(Spork) Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 whats a good one to start with and can they run from a flash drive ( i have a empty 8 gig drive ) thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyther Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Yeah they can run from flash drives, but if you are going to go that route, your best bet is getting a "live cd" which copies its self into the ram. Running an actual os on a flash drive would be slow! A lot of people like to use Ubuntu, however I'd prefer Fedora or Suse for a beginner. Disclaimer: I do not like ubuntu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted December 27, 2008 Veteran Share Posted December 27, 2008 Best way to learn would be to have something that is reasonably responsive and persistent (so changes you make will stay). This generally means that if you want to learn Linux, it might be best to actually install Linux. For just dipping toes, any LiveCD like Knoppix, Puppy, Slax, Ubuntu, DamnSmallLinux or such will allow you to experiment with the Linux GUI and test basic things. But I would recommend an install for learning. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurmoth Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Try Wubi. It is the safest way to install Ubuntu without having to worry about partitioning or anything like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capr Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 slax actually has the ability to run off a flash drive http://www.slax.org/ i thought it was really cool.... it copies most essentials to the memory when it's starting up and then it's a pretty good experience provided that you have a reasonably fast hard drive and aren't trying to play games off it... but as mentioned you should really install it and learn how to deal with all the installation steps, driver setups, downloading plugins.... getting everything setup is the biggest learning curve/step for most people. once you are past that it's not that hard most applications install with a few clicks and it's just like windows as long as you are just using it for everyday stuff.. I bought my friend linux for dummies cause he kept bugging me about stuff, he enjoyed the easy read and learned a lot that he later forgot because he wiped his installation for vista... good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney T. Administrators Posted December 27, 2008 Administrators Share Posted December 27, 2008 But I would recommend an install for learning. :yes: (Y) Total agreement. You might as well jump in the pool. The water is fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Vivicidal- Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 How about virtualising it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike232 Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Fedora has a windows program to create a bootable usb key from a LiveCD it also supports making it persistent so you can have your changes stay. Fedora Live USB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuietStorm21A Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 How about virtualising it? I use virtualbox and ubuntu great way to learn imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonRedMk Member Posted December 27, 2008 Member Share Posted December 27, 2008 You know how to really get your feet wet? Install wherever, and put your media on it, your entire library and customize the wallpaper. Once you do that, you won't notice you're learning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zickar Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 I was a noob installing Linux a few weeks ago .. I deleted my Windows and all my files then reinstalled Windows and went over it again and amanaged to Install Xubuntu and now I have my feet wet and I think I'm starting to learn how to swim ... I've installed Amarok and managed to mount a partition on Linux and I've only been to Linux for a few weeks and I'm not that tech savvy either so its relatively very easy to get into ... It'll be kind of scary at first but its really very easy ... I suggest you try a live CD and choose the "Try without Installing" option, try it our a few times, learn how to get stuff done on it and when you do want to make the switch or at least attemp a dual boot come back to me , I can help you out because I've been there :D There are hundreds of distros out there and to each his taste, so just look around for a while before deciding so that when you do make the change you're happy with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cuban Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 ubuntu is great start, due to the HUGE community at ubuntuforums.org, and all they're 3rd source help sources. i use it, though i just screwed mine and can't log in, (messed the languanges and can't log in since my login is in english, and only hebrew works now, sucks right?) anyway, install ubuntu, no wubi crap i say, its not that hard to remove if you want to later, the install is fully automatic, just pop in the disk and it will give you a dual boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Spork) Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 ok took the plunge made a 15gig partition on my drive for linux ubuntu what i dont see is the 15gig unallocated partition when i do to install it im posting from the live cd atm just dont want to mess my main vista drive up and install on the wrong partition lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted December 29, 2008 Veteran Share Posted December 29, 2008 How did you "make" the partition? If you created an ext3 filesystem, that would explain why you don't see "unallocated" space. You allocated it when you defined it. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney T. Administrators Posted December 29, 2008 Administrators Share Posted December 29, 2008 ok took the plunge made a 15gig partition on my drive for linux ubuntu what i dont see is the 15gig unallocated partition when i do to install it im posting from the live cd atm just dont want to mess my main vista drive up and install on the wrong partition lol Just follow the instructions for the install. Use unformatted, unallocated space on your hard drive and Ubuntu will install itself automatically. Make sure that you use the first partition as your MBR partition (that should be the default selection). Then reboot and you'll have your dual-boot system! http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/installing http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/partitioning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Spork) Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 How did you "make" the partition? If you created an ext3 filesystem, that would explain why you don't see "unallocated" space. You allocated it when you defined it. ;) sorry clicked manage drive from windows highlighted my main drive right clicked hit shrink drive made the new partition 15gigs clicked go and waited new unallocated drive popped up i rebooted hit install on the ubuntu cd and didnt see the drive and made the post :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted December 29, 2008 Veteran Share Posted December 29, 2008 ^^^ Well, that sounds correct. Just shrink an existing partition, then boot the Ubuntu CD. Not sure why it's not seeing it. Can you boot into a LiveCD session and post the output of a fdisk -l (that's a lowercase letter "L", not the number one) to list your partitions, including the start/end blocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Spork) Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 i found out why it was reading my 500gig usb backup drive :D i unplugged that and boom it seen it im installed updated and running well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4CxbqFxVnstmA Veteran Posted December 31, 2008 Veteran Share Posted December 31, 2008 Summer of 2007 I tried the Ubuntu Live CD and saw that my hardware was compatible. I then backed up all my data and did a complete reformat and install of Ubuntu Feisty Fawn. I had my data safe and I had my Windows programs to reinstall if I needed. But the first thing I did was go through and make sure I could do everything I did on Windows before (I was not a Windows gamer, but I just got my PS3 in the post!!). I learned a lot online and from the Neowin forums. I got it to where I could deal with everything in terms of my data. It was tricky at times but it was worth it. I then got involved with the Shift Linux project to learn more, and this was very helpful as well. Barney was head of it then and he was keen that even people like me should get involved. I am sure it is still the case. Anyway, I never went back. I don't even know where my XP CD is. I think it got lost in my move to America or left behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fix-this! Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 I was a noob installing Linux a few weeks ago .. I deleted my Windows and all my files then reinstalled Windows and went over it again and amanaged to Install Xubuntu and now I have my feet wet and I think I'm starting to learn how to swim ... I've installed Amarok and managed to mount a partition on Linux and I've only been to Linux for a few weeks and I'm not that tech savvy either so its relatively very easy to get into ... It'll be kind of scary at first but its really very easy ... I suggest you try a live CD and choose the "Try without Installing" option, try it our a few times, learn how to get stuff done on it and when you do want to make the switch or at least attemp a dual boot come back to me , I can help you out because I've been there :D There are hundreds of distros out there and to each his taste, so just look around for a while before deciding so that when you do make the change you're happy with it I doubt there are 'hundreds' of linux disro's out there. Also ubuntu seems to draw a lot of hate lately, almost makes me want to try something else ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zickar Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I doubt there are 'hundreds' of linux disro's out there. Also ubuntu seems to draw a lot of hate lately, almost makes me want to try something else ! I'm using Xubuntu and I have no problems so far ... But then again I'm still on 8.04 and it seems the 8.10 is what's drwaing a lot of the bad reviews ... This shouldn't keep you from trying Ubuntu out though, Sometimes different Users have different Experiences ... Personally Xubuntu is more than enough for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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