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linux advice

  • 17-02-2015 10:06PM
    #1
    boardie100
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 387 ✭✭


    hey,

    a complete newbie wondering what is the best way to run linux on a windows 7 laptop and not kill the windows OS?... is this possible?


Comments

  • #2
    Kavrocks
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,347 ✭✭✭Kavrocks


    Look into virtual machines, in particular VirtualBox.


  • #3
    gleesonger
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 166 ✭✭gleesonger


    Kavrocks wrote: »
    Look into virtual machines, in particular VirtualBox.

    I completely agree with this.
    A virtual machine will give you all the experience with Linux but at no risk.
    Ubuntu is probably your best start, great user base and easy to use.


  • #4
    boardie100
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 387 ✭✭boardie100


    thanks guys,

    one question..... if i use a virtual machine it will have its own disk space etc right?... i.e. i cant navigate into the file system on my machine


  • #5
    gleesonger
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 166 ✭✭gleesonger


    boardie100 wrote: »
    thanks guys,

    one question..... if i use a virtual machine it will have its own disk space etc right?... i.e. i cant navigate into the file system on my machine

    Virtual box has something called Guest Additions which does this.


  • #6
    Kavrocks
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,347 ✭✭✭Kavrocks


    boardie100 wrote: »
    thanks guys,

    one question..... if i use a virtual machine it will have its own disk space etc right?... i.e. i cant navigate into the file system on my machine
    Yes, you can set it up as a fixed or dynamic size. You can also set up specific areas of your hard drive to be shared should you wish. Generally most of what you will need or can think of can be done. Finding out how to do everything is a separate issue.


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  • #7
    Joe1919
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,186 ✭✭✭Joe1919


    I am no linux expert but I am a bit of a fan of frugal puppy linux.(especially Lucid 528).
    There is an EXE installer than can be downloaded and installed by windows and you have a genuine dual boot (grub) machine in a matter of minutes. This has worked well for me, especially for old machines but you do have to be careful not to mess up the windows files. Its also easy to install several versions of linux together on the same machine (puplets?)

    http://puppylinux.org/main/Download%20Latest%20Release.htm


  • #8
    PropJoe10
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,447 ✭✭✭PropJoe10


    boardie100 wrote: »
    thanks guys,

    one question..... if i use a virtual machine it will have its own disk space etc right?... i.e. i cant navigate into the file system on my machine

    Use VirtualBox, during the setup of the VM it will ask you how much space to allocate to the VM. Use about 10GB, plenty for the OS install and will allow you to mess around. It wont affect the usage of your host system at all, provided your own host system has decent amount of RAM.


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