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vista to xp to ubuntu


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#1
mrq201

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Ok.. i had a vista laptop and i downgraded to xp. No major problems with the xp driver (just that its hard for me to get some updates... not a biggie). Xp works, everything works etc. Ive been hearing about ubuntu and I really want to try it out. Im in the process of downloading the Livecd, i think that is what it is called. Has anyone done this already.. going from vista to unbuntu. Was it easy... how about the drivers.... did everything work great afterwards??

I have a gateway MT3705 laptop... Please assist
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#2
The Admiral

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Here's my recommendation:

Wubi is an interface that allows you to install Ubuntu just like a program, and if you don't like it you can uninstall it from Add/Remove Programs, just like a program. If you really like it, you can make the choice to get your hands dirty, repartition, and install on its own partition, but Wubi gives you the choice to try it out within Windows.

You can find it here, and a good guide for using it is here.
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#3
mrq201

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In terms of the drivers and whats not, would everything be running smoothly without issue. Basically, i want to know if the same issue lies when someone downgrades from vista to xp (in terms of the drivers not being accessible)

I am following the link you sent me and i am in the process of downloading it
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#4
wizzy2k5

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In terms of the drivers and whats not, would everything be running smoothly without issue.


Some may work no problem and some you may have problems with. They may have their own drivers already for you and some they may not. In regards to sound and graphics I think the newer versions already come with their own graphics drivers already installed so you won't need to worry about that sound I am unsure of, if you have onboard sound just turn your speakers on and see :) if sound doesn't work you will need to download your sound driver for linux and install that which is done from command line, if you don't know your command line it can be difficult and it is not a case of double click and install, you do need to do alot more work.

I hope that has helped in some way.

Regards

Edited by wizzy2k5, 30 August 2008 - 05:38 PM.

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#5
mrq201

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I was also reading up on it and it said i had to convert my file formats and stuff, reconfigure my router and all that, plus my network settings... is this all true? and basically, its ALOT of work if i want to have ubuntu... is this true?
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#6
fleamailman

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ubuntu comes as a live CD so if one just boots up on the live CD, one will know before even installing anything if the drivers are recognised, personally I think someone new to linux wanting ubuntu could just try Mint linux based on ubuntu first because there is no after install process to do(because unlike raw ubuntu, with Mint linux the mp3, flash and other codexes come as standard) here is a link on this site explaining more then but choose the newer version as I haven't updated that post yet

http://www.geekstogo...p;hl=mint linux
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#7
fleamailman

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an afterthought from reading your last post, no there is no file converting to do, your rooter will work just like with windows, Mint is a simple linux distro yes but no, you will be surprised I think both by the speed of things, and by the malwarefreeness of it
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#8
stupidhomer

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If you let your laptop go into standby when running ubuntu through wubi, it will die, and it will not let me reinstall it, so be careful with wubi, it isn't good when your laptop goes into standby, I couldn't even reinstall it because after i reinstalled it I kept getting some stupid error when starting ubuntu through wubi.
if your going to be using ubuntu much, its better to have a normal partition for it.

Edited by stupidhomer, 31 August 2008 - 04:03 AM.

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#9
Titan8990

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I havn't tried Wubi or know exactly how it works but did you try booting with the option "noacpic"?
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#10
mrq201

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I didnt know this topic would garner soo much interest, but whew. i booted up into ubuntu and i was all confused. For one the wireless did not work because i had to configure it and i did not want to do that. Also, none of my files got transferred over. None of my pictures got transfered over and none of my music. I have not uninstalled it; however, I will keep it there just in case I have to work with it sometime later.
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#11
stupidhomer

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Normally you have to use NdisWrapper on ubuntu to get wireless drivers, i had to do it for my laptop until wubi died on itself after going into standby
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#12
fleamailman

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a lot depends on which network device one has, there are some that work "out of the box"(generic), some that need a bridge like ndiswrapper, while unfortunately there are some that won't work at all, btw the files on one system are not transfered to the other, only that there is a way to mount a windows partitions and files within linux, as there is a way to mount a linux partition in windows(see the link I gave last time), also since it's ubuntu and not mint I imagine you now have to add in those codexes, mp3 and java stream stuff but the ubuntu forum has both good tuts and is helpful
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#13
Titan8990

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None of my pictures got transfered over and none of my music. I have not uninstalled it; however, I will keep it there just in case I have to work with it sometime later.



Open up the terminal and type the following:


sudo mount


sudo fdisk -l


and post the contents of those two commands.
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