[i0vvny0u]

hey guys!

well im a new student in college right now who wants to learn everything about using the operating system to its full extent..ive heard that using linux can teach a person many things like about command prompts and such...i was wondering if anyone could help me getting started with this...i use windows vista home premium and would like to start using linux on a virtual pc if possible..can anyone walk me through the steps to get a linux os on my virtual pc so i can start fooling around with it and be able to learn all i can about linux and commands...any type of help is appreciated...i just want to learn! plz help!

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I would start with an easy linux like "Mint" linux first, thought there are many types out there, and perhaps if you have a friend who already has linux installed on his machine, choose his type linux then as nothing is better than a physical friend for starting out on linux

You can either run linux within windows, as dual boot with windows, or as a virtual machine, but before you do anything just try the live CD test, that is just boot up onto linux with the CD, the link and details as given below, it will tell you most things you want to know before proceeding further, ie, whether all the drivers are sweet, whether it meets your requirements, etc., then you can choose between dual boot, or full install, and I imagine there are costing software in windows to run linux under windows, where there is the "virtual box",which is free, to run windows under linux, but either way, if you run the system from the live CD, which is slow depending on the amount of ram you have, your harddrive remains untouched meaning that if you don't like what you see, nothing remains of it once you turn off the computer taking out the cd

The question then remains, when you say you are learning that is, there are lots of little tricks that work for linux, many of the commands that work for windows also work for linux, the hotkey shortcuts for example, but one can adapt them at will

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

Edited by fleamailman, 24 November 2009 - 04:20 AM.

[fleamailman]

I would start with an easy linux like "Mint" linux first, thought there are many types out there, and perhaps if you have a friend who already has linux installed on his machine, choose his type linux then as nothing is better than a physical friend for starting out on linux

You can either run linux within windows, as dual boot with windows, or as a virtual machine, but before you do anything just try the live CD test, that is just boot up onto linux with the CD, the link and details as given below, it will tell you most things you want to know before proceeding further, ie, whether all the drivers are sweet, whether it meets your requirements, etc., then you can choose between dual boot, or full install, and I imagine there are costing software in windows to run linux under windows, where there is the "virtual box",which is free, to run windows under linux, but either way, if you run the system from the live CD, which is slow depending on the amount of ram you have, your harddrive remains untouched meaning that if you don't like what you see, nothing remains of it once you turn off the computer taking out the cd

The question then remains, when you say you are learning that is, there are lots of little tricks that work for linux, many of the commands that work for windows also work for linux, the hotkey shortcuts for example, but one can adapt them at will

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

Edited by fleamailman, 24 November 2009 - 04:20 AM.

[rshaffer61]

You don't run one OS under another OS. They would have to be installed on a different partition on the hard drive.
Dual booting would allow this. I have 3 OS's installed on my system right now...Win xp, Win 7 and Mandriva Linux
They all work independently of each other. One is on a HD by itself and two share a hd.

[chamber]

You don't run one OS under another OS.

Would a wubi install not fall under this category?

[rshaffer61]

It would be but I find that to be counter productive as this means your two OS's are dependent on each other. By installing to separate partitions and using a grub then you utilize the OS you are booting to alone.

[chamber]

I agree,

I far prefer to have the choice. Was just checking.

[i0vvny0u]

I would start with an easy linux like "Mint" linux first, thought there are many types out there, and perhaps if you have a friend who already has linux installed on his machine, choose his type linux then as nothing is better than a physical friend for starting out on linux

You can either run linux within windows, as dual boot with windows, or as a virtual machine, but before you do anything just try the live CD test, that is just boot up onto linux with the CD, the link and details as given below, it will tell you most things you want to know before proceeding further, ie, whether all the drivers are sweet, whether it meets your requirements, etc., then you can choose between dual boot, or full install, and I imagine there are costing software in windows to run linux under windows, where there is the "virtual box",which is free, to run windows under linux, but either way, if you run the system from the live CD, which is slow depending on the amount of ram you have, your harddrive remains untouched meaning that if you don't like what you see, nothing remains of it once you turn off the computer taking out the cd

The question then remains, when you say you are learning that is, there are lots of little tricks that work for linux, many of the commands that work for windows also work for linux, the hotkey shortcuts for example, but one can adapt them at will

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

ok so would a duel boot be better than just running it in virtual pc? if i duel boot i will need to repartition my drive and if i need to repartition it, wont i need to delete all my files and start with a clean install? about the live cd, where can i get that from and how much is it? is there a site i can go to so i can put linux on my virtual pc? i really appreceate this help...i really didnt think anyone was going to reply back to this..thanks so much...

[rshaffer61]

Dual boot on the same drive does require you having to setup a new partition. It isn't as hard as it sounds actually.
You can use a third party program like Eusus Partition mananger to do it. The Home Version is a free download. Just make sure you leave enough on your main drive to let the existing OS to work.
So if you have a 100 gig drive and you are using 30 gigs of it and have say 60 gigs free, then shrink the partition to 60 gigs and leave 30 gigs as free space. Then when you install Linux have it use the Free Space as it's installation partition. It will setup everything for you including mount point and swap partition.
Then it should ask you about setting up the Grub
What this does is when you start your system you will then have a choice of booting to either Windows or linux. It defaults normally to Linux so be aware of that.

[silverbeard]

Since the OP asked about running Linux from Virtual Machine here is one of the things I do with VirtualBox.

After installing a VM to use (Most are free and easily installed in most environments) download a live CD (32bit because most VM's don't do 64bit) and set up a Virtual Machine. I generally allow 10gigs for Linux. You can then mount the *.iso as the installation media and play with the live Distro just like booting from your optical drive.Then decide if you want to commit to installing the VM. This is more efficient IMO then testing them from the optical drive unless you plan on installing to HD, then you need to know if your hardware is compatible.

If you really want to know the nuts and bolt of your OS start with Gentoo. By far and away the most customizable and frustrating Linux I've ever had the pleasure of learning from. WARNING! Gentoo is not your grandma's Linux. Gentoo's forums can be a bit harsh on n00bs but they are fairly well indexed for searching. It requires you to KNOW or LEARN what it is you want your Install to be. Working through .config files and compiling software is often required.It's a lot easier then Linux From Scratch. This is the real fun and the real reason I use Linux.

To get a grasp on Command Line (not Command Prompt, same thing but CP is a DoS term ) check out Rute. It will give you the chops for CL.

[rshaffer61]

Silverbeard

[i0vvny0u]

oh ok thnx guys..so what should i do? duel boot it or just make it on a VM?

[rshaffer61]

Which sounds better and easier for you to do?
In the end it is what is more comfortable for you.

[i0vvny0u]

i dont mean to be noob..but a duel boot sounds very useful but idk if i should put it on the virtual pc just to start off just in case i mess up

[rshaffer61]

I have never done a Virtual setup so I can't say what it is like. I have a triple boot system right now and it works really good.

[fleamailman]

ok so would a duel boot be better than just running it in virtual pc? if i duel boot i will need to repartition my drive and if i need to repartition it, wont i need to delete all my files and start with a clean install? about the live cd, where can i get that from and how much is it? is there a site i can go to so i can put linux on my virtual pc? i really appreceate this help...i really didnt think anyone was going to reply back to this..thanks so much...

it resizes your partitions guarding the windows system as it is, much like "partition magic" under windows does, but there's a proviso that I mention later

actually you can't really mess up, since there is a system check that kicks in after so many reboots, and also since you do the live CD test before installing that is, so there are no surprises unlike the windows where one then realizes some driver is missing, or that one license number is the wrong one, or one has done too many reinstalls that is, simply it's not like windows at all where the system is hidden and clamped, besides, if you ever mess up the system,and the check doesn't work for you, you only have to guard the "home" folder including hidden files that is, reinstall and then replace the new "home" folder with the one you had originally, everything is back to what it was,ha ha,try doing that on windows then

OK I don't know about anyone else here, but dual boot can cause problem to windows, not linux, as certain games I have noticed seem to need a lone harddrive here, but if you are wanting to learn linux I would just have one old machine running linux because it isn't a resource hog like Vista or window 7, 512ram is enough, promise

Edited by fleamailman, 24 November 2009 - 02:13 PM.