*nix question(s)
 

after I download *nix, can I save it to a floppy or a CD and pop it in my new box I just built with no casualties to this old box? I dont think mum would settle well with the fact that her $300 XP Prof. was lost in the process.
BTW im downloading it on an old comp with XP prof, and I built a box without an OS so I'm thinking of installing *nix on it.

And, which version is the best for no0bs like me?

And, if I find I dont like *nix, can I erase it from the HDD?

And, if and when I will try to download the drivers for my hardware, will the driver disk work or should I go online?

EDIT: Reading on LinuxISO.org, I learned I can get a version that runs from the disc only (SuSE Live Evaluation I think it was called)
Since my HDD isnt formatted, can I still use it?

Sorry if these questions have been asked and answered so many times they've lost all meaning, but it's late and I dont really want to sift thru pages of posts.

Thanks in advance

i can't answer all your questions, but what i DO know is Knoppix is a linux flavour that will also just run from CD :)

As SiN said, use Knoppix if you don't want to risk the current OS.

Use Redhat or Mandrake if you're new to it all and can afford to use a comp for it. Look at the first few pages of this forum, they'll hold a lot of Linux threads (usually about what distro to use).

Hopefully (usually) drivers for your hardware will be included w/ your distro of Linux. Installing drivers in Linux is different than installing in Windows, and is a more complex process. Be prepared to accept that you can't always just point+click like Windows. You only really need worry about that if your hardware isn't supported w/ the latest version of Linux (it usually is). Two exceptions I've seen:

* I have an nvidia graphics card. Redhat (Fedora) comes with drivers, but NVidia has also released their own (closed-source :() version. Their drivers are pretty easy to install, but still, more than just point+click. Have to use command line.

* My WiFi network card wasn't well supported under Linux. There's a program called DriverLoader (google it) that uses your Windows versions of the drivers for Linux. Those bastards just started charging for it though, so you'd have limited time to use it unless you want to pay.

Otherwise, drivers for everything else were fine.

If you don't like Linux, you can just pop in a WinXP disc (or a Win98 boot disk or something) and delete the current partitions (at least one for linux root (/) and one for swap). Then create DOS partitions and away you go.

Yep.If you want to play around without installing anything Knoppix (or SuSe LiveEval, which is pretty much the same thing) is the way to go.

On your machine without an OS, I would go with either Mandrake or RedHat (now Fedora Core). Both should be easy to install, configure, and maintain.

For your moms machine, you *can* setup a dual boot, but I would strongly advise against this. If you dont have the Windows install CD to reinstall it, it is a risky process, and isnt the easiest thing to do, especially if you dont have much linux experience. Again, the best thing for that machine is Knoppix or SuSe LiveEval. I havent actually used the SuSe one, but have heard good things about it. I *have* used the Knoppix one, and I love it.

You could consider getting a cheap old hard drive (say 20GB, I'm sure people sell these for $20 or less these days) and install what you want to try out on that.

To answer the question I think is missed:

As I understand it you have 2 PC's
one (your mother's) with Windows XP on it, on which you are currently downloading linux.
second: a "spare" pc without any OS installed.

Yes, you can burn a linux image to CD without causing any harm to XP. possible harm starts when you're installing. If, as you said, you're installing on the OS-less PC, there is nothing to lose and no harm will be done.

If you want to install linux on a PC with XP on it, it usually works just fine with any recent linux distribution. Most will recognize the existing OS and give a suggestion as to what to do with it. Read carefully, but almost no linux distro will default to removing the existing OS.

Distributions I recommend:
Fedora (f.k.a Red Hat Linux)
Mandrake

Distributions that don't even need installing (just boot from the CD-rom)
Suse Live Eval CD
Knoppix (highly recommended)
(these are so-called live-cd's that run directly from CD. put the cd in the drive, reboot. And linux boots right away. Does NOT write to your harddisk (unless you specifically ask it to), and thus nothing is damaged. If you're done with these Live-cd's you remove the CD-rom, reboot and your original OS boots again.)

In short: download knoppix to try linux

P.S. let us know what you did with our replies, as this evaluates our responses

P.P.S. in response to your edit: the Live-CD's run from the CD only. They look for harddisks but they do not use them. If there is no disk, or it is unusable, the Live-CD's will work just fine.)

You work in help-desk/troubleshooting, don't you? :)

I would have to concur with the others, just try a live CD like Knoppix and when feel like you need a harddrive (maybe to install something) try a distrubution like Fedora, Mandrake or SuSe. And if you feel up to it, you can just install it on your moms pc with dual boot or write the LILO to a floppy.
These distrubutions are very user friendly and you shouldn't have much trouble with them.
As for 'fucking up' your pc, dual boot (at least with SuSe) is fairly easy to do, but you need to pay attention to the partitioning, if you don't have a clue what partitions are, then I would recommend you stay away.

BTW Mods: I've seen a couple of these 'which distrubution is better' and though I find it quite interesting, maybe a merged notice would be in order?