows for it to work on linux?
Click to expand...

You can also try installing Ubuntu using wubi. It allows you to run Ubuntu on your Windows partition, and you are easily able to remove Ubuntu (not that you would want to) from within the Add/Remove programs list.
 
You could also do a google search for dell latitude d610 linux to see what others experience is with it. Modern distros pick up most hardware quite easily. I didn't have to do anything for instance when I installed Fedora 9 on my HP 530 laptop. Wireless just worked.
 
milomak said:
You could also do a google search for dell latitude d610 linux to see what others experience is with it. Modern distros pick up most hardware quite easily. I didn't have to do anything for instance when I installed Fedora 9 on my HP 530 laptop. Wireless just worked.
Click to expand...

me neither with my HP Pavilion. Ubuntu Linux had every driver I needed built in. In fact, in the last 5 Ubuntu installations I never once had to go looking for a driver.
 
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