Article Run Linux in Windows

[Ian]

Ian submitted a new article:

Run Linux in Windows - Run Linux in Windows

Introduction

Many users of Windows XP and Vista will want to try Linux at some point, often just to see what all the fuss is about. There are many different Linux distributions and it isn’t convenient for a non-technical user to set up dual booting alongside an existing Windows install. Thankfully, there are tools available which mean you can play with a full Linux install inside the familiar surroundings of Microsoft Windows.

There are several pieces of software that let you run...

Read more about this article...

 

[Abarbarian]

A very good guide and an excellent way to try out a Linux os. I would like to say that as the guide was written in 2001 promoting the use of a 32 Bit os was very sensible. However things have changed a lot since then and I would recommend anyone with a 64 Bit CPU to give a 64 Bit version of Linux a run.

Penguins forever.

 

[Ian]

Whoops, it should have been todays date These discussion threads are automatically created with a new article, but the article date needs updating (I'll do that now!).

The reason I suggested 32bit in this instance was that it is running under a virtual machine and I don't think it would be taken advantage of (like a normal full install). I might give it a go and find out though

 

[floppybootstomp]

Questions that occured to me during reading were:

1) How is the Linux OS accessed? Presumably the PC will boot into Windows and you select 'Virtual PC' from Programs.

2) How many Virtual hard Disks can you create?

3) Is the allocated memory permanently taken away from Windows or only used whilst (each) virtual disk is being used?

If these questions occured to me, I'm sure they will be thought of by other readers as well.

An informative, enjoyable article

 

[Ian]

Very good points Flops! I'll edit the article once I've tried the 64 bit OS and add them in I'll just add them here now though too:

1) Simply load Virtual PC 2007 from the start menu and double click on the Linux name (as in the first stage of Step 4)

2) You can make up to 3 virtual hard drives, but if you wanted more drives you can always partition them to as many drive letters as required. Alternatively, you can create as many Virtual Machines as you have room for (ideal for testing another OS).

3) It does appear to allocate the whole amount of memory, even if you are only using a small portion of it within the Virtual PC. 512MB should be fine for users with 2GB+ of Ram, but those with 1GB may struggle to run much else in the background.

 

[Abarbarian]

Uramas should be able to help out here as he is a Virtual Linux guru .

 

[Ian]

I've been playing with VirtualBox, another Virtual PC emulator and I have to say it's better than MSVPC and VMWare's VPC:

http://www.virtualbox.org/

 

[Waynos_Face]

Not exactly relevant, but.....

When i built my new PC, i didn't want to pay £60-70 for another copy of Vista, as i tried phoning microsoft and explained i was upgrading but told no, politely.

I then downloaded Mandriva Free Spring, it works okay but cannot use my wireless card with it, got sent around so many different sites it was useless.

After 2 days of stress i was more than happy to give Mr Gates some more money.

Personally i think Linux is crap.

 

[psd99]

Personally i think Linux is crap.

lol
that's funny I think it can be daunting at first but much more stable.

 

[Abarbarian]

Personally i think Linux is crap.

Is that "crap" a mnemonic for,

CREATIVE
REMARKABLE
AMAZING
PRACTICAL

 

[floppybootstomp]

I wouldn't say Linux is crap.

Flawed, hard to understand, lacking some main manufacturer's support for drivers, and suffering from Games Developers bypassing Linux based distros, perhaps, but not crap

Mind you, most Linux distros are a lot less flawed than Vista

And you really can't argue with £0.00 against £70.00 can you?

I have yet to try my wireless network with a Linux Distro but I will get round to it, I don't currently have any Linux Distros loaded.

I've tried a few distros and I really do favour PC Linux OS 2007 though some will strongly disagree with me.

 

[Waynos_Face]

No i can't argue the price as its free, but i ran out of time and patience with it, i can see its appeal, but as i only really started to get into PC's in February its maybe a bit too early for me to be getting adventurous?

I shall with draw the "crap" comment.

I think its maybe my familiarity with Windows that stopped me from trying harder with it.

 

[psd99]

Drivers!!

It's the drivers that get to me a lot.

Especially wireless drivers and then it's not user friendly either.

 

[Urmas]

Drivers!!

It's the drivers that get to me a lot.

Especially wireless drivers and then it's not user friendly either.

Oh, Linux is muy user friendly... once you've gotten used to it.

Drivers... Yes. No. Depends. One learns to avoid certain manufacturers; you mentioned wireless - Broadcom is a classic example. Nowadays, MOST Broadcom chipsets are easy-peasy, but some are PITA to configure. Easier to pull 'em out, bang 'em with a sledgehammer for an hour or so, and replace 'em with... Intel, for example.

But... VirtualBox? It's addictive. Here's a little HOWTO:
http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/index.php?showtopic=19776&st=0&p=238895&#entry238895

NOTE: the download linky for Virtualbox is outdated. These days - Sun has bought InnoTek - the full version (with USB/SATA support) can be downloaded from Sun's pages:
https://cds.sun.com/is-bin/INTERSHO...-Start?ProductRef=innotek-1.6-G-F@CDS-CDS_SMI

User Manual: http://www.virtualbox.org/download/1.6.2/UserManual.pdf

 

[chrizhaynes]

question

like the last guy asked is the ram alocated pemenant or does it just use it while the virtual program is running.

say when your using windows do you get the full ram or ram minus whats alloacted to linux?

thanks chris

 

[rickmiller]

When I click "Install Ubuntu" it gets to [ 1.536031] ---[ end trace 4eaa2a86a8e2da22 ]--- and then just stops!
Why is that?
I only have 512 RAM, 80GB, would that have anything to do with it?!

 

[mrpeanut444]

Please Help

I have followed your instructions to install linux on windows and managed to get to the installation stage for Ubuntu. When I select 'install Ubuntu' it starts printing lines of programming, but then stops with the following:

[0.332020] =========================
[0.332020] --- [ end trace 4eaa2a86a8e2da22 ] ---

I dont have a clue how to make the installation work.

Could you please help?

 

[Ian]

It sounds like there is an incompatibility with Virtual PC and the current release of Ubuntu. It's probably easier to try running it in VirtualBox and see if that works :

http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

 

[ramesh_samane]

Can VirtualBox be used with currently installed Linux in other partition?

I have dual boot system with Fedora10 and Vista Home Basic.

Can I use VirtualBox to configure in such a way that I can use Fedora in another window while I am in Vista?

I know linux partitions are not accessible from MS Windows (although we can access windows partitions from linux), so I guess this is not possible.

It will be of great help to me if someone that might had implemented this successfully can guide me in this regard.

Thanks in advance.

- Ramesh

 

[Abarbarian]

"I know linux partitions are not accessible from MS Windows (although we can access windows partitions from linux)"

Your satement is not true.

You can access linux partitions from a Windows OS.

http://www.howtoforge.com/access-linux-partitions-from-windows