Tough Decision - Win2k, Debian, and VMWare

[kuphryn]

Hello,

I have a decent system running only Win2k Pro, and this is the only complete system I have. My goal is to administer two operating systems, WIn2k Pro and Debian Linux. The problem is I will need two systems to really take advantage of the resource for each OS. Unfortunately, I do not have that option. The good news is VMWare; however, the bad news is VMWare takes up too much resources, and it would slow down linux for Win2k is running at the same time.

Should I go ahead and install Debian on another HDD and use Win2k boot manager or Lilo to boot to the OS I want? That would work, but I really want to have access to either OS without having to reboot. What if I am downloading something under Win2k and want to install software in Debian?

Should I use VMWare? How much resource does it take up, and in reality, what is the speed differential between Win2k+VMWare-> Debian and Debian by itself?

I do want, however, to have Win2k Pro as the primary OS. Thus I would prefer not to install Lilo. I have had problems getting back to an 9x and NT based OS in the past.

Kuphryn

 

[pcmark]

What are the specs of your system? VMWare requires a lot of ram,because you are effectively running two OS's at once. If you have 256mb or more,you will be ok.

 

[kuphryn]

Hi,

I have 128mb ram. I will upgrade to 256mb in two months.

Kuphryn

 

[SUOrangeman]

For the price, I would upgrade NOW.

-SUO

 

[kuphryn]

hahaha

I know.

kuphryn

 

[Damaged]

Heck you can get a stick of 256 PC133 for ~$80 right now. Then you've got 384 and that should be fine.

BTW nice choice on Debian. I recently came over from years of running RH and Mandrake. Debian 2.3 (Woody) rocks with Helix-Gnome and Sawfish. And apt rules! 🙂

 

[kuphryn]

Thanks.

Debian is unparalleled!!!

Kuphryn