can you install linux in a partition on an xp system?

[Ext User(~Mike Hollywood)]

xp pro, 80 gig drive, 4 partitoins,: os, programs, data, and a spare of
10gigs, all ntfs
older duron AMD system: ecs mobo circa 2000 with bios same age. 1.6 g cpu
speed.
fsb is 100 mb/sec i think. 256 mb pc100 ram (2X128), burner, cd, etc.

so i got a linux ubunto disk, and before I do anything stupid I thought I'd
post here
and find out where the alligators are, if any.

I have zero experience with linux. Same with duel booting.
The disk I have will load itself into memory and
then when you reboot it's gone.
It also allows for an install, where it loads onto the hard drive.

2 questions:
uno: will it load into the empty ntfs partion?
dos: If so, how do you tell the mobo to boot to that partiton when you
want to?

Thanks,
mike

[Ext User(Linux Geek)]

On Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:12:26 -0400, ~Mike Hollywood wrote:

> xp pro, 80 gig drive, 4 partitoins,: os, programs, data, and a spare of
> 10gigs, all ntfs
> older duron AMD system: ecs mobo circa 2000 with bios same age. 1.6 g cpu
> speed.
> fsb is 100 mb/sec i think. 256 mb pc100 ram (2X128), burner, cd, etc.
>
> so i got a linux ubunto disk, and before I do anything stupid I thought I'd
> post here
> and find out where the alligators are, if any.
>
> I have zero experience with linux. Same with duel booting.
> The disk I have will load itself into memory and
> then when you reboot it's gone.
> It also allows for an install, where it loads onto the hard drive.
>
> 2 questions:
> uno: will it load into the empty ntfs partion?
> dos: If so, how do you tell the mobo to boot to that partiton when you
> want to?
>
> Thanks,
> mike

It will not use a Windows NTFS or 32 bit partition it will create it's own
Linux partition on empty drive space when you give the command to install.
It will also create a GRUB ( GRand Unified Bootloader ) dual boot loader
which will allow you to select Windows or Linux each time you boot your
system.

--

__________________________________________________ ________________
Linux Geek

Saying that XP is the most stable MS OS is like saying that
asparagus is the most articulate vegetable. (Dave Barry)

[Ext User(Roby)]

~Mike Hollywood wrote:

> xp pro, 80 gig drive, 4 partitoins,: os, programs, data, and a spare of
> 10gigs, all ntfs
> older duron AMD system: ecs mobo circa 2000 with bios same age. 1.6 g cpu
> speed.
> fsb is 100 mb/sec i think. 256 mb pc100 ram (2X128), burner, cd, etc.
>
> so i got a linux ubunto disk, and before I do anything stupid I thought
> I'd post here
> and find out where the alligators are, if any.
>
> I have zero experience with linux. Same with duel booting.
> The disk I have will load itself into memory and
> then when you reboot it's gone.
> It also allows for an install, where it loads onto the hard drive.
>
> 2 questions:
> uno: will it load into the empty ntfs partion?
> dos: If so, how do you tell the mobo to boot to that partiton when you
> want to?
>
> Thanks,
> mike

Ubuntu will install into whichever partition you choose. Linux works best
with a separate swap partition. Your 10gB partition can be divided into
two logical partitions for root and swap. The installer probably includes
partitioning tools to do this as well as to reformat the partitions to a
linux filesystem.

During the hard drive install, Ubuntu will set up a boot loader that will
run first when you start the machine. It provides a menu selection that
will include both linux and xp: you highlight your choice, press enter.

The Ubuntu newsgroups are very active. Lots of help readily available.
Have fun!