just a couple questions before dual booting linux

ok well i want to dual boot vista home premium and linux.

my first question is;

can anyone direct to to a realiable link thats easy to follow and dual boot. i need something fast and easy, as i dont want to mess this up and i dont know how to do this at all.

and ill probably have more later.

thanks
edit: i have vista installed first

 

just install linux (on a different partiton or hd)... all the options and instructions will be in the setup along with a boot manager

 

I just taught myself how to use a live cd to partition, etc. but if i had to just get it done, I'd probably follow this guide:

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first.htm

 

Install windows first, then on windows create your paritions or however you want the install to go. Next install linux, and grub should set up the dual boot. If it doesn't, just some quick googling should help, to set grub correctly.

 

You're going into this with the wrong attitude. There's no "clickclickclick and you're done" guide. There are too many variables and too many things that can be done incorrectly, especially by someone who doesn't know anything about the process.

Have you run a LiveCD on your laptop to see if the screen resolution is OK? How about your wireless? Wireless can be a hassle! Intel wireless card is the best way to go IMO.

I can give you some main pointers.

First off, download and convert to a bootable CD a copy of GParted LiveCD. This is the single handiest tool I've found. It's a partitioner. Even if you don't use it to actually partition anything it'll show you how many partitions you have, how big, etc. An abbreviated version of GParted resides on the Ubuntu LiveCD. You can access it by spinning up a LiveCD, then going to System>Gnome Partitioner, but the GParted LiveCD is better.

Use Vista to shrink Vista. The Vista partitioner is more reliable for shrinking Vista than GParted. I think of GParted as being the tool for moving/creating/deleting empty partitions, but for moving the existing Vista partition use Vista.

How many partitions do you have now? Lots of lappies come with four primaries. Very annoying. If you have four, you're going to have to get rid of one. Probly the recovery partition - after you've made your recovery DVD's of course!

After you've shrunk Vista and deleted a partition if necessary, you're ready to install Ubuntu.

Either:
1) Use GParted LiveCD to create an extended partition out of the free space. Then pop in the Ubuntu LiveCD and see if it finds the extended partition, or
2) Leave the free space alone. Pop in the Ubuntu LiveCD, and tell it to install to the free space.
These are broad brush strokes. I'm skipping over bits and pieces. YouTube might help you see the process if you have access to broadband.

Let GRUB install itself (well, part of itself, but let's not get sidetracked) to the Vista Master Boot Record. GRUB is the Ubuntu bootloader. It tweaks the Vista MBR so that Vista still works, but instead of the PC going straight to Vista you get a screen asking you which OS to start up. The screen lasts for ten seconds, and Ubuntu will be the default. (If you want to change those settings google "ubuntu startup manager". It's a neat little application you can download that lets you tweak the GRUB settings.)

GRUB by default installs to the Vista MBR when the installer sees a Windows partition, so don't worry if you're ready to install and don't recall seeing anything about GRUB.



Good luck, back up your personal data, and make sure you have the tools to reinstall Vista all over again if things go badly. I'm attaching a picture of my partitions to give you an idea of what it might look like when you're done.

 

If you are going with Ubuntu, try Wubi.

 

+1 Wubi

Why ? No Partitioning , Resizing and all other stuffs . Just install Ubuntu using wubi in windows just like any other windows application. , i.e double click to install and use Programs and features to un-install it if you don't like it

 

Good for you! I encourage you to take this step, and you will get all the instructions you need from this forum.

 

okay so about that wubi, is it like the full OS, or is it a program thats running as any other would iin vista?

 

Full OS...

 

You can probably just use GParted and Ubuntu to set up the install - GParted is only necessary if you didn't leave unallocated space on the disk when you installed Vista. Other than actually getting Ubuntu set up with drivers and stuff, the only other real question is whether you want to use Ubuntu's bootloader (GRUB) or Vista's bootloader. If you choose Vista's (less fancy, but I recommed it as I've had stability issues with shoehorning Vista off of GRUB), EasyBCD is a very useful tool for setting up a dual-boot using Vista's bootloader. There are guides on the forums on how to set it up exactly - haven't used Vista myself for nearly a year so my recollection is a bit fuzzy.