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[poppy]

I am currently having a little experiment with Ubuntu, supported by my fellow PN forum users. Here is where I have got so far:
Vista Basic laptop (Fujitsu). Have installed Ubuntu on the 11GB empty partition using wubi and it is now dual booting and working fine.
Internet access wired - can't use it wirelessly as there is a driver problem. Someone sent a link about this - something about a wrapper but don't want to go down this route as it can be problematical and in any case I will eventually have to remove the installation as there is not much space left to do much with it (updates, documents, photos etcetera).
I had toyed with the idea of buying a used laptop just for Linux but have been told that an external hard disk would do the job so am currently investigating purchasing one of these. I like the idea of having the OS separate from Windows.
Am finding my way around Ubuntu and have set up Evolution OK. It's a steep learning curve.
Have looked at some of the tutorials above and will check them out again.
Have joined the Ubuntu forum, had lots of advice from PN users, but would appreciate any help or advice, particularly in respect of uninstalling it from Vista and in re-setting it up (without using wubi) on an external drive (am not really techie but just interested).

[roseway]

I'm not keen on utilities like wubi - they seem to provide a pain-free path to installing Linux alongside Windows, but they add an extra layer of possible bugs, and rather tend to cause more problems than they solve. However, uninstalling it should be possible from within Windows, as it's installed as a Windows program.

If your 11 GB really isn't enough for what you want to store, one option would be to install Linux in that space and use an external hard disk for data storage. You really don't need to be fearful about letting the Linux distro install its own bootloader, because it will detect the Windows installation and add it to the boot menu. This is a very well established and reliable process.

Alternatively, I'm sure that you can install Linux on an external drive (or even a USB memory stick) but I've no experience of this so won't be much help.

[poppy]

Thank you for the reply. Feel a bit unsure now re your comments about Wubi but it has worked very well and am using Ubuntu now.
It wasn't so much about storage - I don't want to store much (if anything really) - I just noticed that there were many update downloads on offer so if it would be safe to ignore these then I would probably be OK leaving Ubuntu it where it is.

[tickmike]

Hello
I have looked at Ubuntu (and others ) but I still like pcLinux more .
Ubuntu does tell you when there are updates where as pcLinux and other distro's you have to check for updates your self, this is no big problem  .
After trying pcLinux live cd, I backed up my windows hard drive to DVD's and the I installed pcLinux to the hard drive, it detected XP was there and installed the boot loader ok.
 I can dual boot into pcLinux  or XP (but I have not used XP for more that a year  )

Any body thinking of trying pcLinux should wait until the New 2009 iso comes out in a few weeks.

[poppy]

It is always useful to have other opinions, even though there are many regarding the Linux distros. Have had a play with Ubuntu and now have a tri-partitioned external hard drive on which to install it if I wish, although will have to do some research first.
Although it is early days, I am not sure that I care for Ubuntu really, although much of it seems fairly straightforward in terms of general usage. I am still at the stage where it is a welcome relief to go back to the familiarity of Vista. Maybe your suggestion might be better as it sounds as if it is a bit more Windows-ish (please correct me if I am wrong).
I plan to remove Ubuntu from the lappie at some time in the future but for now will just continue with the experiment.
I tend to agree with Roseway - my instinct is that I would prefer these OSs to run separately from Windows, although I can see the attraction of dual-boot.

[tickmike]

You could install 'MS Virtual Computer'  or 'virtualBox' or 'Vmware'  .
If you wanted to you could install one of these and then you can install any operating system you like to try,  it works within your windows computer.  . you can work straight from the .iso file without burning a CD/DVD
Then when you like one you can install it to your hard drive etc.

[poppy]

Thank you for the information tickmike. Have read about the VirtualBox but not taken a great deal of notice so will check this out.
Meanwhile, I now have a nice large capacity external hard drive which I have had partitioned so I am about to research putting one of the distros on this.
Not being greatly enamoured of Ubuntu, I like the idea of PCLinuxos so even though there is a new version coming out, I downloaded the current one this morning (from the website/Ireland). Unfortunately, Roxio reckoned that it wasn't a valid file so clearly I must have done something wrong.
It's a large file so will have to try again early tomorrow morning in free broadband time if I am not to run out of allowance.
*Just checked out the MS Virtual PC and luckily I have Vista Business Edition and apparantly it runs on this so I might give it a go.