linux/win2k dual (yet another)

[Gooberlx2]

Yes, I know this kind of thing has been posted a million times before.
Still, I've done the searches, and none have answered my question.

Thing is I have win2k on a fat32 (yes fat32 what of it ) right now. I have the latest partition magic so resizing a new (fat32) partition for linux should be easy. (right?) I'm NOT going to reformat my 2k partition as it is way too much of a PITA!

What's the easiest way to turn my machine into a dual boot win2k/linux box? I'm sure no one wants to explain the whole process, but a link to a 'good' resource would be awesome. Bottom line is I don't wanna F-up my existing win2k stuff, but I'd really like to start getting some linux experience (as I have none).

I guess I'm just looking for a no-frills, fastest way to do this.

Secondly, what's the best linux distro. I keep hearing Mandrake and RedHat, agree/disagree?

and Thirdly, can/does/will linux natively be able to read NTFS volumes?

[edit]
OH yeah! I forgot, where can I find hardware compatibilty info?
[/edit]

 

[n0cmonkey]

Dont risk you machine if you are unwilling for a problem to occur. Seriously, dual boot for a newbie is a bad thing. You will want to change things, you will make mistakes, you will reinstall
FAT32 is crap.
And yes, linux WILL be able to READ NTFS partitions, but this is all experiemental.

Best distro depends on what you want out of linux.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Thanx for the advice.
I'm not so much a dual-boot newbie(I've dual booted before just fine) so much as a linux newbie(wannabe).

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< Thanx for the advice.
I'm not so much a dual-boot newbie(I've dual booted before just fine) so much as a linux newbie(wannabe). >>



Have you dual-booted with linux? If not, it is totally different
And seriously, when I dualbooted anything with linux I would either screw something up and not be able to fix it or just want to change something without having enough knowledge to change it without a reinstall (totally changing paritions etc). dual-booting can be a lot more trouble than it is worth.

 

[odz]

Yes, do as the man says, its for your own good. I am still crying over lost files from a leenoox w2k dual boot.*sniff*

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< Yes, do as the man says, its for your own good. I am still crying over lost files from a leenoox w2k dual boot.*sniff* >>



You lose your pr0n collection too?

 

[Gooberlx2]

Hmmm, that's convincing enough for me. I guess I'll have to try to construct a small POS (aka cheap) pewter for Linux (I've gotsta learn this OS, or atleast see first hand what all the 'rave' is about).

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< Hmmm, that's convincing enough for me. I guess I'll have to try to construct a small POS (aka cheap) pewter for Linux (I've gotsta learn this OS, or atleast see first hand what all the 'rave' is about). >>



Its worth it if you take the time to learn it. Just check for hardware compatibility.