Windows/Linux dual booting

[P. Johnson]

But the downloads usually are updates and upgrades, not additional
drivers.....

No. The downloads are additional packages, not just "updates and upgrades."
Usually, the linux-image package that comes with LiveCD's is incomplete and
only contains the most commonly used drivers. The one you would download
from a distro maker is more likely to be a complete linux-image with all
the drivers the source ships with.

 

[Guest]

I've tried several times and with several different files to install linux on
a separate partion. I'm not surprised that I couldn't get it to work. Each
time I mounted the files on a virtual dvd/cd drive with Daemon Tools.
Nothing worked. Wouldn't install at all and there didn't even seem to be any
kind of setup exe file, nothing.

I now realize why linux has never been and never will be a viable operating
system. For the average user and even a tech savy user,the installation
process is unbelievable complicated. I'm not saying I'm a technophile, but I
do know how to install an operating system, hell I've even had windows vista
on a separate partition and played with it for a few weeks. But linux -
forget it! You go to the download page and the first thing you're presented
with are several dozen files. WFT! How is anyone to know which file to
download? There are no clear descriptions at all. I guess if you want to
use linux, you must learn a new language .
Why can't they just direct you to a download page, point to the file to use
and this is how to install it?? Simple no?

 

[Gordon]

I've tried several times and with several different files to install linux
on
a separate partion. I'm not surprised that I couldn't get it to work.
Each time I mounted the files on a virtual dvd/cd drive with Daemon Tools.
Nothing worked. Wouldn't install at all and there didn't even seem to be
any kind of setup exe file, nothing.

Why did you try something that nobody else does and not do what everybody
else does, that is to burn the iso to a CD and install from that, and then
post all your FUD? And no, there wouldn't be a "setup.exe" file - that's a
WINDOWS file!
If you'd followed the normal method you would have found the install easier
than Windows and at least half the time. Most common one-cd distros install
the OS AND all the apps in about 20 minutes.....

 

[Guest]

Hmmm. No one described or even indicated a "normal" method for installation
and as I stated there certainly were no instructions on the 'download' pages.
In any event, to answer your question, I don't burn cds, therefore I don't
have a burning application. Daemon tools has always worked flawlessly in the
past for any work such as this.

 

[arachnid]

Hmmm. No one described or even indicated a "normal" method for installation
and as I stated there certainly were no instructions on the 'download' pages.

On Ubuntu you boot the CD into the GUI. You'll see an installation icon.
Click that and you'll be guided through the installation.

In any event, to answer your question, I don't burn cds, therefore I don't
have a burning application. Daemon tools has always worked flawlessly in the
past for any work such as this.

Daemon tools is only a virtual-CD program. It can make a file look to
Windows like a CD, but it can not boot that CD into another OS or let that
OS run under Windows with full access to the hardware.

If you can't burn ISO's then there are three ways to go here. The
easiest is to order the free CD from www.ubuntu.com. The second is to
install virtual-machine (VM) software and a pre-built virtual machine
containing Linux. VMware Player is free at http://www.vmware.com. If you
follow the links to the Appliances page, you'll find all kinds of Linux
virtual machines. All you have to do is download them to the right
directory (read the VMware Player instructions), run VMware Player, and
boot your virtual machine.

The third way to go is to download and install the free VMware Server
instead of VMware Player. With VMware server you create a virtual machine
with an empty hard drive and then boot your ISO as if it were a real CD,
and use it to install Linux (or Windows, or FreeBSD, or any other OS) on
your virtual machine. This has the advantage that you can build your own
virtual machines to suit your exact needs instead of having to use
something built by someone else.

I hear some people have successfully installed Linux on Microsoft's own VM
software but Microsoft isn't willing to guarantee it to run Linux VM's.

 

[P. Johnson]

Only YOU can increase readability.
http://ursine.ca/Top_Posting

I've tried several times and with several different files to install linux
on a separate partion. I'm not surprised that I couldn't get it to work.
Each time I mounted the files on a virtual dvd/cd drive with Daemon Tools.
Nothing worked. Wouldn't install at all and there didn't even seem to be
any kind of setup exe file, nothing.

You can't just install an OS by mounting the image in Daemon Tools. Please
read the installation instructions before trying: You have to follow the
directions or you could lose data you didn't intend to, etc., etc. Linux
is an entirely different OS, it's not just another program you can install
in Windows (though you really should be reading documentation before
installing software or newer versions of Windows anyway: That's just common
sense).

I now realize why linux has never been and never will be a viable
operating system. For the average user and even a tech savy user,the
installation process is unbelievable complicated.

No, not at all. You can't install Windows by just popping the CD in or
trying to run the setup from inside Daemon Tools and reasonably expect to
get a clean install, either. The only thing you have realized is why you
can't just try out software without doing things as basic as looking at the
manual or QuickStart guide that comes with your software.

I'm not saying I'm a technophile, but I do know how to install an
operating system, hell I've even had windows vista on a separate partition
and played with it for a few weeks.

Vista isn't another OS, it's just the next version of the same OS you're
familiar to. You don't know how to install an OS, you know how to upgrade
one. The difference is small but significant.

But linux - forget it! You go to the download page and the first thing
you're presented with are several dozen files. WFT! How is anyone to
know which file to download? There are no clear descriptions at all.

Then try another distribution. Some distros are easier to use than others,
and there's about 300 out there these days. Presumably, you managed to
find what car you wanted out of a bigger variety than that without too much
trouble. Linux isn't like Windows, there's more than one way to get it and
more than one way to impliment it.

Just like with different cars, different OSs work differently. Things are
in different places and work differently than what you're used to, and
there's a learning curve involved, just like with a car you're not familiar
with, and it's just as easy to switch between cars and OS's unless you're
going to get hung up on the OS equivalent of things like the headlight
switch in a different spot or think you know how to use 4WD when you've
never cracked the manual.

I guess if you want to use linux, you must learn a new language .

No, English is fine.

Why can't they just direct you to a download page, point to the file to
use and this is how to install it?? Simple no?

Because it's a different OS. Linux binaries don't run in Windows. MacOS
binaries don't run in Windows. Older Windows binaries don't run in
Windows. It's a factor of the OS you're starting on in this case, not the
destination. If you started off with a Linux system, installing a
different distro is a bit easier because you can do an off-the-hard-drive
install for the new distro in that case, and similarly, you'd have to
install Windows from scratch if you wanted to make the switch back for the
same reason.