1. need to get the computer to reconise my usb keybord so i can turn it on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. befor i turned off my computer i tryed to restore my computer to 2 days ago relating to problem 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. i need to partition my computer so i can run duel operating systems with linux

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. i need to find were i can find an up to date linux copy (i know its free) compatible with windows XP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

for your time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

edit: i shortened the title making it sound less scary.

Number 1 is done in bios setup screan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 2 if you didn't set a restore point there, forget it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 3 fdisk and just split the hard drive in to half of the said size:

 

 

 

IMPORTANT: If you enable large disk support and create any new drives on this disk, you will not be able to access the new drive(s) using other operating systems, including some versions of Windows 95 and Windows NT, as well as earlier versions of Windows and MS-DOS. In addition, disk utilities that were not designated explicitly for the FAT32 file system will not be able to work with this disk. If you need to access this disk with other operating systems or older disk utilities, do not enable large drive support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 4

 

 

 

First, you don't have to actually install Linux in your hard disk to use the Linux operating system. There exist several "versions" of Linux that can be downloaded an burned to a CD. These variants of the Linux operating system, known as "Live CD" versions will boot Linux directly from the CD on systems that are capable of doing this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope I helped

Keb_Ryo has pretty much summed it all up...just thought i might say this:

 

 

 

If you are installing windows XP, you cannot use the fdisk command (also fdisk does not resize partitions, which means all your data will go byebye). Instead, you must do all the partitioningwithin the setup. Also nothe the the linux EXT2 file system cannot be read by windows. What version of linux do you have?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Also wanted to say, some versions of linux have partition resizers built into their setup system. This means that you will not need to erase your current widnows. Ensure that you properly setup the bootloader (LILO or whatever the other one is)

 

 

 

This is the linux version i use, it is very user friendly:

 

 

 

http://wwwnew.mandriva.com/en/community/

 

 

 

This is the specific download link...

 

 

 

http://wwwnew.mandriva.com/en/downloads/mirrors/2006iso

thank you Keb Ryo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Also wanted to say, some versions of linux have partition resizers built into their setup system. This means that you will not need to erase your current widnows. Ensure that you properly setup the bootloader (LILO or whatever the other one is)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the partition resizing/bootloader was my main problem. i tryed to instal a copy writen aroun 2000 and i got an err message saying it wasnt compatible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dose the verson that you linked to resize the partition and installs a bootloader?

the linux distro I have is called "simply mepis"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It can run from a cd meaning you dont HAVE to install it to use it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

my internet is having problems atm but put mepis or simply mepis into google and it should give you the site.

thank you Keb Ryo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Also wanted to say, some versions of linux have partition resizers built into their setup system. This means that you will not need to erase your current widnows. Ensure that you properly setup the bootloader (LILO or whatever the other one is)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the partition resizing/bootloader was my main problem. i tryed to instal a copy writen aroun 2000 and i got an err message saying it wasnt compatible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dose the verson that you linked to resize the partition and installs a bootloader?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every Linux distro that doesn't run off a cd installs a bootloader (unless you already have a good one running (good means: not a Windows-only one), otherwise it can't even boot (gosh, wonder why they call it a bootloader, eh?)

 

 

 

LILO is one bootloader, the other one Keb Ryo meant is probably GRUB.

 

 

 

Anywho... I'm rather confused why you're so intent on installing Linux while you can't even find a distro on your own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.debian.org

 

 

 

http://www.ubuntulinux.org

 

 

 

http://fedora.redhat.com/

 

 

 

http://www.novell.com/linux/suse/

 

 

 

...

 

 

 

etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most importantly:

 

 

 

http://www.distrowatch.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just googling for 'Linux distro' gives all these sites (save Debian, which I added myself).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personally, I've always used Debian, and I love it. It's exceptionally easy to maintain debian systems because of the package management system (which is also included in Ubuntu, and I think also in Mandriva, but I'm not sure).

 

 

 

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure a lot of the partition resizers that are present in installation cd's will erase the data present on the partition in order to resize it. Read the installation manuals, FAQs and the installation screens themselves very carefully.

thank you Keb Ryo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Also wanted to say, some versions of linux have partition resizers built into their setup system. This means that you will not need to erase your current widnows. Ensure that you properly setup the bootloader (LILO or whatever the other one is)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the partition resizing/bootloader was my main problem. i tryed to instal a copy writen aroun 2000 and i got an err message saying it wasnt compatible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dose the verson that you linked to resize the partition and installs a bootloader?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes the one linked does have a partition resizer.

Windows > *