Want to move on from XP to Linux,

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To completely uninstall Windows XP and install Linux, the first step is to download a Linux distribution, with Ubuntu being a popular recommendation for beginners. After downloading, burn the ISO file to a CD or DVD, ensuring that the image is properly burned, not just the file itself. Adjust the BIOS settings to boot from the CD, which will allow the Linux installer to run. During installation, there will be an option to format the hard drive, effectively wiping Windows XP and installing Linux.For those considering different Linux distributions, Ubuntu is frequently praised for its user-friendliness, while Mandriva is noted for its graphical interface and suitability for newcomers. Users have shared experiences with various distributions, including Fedora and Gentoo, but Ubuntu remains a top choice due to its popularity and support.If dual-booting with Windows, it's important to partition the drive correctly, allocating space for both operating systems. However, if the goal is to solely run Linux, the installer will handle the formatting and installation process.
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I just inherited a rather slow computer running XP, which of course makes it run much slower with all of the lovely viruses that come with it. I want to completely unistall Windows XP, completely wipe the harddrive, and install Linux. How can I do this? I've already looked up a bunch of sites but none seemed to help.

Also, I need a Linux suggestion. I've run Knoppix but I don't care for it too much. Fedora possibly? Suggestions please...

Many thanks,
Jameson
 
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I would try Ubuntu, especially if you new to linux.

http://www.ubuntulinux.org/download/

You can check out the installer here:

http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=305&slide=1

Very self explanatory. You mostly have to press enter.
 
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I started with Fedora when I made the switch and it was quite easy, I then switched to Ubuntu. So I would agree with dduardo, Ubuntu is a good choice.

also check out

http://www.ubuntuforums.org
 
Thanks guys, but I'm still stuck with completely wiping Windows and keeping my comp intact... can you help me?
 
First step, download ubuntu, or whatever distro you are looking at.

Then burn it to a cd/dvd.

Then put the cd in and setup your bios to boot from the cd. (When you start your computer you will see something like press Del to enter bios. Or some other key.

From there just check out the link that dduardo posted about install instructions.

When you install ubuntu you will (should) have an option to format the harddrive, which will erase the harddrive, including windows xp.
 
Just wondering, why did you swtich from Fedora to ubuntu?
 
I was using fedora core 2 at the time and it was out of date. I was actually going to upgrade to fedora core 3 but I decided to give Ubuntu a shot since I had heard some good things about it.
 
Lately I've been doing the same thing. I've made two changes:
i. I will no longer install linux on partitions, I'm running it on vmware. I recommend this. I just hate partitioning my drive, I rather have linux on a separate box.
ii. I'm moving away from Redhat (i've never upgraded to fedora).

Ubuntu seems to be the most popular in recent times and I'm going to try it along with Gentoo, Suse and Slackware. In vmware I can load many OSs (once the space is available). When I'm done trying them I will delete a couple (I think I will keep Ubuntu and Slackware).
 
What's 'vmware'?
 
  • #10
vmware is virtual machine software. It basically simulates a computer.
 
  • #11
I have never used Ubuntu, but use Fedora core a lot... dduardo, why are you recomending Ubuntu? Just curious!
 
  • #12
I've done my homework on the different OS's for Linux and it seems to me that Mandrake 10.1 is the best for me, it uses a nice graphical KDE (or Gnome if you prefer) interface and it is good for newbies such as myself. Does anyone have any thoughts on Mandrake?

Also, if I format my drive after I install Linux, won't that delete Linux as well?
 
  • #13
Jameson said:
I've done my homework on the different OS's for Linux and it seems to me that Mandrake 10.1 is the best for me, it uses a nice graphical KDE (or Gnome if you prefer) interface and it is good for newbies such as myself. Does anyone have any thoughts on Mandrake?

Also, if I format my drive after I install Linux, won't that delete Linux as well?

Most (if not all) distributions come with GNOME and KDE.

Yeah, if you format your drive after installing Linux, that will wipe everything.
 
  • #14
Jameson, it's not Mandrake, it's Mandriva.

Anttech, I haven't personally used it, but I've heard very positive comments about Ubuntu. I've also tried Fedora and Mandrake and know they aren't all that great. That is why I am recommending Ubuntu.
 
  • #15
So how would I go about only deleting Windows?
 
  • #16
Jameson said:
I've done my homework on the different OS's for Linux and it seems to me that Mandrake 10.1 is the best for me, it uses a nice graphical KDE (or Gnome if you prefer) interface and it is good for newbies such as myself. Does anyone have any thoughts on Mandrake?

Also, if I format my drive after I install Linux, won't that delete Linux as well?

I use Mandrake 10.1 and really like it. I'm struggling to completely move over to Linux as I need to be compatable with work computers, but Mandrake is the best distro I've tried. I've used Red Hat and Fedora, but Mandrake was much better.

Suse looks pretty good too. I've never tried Ubuntu, but have heard good things about it.

Installing Linux will format your drive for you.
 
  • #17
I have used ubuntu and mandriva (aka Mandrake 2005) and I liked them both. The only reason I'm still using xp is because of compatibility issues with my wireless adapter and games and stuff like that. Once I get to college (this august) and have a direct connection, I'm going to try to switch entirely over.
 
  • #18
So I'm at the Mandriva download site and I have no idea which version matches my PC and processor. The computer I'm going to use it on is a Compaq and it runs a 1.1 GHz Intel Celeron processor. Thanks for the help!
 
  • #19
Jameson, the installer will walk you through what you need to do. I think your confused when your disk gets formatted. For example, if you have windows installed already then the Linux installer will first format the drive (if you tell it to) and then install linux.

If you want to install both windows and linux on the same drive you first want to install windows and give it 50% of the space. Then install linux and tell the installer to use the other 50%.

------

You can download mandrake here:

http://www.linuxiso.org/distro.php?distro=29

All you need are the three cds for mandriva 10.1
 
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  • #20
I think I'm up to date on the partitioning part. What I was referring to are the different versions on the Mandriva website... I'll paste them.

LE2005 ISO CD for i586:
LE2005 ISO CD for x86_64:
LE2005 ISO CD for PPC:

which one should I use is the question
 
  • #21
PPC = PowerPC (G4, G5)
x86_64 = 64 Bit Processor (AMD64,Opteron,etc)
i586 = 32 Bit Processor (Pentium, Athlon, etc) <-- This is what you want

the 586 comes from the naming scheme back in the day. I don't know if you remember the 386 and 486 processors.

-----

Actually i586 is really Pentium I
i686 is Pentium II and greater. But it doesn't matter.
 
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  • #22
Ah, thank you very much.
 
  • #23
HELP!

I'm installing Mandriva right now and it's on the part about the bootloader... which option should I select? Where do I partition? The first sector of HD or root partition?? I don't want to mess this up.
 
  • #24
Depends. Do you have windows installed as well? If you do then put it on the boot partition. If not put it on the first sector.
 
  • #25
I'm installing Ubuntu first because it's a bit smaller than the other OSs_ I'll have to leave off gentoo for a while because I don't have the connection speeds to download it then to spend 3 days downloading and compiling. Ubuntu is ranked #1 on www.distrowatch.com.

As for Ubuntu only i386, ppc and amd64 downloads are available. I started downloading for the i386 (hope its the right thing). 64bit stuff is usually backwards compatible with 32bit stuff right?
 
  • #26
Only download the amd64 cds if you have a 64 bit processor. You will not be able to run 64bit code on a 32 bit processor, but you will be able to run 32bit code on a 64 bit processors.
 
  • #27
"First step, download ubuntu, or whatever distro you are looking at.
Then burn it to a cd/dvd. "

The download comes as an image. I have Nero 5. I cannot burn an image because it is too complicated. Someone send me a message on the side. Thanks.
 
  • #28
I have Nero 6 and there it is simply:
Recorder->burn image
 
  • #29
Just right-click the image and open it with nero
 
  • #30
Nero 6 is $79. I can't justify the price.
 
  • #31
I don't see how you can justify the $200 price tag for Windows XP professional.
 
  • #32
CharlesP said:
Nero 6 is $79. I can't justify the price.

I have Nero 5 and I burn linux disc all the time. It's under "File" and the "Burn Image".

Getting Nero 6 wouldn'r be a total waste though because I believe you can get the linux version for free.

If price is truly a problem or you don't have friends with a cd-burner then ubuntu sends discs to your house free.

http://shipit.ubuntulinux.org/
 
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  • #33
Why even burn the cd if you can do a network install. All you need another computer that is running a DHCP and TFTP server.
 
  • #34
I am also planning on switching from XP to Linux mainly becaus my computer is gaining age and i just ahte windows lol. My one question is if my ipod will work with linux. Has anyone tried an ipod with linux. Also where can i get partitioning software for free and how exactly do I dual boot thanks for the help
 
  • #36
ok i downloaded the iso and burnt it to cd. Now i can't seem to install it. Whenever i try it asks for an application to open the files ANy thoughts would help.
 
  • #37
You don't install linux from within windows. Put the CD in the cdrom then reboot, go into your bios and tell it the boot from the cdrom first, then save the settings, reboot again and then you'll see the linux installer.
 
  • #38
Damn, 600MB for ubuntu, my computer has a wimpy hard drive...
 
  • #39
Ok i have it up and running. Haven;t encountered any problems yet just trying to get it to interface with my ipod and gmail account
 
  • #40
I have Nero 5 and I burn linux disc all the time. It's under "File" and the "Burn Image".
I have 5.5.9.16. OK I see it. Now I need an image file to burn. My DSL is almost T1 if that helps. I don't understand what an image is all about anyway. Why not drag and drop, then burn?

Why even burn the cd if you can do a network install. All you need another computer that is running a DHCP and TFTP server.
Unfortunately I can't speak that language. I do have a network with one machine to be dedicated to Linux. It has an unformatted hard drive.
 
  • #41
How does Ubuntu Linux afford to ship out cd's to the masses free of charge?
 
  • #43
CharlesP said:
I have 5.5.9.16. OK I see it. Now I need an image file to burn. My DSL is almost T1 if that helps. I don't understand what an image is all about anyway. Why not drag and drop, then burn?

If you drag and drop you're just burning a file to the disc. An image means an exact copy of the disc. When you burn an image it produces the same disc. Otherwise you'd have to drag and drop the thousands of files that make up a linux distrobution. An image file are those large files that end in "iso".
 
  • #44
When I start up my computer, I see no such bio option. I actually have no options at all, XP just starts up.
 
  • #45
You need to press [DEL] or [F1] when you computer starts up. It really depends on which system you have. What brand/model computer do you have?
 
  • #46
It's a Dell. I've pressed delete, F1-F12, tab and just about every other key. Nothing works. Right when I start it up, I see the Dell screen then in about one second the windows loading screen pops up. I've tried rebooting my computer about eight times testing out buttoms. Nothing works.
 
  • #47
What model dell?
 
  • #48
Okay, I got to the boot menu. I have to hit F12 in like a window of a fraction of second. I have the iso file on a CD and then I went down and selected CD-rom boot. But then it just goes and starts windows like normal.
 
  • #49
Did you burn the iso file onto the cd or did you burn the image provided by the iso file onto the cd? Go into windows and make sure you actually have folders and files and not just one .iso file on the cd. Also, If possible remove the hard drive from the boot sequence and have the CDROM occupy all the slots.
 
  • #50
Did you burn the iso file onto the cd or did you burn the image provided by the iso file onto the cd?

I burnt the iso, I didn't know images had anything to do with this.

Go into windows and make sure you actually have folders and files and not just one .iso file on the cd.

What other files and folders? I downloaded Ubuntu from one of the links here and it just gave me the iso.
 

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