Basically I wanna use my PC as a media server but don't wanna get rid of Win7 just yet so I'm thinking dual booting for the time being.

Anyone know of any decent how too's? I'm a complete novice so need very basic instructions. Not having to wipe my HDD as well would be a bonus.

Mmmmm I had loads of trouble - partly because of the particular laptop I'm using and partly because Win7 does *NOT* play nice with other OS's.

Be very careful if you have a so called "backup" partition and also be very very careful about your placement of partitions because the windows mbr is so easily overwritten.

Best bet is to check the ubuntu new user forums, though I find you hit a wall with help in there because a lot of ubuntu users there are very very newbie-ish & u might find u can't get the help u need.

The bootloader issue will be the biggest problem you encounter - you have a number of options;

1. The magical people at ubuntu have created something called "Wubi" (have a look on their site) - this lets you run your linux system essentially from within Windows itself - eliminating the need to mess about with your precious bootloaders. It sounds good but I'd be careful, I've read some reports that this can be quite unstable & has messed some people around.

2. You can use the or A windows bootloader & add linux in there - probably your best bet, have a look at EasyBCD - handy as for manipulating win bootlader brighthub.com

3. You can attempt to use the ubuntu bootloader (GRUB) - Advise against if you're new to this you'll probably end up losing everything.

Here's some common issues;

social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproinstall/thread/5bffe67b-7934-4bf1-ab21-9a220fa41d99

social.technet.microsoft.com

aaaand seeing as lifehacker is awesome this article is probably worth a gander

lifehacker.com

Install VirtualBox and run Ubuntu on a VM - much easier:

Depends on his hardware though - Robin mentioned in chat that he wanted to turn a box into a server - if it's an old shitebox thats just there for shits & giggles - vms mightnt be a great idea...though if it's your normal desktop/laptop & it's fairly new then makes more sense not to have to keep booting up and down...which is why that wubi tool *could* be a good option (if it works), to save resource as vm's can be a little heavy.

It's a decent desktop, plenty of power!!

I read that in the accent of scotty from star trek

VM's deffo best way fwd if it's not a server then mate - take it it's ur "usual" desktop?

I run four on my laptop ^_^ hurrah for massive big fuck off monitors

It's my desktop/media center. Got my laptop now I use for tinterwebz etc.

why even keep windoez on there?? if u has it on ur laptop?

In that case Ubuntu probably isn't the best idea either - Slackware with XFCE as a window manager would be a much better option.

(And the mention of Windows 7 implied it was a half decent machine)

Yeah deffo (though im not sure abt recommending slack to new users!!?..depends though, it was my first distro..)

If it runs win7 it'll be grand...my dads running an up to date 'buntu on his old p4!

Mine too - and I still run it on my desktop.

What's that saying, "If you want to learn *buntu/Fedora/LinuxMint/openSUSE/Debian then get *buntu/Fedora/LinuxMint/openSUSE/Debian. If you want to learn Linux then get Slack."?

The learning curve is steep - but you can apply what you learn to any other Linux flavour you then play with. You can't say the same for any other distro, apart from possibly Gentoo.

Also, who can possibly resist a distro that is presently on release 13.37?

slackware.com

Same install!? ;P


Definitely - just some distros tend not to open those doors or appear so transparent - i.e. ubuntu, you can dig and learn, or you can remain in ignorance and the outcome of both would be beneficial.

I think Gentoo, despite its shortcomings nowdays with it's dire instability and a pack of developers that should be shot, is actually a fantastic learning tool - the install process itself especially - it speaks to you in english, whereas the old slack installers would be a little more difficult to fathom for the newbie - whilst still forcing you to understand not just the software & os you're using but the hardware you're putting it on too.

Perhaps not so much long term though as it of course has a lot of things about it that are non-standard and won't help you too much. Then again so does Debian - which I'm all over like a rash next to Slack.

Imho trying a little bit of everything does no harm - I just think that nowdays theres a more natural progression as to how you'd do this...i.e. you would start with the babies like buntu & suse & then move up the chain to the likes of gentoo and debian...and then on to bolder things like slack & then bsd, solaris etc :)


Longest running distro! Speaks volumes!

Iain, if I cook dinner and supply you with wine will you pop over and gimme a hand one Sunday evening? This all looks hideously confusing and I'm having second thoughts.

Nooo it's not it's all good!

Did you miss "13.37"?

Whyever the fuck not!


Don't listen to her - it's complicated as hell and you need an expert on hand!

No???! It's the oldest living distro to date - how have I missed the version number?

you need an expert on hand AND remotely thus you should ship me some red wine post haste in case of any shortcomings!

Look again, remove the decimal point...


I'm not sure that you qualify after missing that ^^^ ;-)