Linux/ XP...... to dual boot or not to dual boot?

I'm running just that a dual boot Ubuntu and winXP. Its works, I perfer to run linux however this is a pro dominate windows world. Sometimes you just need a windows machine. One bit of advice I could give is create a third partition and use this to store your files on and you can access them from win or linux. -RW

hey all~ i suggest dual booting. for a few reason. a big one being that not everything will work (yet) in ubuntu. for instance, i have a lexmark all in one....well lexmark and linux don't get along all too well yet (suposedly they are working onit) so in order to scan or copy i need to be in windows....but i can still print in ubuntu! right now thats the main reason i ever use windows...also to play a few games that haven't quiet been ported to the linux world. with the ubuntu cd, its a snap to set up dual boot too.... ~j

I would suggest that dual booting would be more practical than a direct switch to Linux. Since you have no doubt been using Windows for a long while then you will be far more familiar with it, so it is worth keeping. Linux is quite user friendly now and a stable environment to work in, so you should have no real problems. However, you will need to take the time to become familiar with the overall system, so it helps to have the option of booting back into Windows to perform a certain task. You are far less likely to abandon Linux if you do not have to depend on it totally, so you could always consider a totally Linux system at a later time. If you have the space then I would also suggest installing a seperate hard drive for Linux. Dual booting from a single drive is not a problem, but seperate drivesis a better choice.

I have the PERFECT solution for you :-) Go to http://wubi-installer.org/ Download it and follow the instructions. I think it'll ask you to let it download ubuntu for you. It may seem a bit frustrating since you have the disk but trust me, Wubi makes it so easy: Basically just download it, follow the instructions, choose to install ubuntu and how much of your hard disk space you want ubuntu to use. Then Wubi sets it all up for you and the next time you load your computer it'll ask you which OS you want to boot into. It worked for me :D

The only reason I can think of NOT to set up a dual boot machine is if you have very limited disk space. If you have the hard drive space, go ahead and do the dual boot. Still, make sure you back up your stuff before you set up Linux because there's a chance that something could go wrong and you could lose files. Better to be safe and have that back up just in case you need it. I kept windows for times when I run into a program that only works in that or when I need it for work related things. The rest of the time, I use ubuntu. For easy access to files, I have them in a separate partition that's FAT32 format so it can be read by both OS's.

i suggest use dual boot. it is very much recommended for new linux users. Welcome to linux community BTW. ^_^

If you have a XP installed on your computer and the data on the disk is not that much importance to you you can surely run Linux as a single OS.But I will recomend you dual boot till yoou get experienced with linux.What makes dual boot a better choice is that you can surf internet over XP to get your problems in Linux solved.When you will become intermediate user you will certainly go for linux and dumb "Dont send ".

Go on, dual-boot. In my laptop I dual-boot XP and Ubuntu and it has no problems. The only reason I can't think of why NOT to dual-boot is both installations will take up more space in your hard disk. But that isn't really a problem, no?

I believe there's need for dual booting. Virtualization and emulation always suck. If you are really want to be free, never use windows software, just make single boot to linux and use freeware software only. There's much people that can live and do their works without having to use windows. You just need to be smart ;)

Yeah I would backup xp, then reinstall xp, create a new partition and install ubuntu with NTFS support to write data and xp will be able to understand it.

I also got a problem when i installed a linux ubunto in my PC. And it gave me a lots of problems i hv to format my whole Hard disk to recover from that dual boot problem. As it harm my whole partition table.