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YPSA

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Hey guys, Im running Windows XP right now and not liking it that much. Linux looks like a better option. Just wondering what would be the best as I see there are many different option. Ubuntu looks pretty good. I have a Toshiba A100 Laptop with a full HDD. What would I need to do in order to have all my pics and stuff on Linux? Where can I download it from and how to install? Sorry if this is already mentioned in other threads but I have no clue when it comes to these things. TiD
 
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Well since you seem to be new to it, you might want to go the newb route first. Download Ubuntu 8.10 from http://ubuntu.mirror.ac.za/ubuntu-release/intrepid/ubuntu-8.10-desktop-i386.iso and install within Windows via Wubi. This will allow you to use both Windows and Linux without having to do anything special. This would be the easiest way for you to learn the basics and still be able to fix it if anything went wrong (command line fixing and newb doesn't go well together).
 
wezhira said:
welcome i'd give you the blue pill and red pill speech but think morpheus does a better job at it so i say welcome to the dark side
check out www.distrowatch.com for all distros and there is a sticky in this forum about distros and where too download locally


enjoy the ride
Click to expand...
It is quite a ride. The blue pill is a tranquilizer to prepare you for it, the red is for the anxiety you will experience later when you have to reinstall Windows.;)
.....

Seriously, though, I would do some research and check how the laptop will handle LINUX before going ahead.
 
Umm Red pill, Blue pill?? lol

My Laptop looks as though it would work fine with Ubuntu. What would happen to all my Pics and stuff? Do I need to back them up?
 
YPSA said:
Umm Red pill, Blue pill?? lol

My Laptop looks as though it would work fine with Ubuntu. What would happen to all my Pics and stuff? Do I need to back them up?
Click to expand...

If you did a Wubi install you wouldn't lose anything. If you did a blank install (formate+install) you'd have to back everything up.
 
YPSA said:
Umm Red pill, Blue pill?? lol

My Laptop looks as though it would work fine with Ubuntu. What would happen to all my Pics and stuff? Do I need to back them up?
Click to expand...
Back up all your prn, yes.;) If you're going to dual boot, you will have to play with partitions and thangs, so backing up is vital.
 
YPSA said:
Hey guys, Im running Windows XP right now and not liking it that much. Linux looks like a better option. Just wondering what would be the best as I see there are many different option. Ubuntu looks pretty good. I have a Toshiba A100 Laptop with a full HDD. What would I need to do in order to have all my pics and stuff on Linux? Where can I download it from and how to install? Sorry if this is already mentioned in other threads but I have no clue when it comes to these things. TiD
Click to expand...

Welcome, I've decide to take the plunge into Linux world recently as well.

I installed Ubuntu 8.10, becase it's so popular you'll find a lot of help on the internet. After installing make sure to activate all the restriced extras, you'll get a lot more functionality and familiarity for an ex-windows user.

Lastly, download and install VirtualBox, (don;t install Virtualbox-OSE from the repositories, it doesn't work), Then load XP into a Virtual machine within Linux

I have the following setup and I can say that although I still dual-boot to XP every now and then, I honestly have no reason to do it anymore. I can quite happily boot to Ubuntu all the time and get everythign done that I used to do.
 
Deenem said:
Welcome, I've decide to take the plunge into Linux world recently as well.

I installed Ubuntu 8.10, becase it's so popular you'll find a lot of help on the internet. After installing make sure to activate all the restriced extras, you'll get a lot more functionality and familiarity for an ex-windows user.

Lastly, download and install VirtualBox, (don;t install Virtualbox-OSE from the repositories, it doesn't work), Then load XP into a Virtual machine within Linux

I have the following setup and I can say that although I still dual-boot to XP every now and then, I honestly have no reason to do it anymore. I can quite happily boot to Ubuntu all the time and get everythign done that I used to do.
Click to expand...

Actually VBox-OSE does work... it's just the opensource version of VBox and doesn't have USB support. VBox on www.virtualvox.org is non-free if used in a commercial environment but is free for personal use.
 
froot said:
Well since you seem to be new to it, you might want to go the newb route first. Download Ubuntu 8.10 from http://ubuntu.mirror.ac.za/ubuntu-release/intrepid/ubuntu-8.10-desktop-i386.iso and install within Windows via Wubi. This will allow you to use both Windows and Linux without having to do anything special. This would be the easiest way for you to learn the basics and still be able to fix it if anything went wrong (command line fixing and newb doesn't go well together).
Click to expand...


hey if i install this Ubuntu thing will my Winxp drivers and games for WinXP be useless or does the Ubuntu thing just change the pics,if i go out to buy producs will i need to buy them for WINXP or UBUNTU?
 
Best approach would be run live CD and see is everything works as expected. Can you access internet, files on HDD and similar. If resolution is not standard do not pay attention - later when you install just enable non-free drivers. Do search on forums (eg for Ubuntu) for your hardware and see did anybody else experienced problems.
Some Windows games may work under Wine, check http://wiki.winehq.org/winetricks and stay away from winedoors and other gray stuff - they may turn your Linux into Windows security wise.
 
Dasher said:
hey if i install this Ubuntu thing will my Winxp drivers and games for WinXP be useless or does the Ubuntu thing just change the pics,if i go out to buy producs will i need to buy them for WINXP or UBUNTU?
Click to expand...

It depends whether you dual boot XP and Ubuntu or if you only have Ubuntu running. I would suggest dual booting if you aren't too comfortable shoving Windows totally aside (though I don't regret only running Linux).
You don't buy anything for Ubuntu. Most software for Linux is free, apart from some specialised packages.
I run some things under Wine, some packages that don't run under Wine I simply run off a Virtual Machine (on Virtualbox) with XP loaded onto it.
 
Sackboy said:
It is quite a ride. The blue pill is a tranquilizer to prepare you for it, the red is for the anxiety you will experience later when you have to reinstall Windows.;)
.....

Seriously, though, I would do some research and check how the laptop will handle LINUX before going ahead.
Click to expand...

^^ Windows astroturfer fanboi alert. YPSA ignore the troll.
 
froot said:
Actually VBox-OSE does work... it's just the opensource version of VBox and doesn't have USB support. VBox on www.virtualvox.org is non-free if used in a commercial environment but is free for personal use.
Click to expand...

I installed the OSE and it didn't work. Lots of digging and I found out I had to run the daemon with the 'setup' option, except the OSE version doesn't have the setup option. With OSE the binaries have to match the kernel version else it don't work. If Ubuntu decides to update your kernel and there are no compatible binaries available for OSE then you're poked :(

Eventually gave up and installed the full version.
 
Deenem said:
I installed the OSE and it didn't work. Lots of digging and I found out I had to run the daemon with the 'setup' option, except the OSE version doesn't have the setup option. With OSE the binaries have to match the kernel version else it don't work. If Ubuntu decides to update your kernel and there are no compatible binaries available for OSE then you're poked :(

Eventually gave up and installed the full version.
Click to expand...

That's always been an issue. But simply because the new kernels are released more frequently than the VB-ose releases. But I usually don't update my kernel immediately, I usually wait until the kernel is deemed bug-free.
 
Try the virtual option first using the vm tool of your choice (MS VPC/VS, Vmware, Vbox etc)
Dual boot is also a good option if you have free disk space, or know how to manipulate your existing drive partitions.
However if you are fairly good at troubleshooting and have an alternate machine to work/play on, go cold turkey.

Distro wise, I really like Mandriva, but one of the n00bs at work installed ubuntu and his stuff worked a little easier than mine did. To download check the sticky. http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=120849
 
froot said:
That's always been an issue. But simply because the new kernels are released more frequently than the VB-ose releases. But I usually don't update my kernel immediately, I usually wait until the kernel is deemed bug-free.
Click to expand...

Either way, full version doesn't have that problem and it has USB support, so I say it's better to download the .deb from the site and install that rather.
 
Would I be able to format my HDD and boot the comp up with Ubuntu disc in it? Then Install from there? Thanks for all the help
 
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