I'm going to put Ubuntu on my PC tonight (Fridays aren't what they used to be).

I want to keep Windows on there for the time being, just in case I have trouble with getting the wifi card working and I need to have a dig around on the internet using Windows. Best way is to dual boot I guess by partitioning the HDD. When I decide I no longer need Windows, is it possible to delete that partition and free up the space for Ubuntu to use?

yes

so there would be no evidence that the HDD was ever partitioned? or would I still have a C & D drive say?

You can install Ubuntu from within Windows which does all that dual boot stuff for you. Good way to try before any firm commitment. Worked on an old PC running XP for me.

hi richmars, I remember from last time I did it on my laptop it gave me the option of installing as a duel boot, which is why I'm confident that I can do the install bit. Just the de-partition I'm not sure about. I'm pretty sure I'll stick with Ubuntu.

Drop in a second drive, its by far the easiest and cleanest solution and for £15 you can get one that will cope with all linux can throw at it, choose boot in bios at startup, this is how Ive always worked to ensure I'd have at least one working system if one borked.

I just installed the latest ubuntu (kubuntu actually, 10.04) yesterday but I wasn't impressed with the available packages yet (it's very fresh and still missing a lot of development stuff) so I went right back to Fedora 12 but for general use it'll be fine I'm sure – very quick and the kde interface is a lot nicer than the gnome one but it did start keeling over and giving me errors to do with the window manager and a few other non-essential scripts. I think it's one I'd wait for for a few months yet while the major bugs get ironed out.

A new drive is the way to go otherwise you will have to spend ages defragging windows to get all the white space at the end of the drive so you can partition it safely

Cheers.

Can you use an external USB HDD to install it on? or are the drivers not available before the OS loads?

Well you can boot from USB sticks so maybe but never tried it, and may be a bit slow.

OK, forgot USB drives are relatively slow – maybe too slow for an OS. Cheers.

If you're just wanting to have a play with it, why not just use a live CD instead? Gives you a good idea of the OS before you need to install.

yup, just try it with a live CD, a bit slow but not as slow as USB.

No need to buy a second drive unless you're pushed for HD space. USB boot is quicker than a live CD, but I'd just go with your original plan and install it straight to the Hard Drive.

With a live CD boot first you can find out in 5 minutes if your wifi card is supported. If not you can use Ndiswrapper to use your windows driver – it's a bit fiddly but not that bad.

When you want to hose windows you can reboot from the original live CD and use gparted to delete the Windows partition and resize your linux partition. If by any chance you have trouble booting linux after that – but you shouldn't – you can recreate grub 2 easily from the command line also using the live CD. Had to do it the other day with my 5 OS main PC!

I'm a self confessed linux evangelist so if I see you post up any issues I'll be on with an answer of I see/know it.

Trying a live CD boot first you can find out in 5 minutes if your wifi card is supported. If not you can use Ndiswrapper to use your windows driver – it's a bit fiddly but not that bad.

Method 1, to install Windows and Ubuntu on the same HD as totally unrelated OS's selected between by grub 2, is the best method. Boot from the live CD, test your wireless, if happy click install and follow the instructions.

Method 2 uses a program called Wubi. You start with the computer running windows and pop the CD in the drawer. Ubuntu then installs within windows. You still get a OS selection menu at start up with this method, and they appear to be separate operating systems. However, you can remove linux at any point using add/remove programmes like any other windows installed program. Two disadvantages here – don't think you can take the step to a linux only setup as the install is tied to windows. HD performance also takes a hit as the computer is permanently converting data between NTFS (windows) and ext3 (linux) filesystem formats.

If you install linux to its own partition (method 1) and you want to hose windows you can reboot from the original live CD and use gparted to delete the Windows partition and resize your linux partition. If by any chance you have trouble booting linux after that – but you shouldn't – you can recreate grub 2 easily from the command line also using the live CD. Had to do it the other day with my 5 OS main PC!

Once ubuntu is installed, it is worthwhile to go to software sources and allow third party sources. This expands the available software. Using the command line expands it even more, for example:

sudo apt-get install googleearth

does what you'd expect. Thousands of programs out there legally for nowt!

I'm a self confessed linux evangelist so if I see you post up any issues I'll be on with an answer if I see/know it.

Thanks all. Really useful info.

Use Wubi!

install and remove ubuntu as easily as a program, but it runs NEXT to windows, not in it, so isnt slowed by it.
you can still access all your files that are on the windows parition, and if you like ubuntu, it can remove windows and expand to fill the freed up space automatically.

seriously, its so easy you would be bonkers not to try it.

Ubuntu is THE shizzle.
SO much quicker and more reliable and in every way better than windows.
looks slicker too.

my old laptop used to properly chug under windows, now it flys with the combination of ubuntu and google chrome.

Ooops. I may tinker with computers but its obviously beyond me to manage one clear concise forum post 😆 Ignore the first one above I guess.

Under wubi linux runs slightly slower due to HD performance, as mentioned above.

I started off with a dual boot with XP. Now running only Ubuntu 10.04 but have the option to run XP under Sun Virtualbox for when I need to transfer files to my Garmin GPS. Works great.

It was fairly easy to remove the Windows partition but I remember needing a live CD to do it.

Have they made the text rendering better in Ubuntu yet? That's the only thing I hated about it when I was running it on my laptop. Text looks horrible in it compared to Windows.

Have they made the text rendering better in Ubuntu yet? That's the only thing I hated about it when I was running it on my laptop. Text looks horrible in it compared to Windows.

You had a config issue. The text rendering on every linux I've seen for the past 5 years is as good as, if not better than windows.

How do you solve that then? I've just ran it on my old Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop, not tried on my desktop. Fonts were all over the place though, most websites displayed differently and looked horrible.

Get msttcorefonts through Synaptic package manager. That should sort it.

Because they are restricted they are not included out of the box IIRC.

Well, I have Ubuntu on the PC now. Can't get on the net yet. It can see my wifi network but doesn't connect (tries, then times-out, no error). Don't think it's the router as my XP laptop, PS3 and Wii can connect over the wireless network. I've tried switching off the encryption on the router, but it still won't connect.

I'll have another fiddle tomorrow. At least I can get on line on my laptop to have a google and engage in idle chit-chat on here. Probably just some setting, somewhere, the wifi card is clearly working.