StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Righto!

I've decided it's probably best I give my computer a fresh start for the upcoming school year, so once I clear off everything I need, here is what I want to do.

-Format the hard drive clean.
-Install a dual boot system (one OS being Mandrake Linux, the other probably being Windows XP).

But now the big questions.

1) In my college house, we're going to be using a router. Because of the way things went, I picked up one with wireless capability and four cable connection slots. I'm assuming I'll be on wireless, and as far as wireless net access for linux goes all I can find is this.


I -did- try to install it last year, had no idea how the hell I'd go about that.

2) My machine has just the lone hard drive, which XP runs on. Is there a boot disk, or utility to use to get it formatted and partioned?


Edit: I heard that theres an option to simply install on the Windows partition and it handles it automatically for you. This true?

The mandrake CD should partition it for you when you install. Install Windows first, then Mandrake (or whatever you use. It's probably a good idea to make two partitions when installing Windows to ease the installation of Mandrake (can MDK now resize NTFS? I haven't used mandrake). If you have one of those PCs without a Windows disk and only a recovery partition, you are out of luck (unless you rip the data off of the recovery partition or "obtain" a copy of Windows on a CD).

You might want to check compatibility before you go out and buy a wireless card. Anyway, if it's a desktop, wireless is pointless (unless you don't like wires running around the edges of the room), and is slower, and less compatible.

Topologilinux runs without partitioning but isn't user friendly. For long term usage, I would recommend Fedora, Debian, or Gentoo for easier updates, but the initial setup for those is high.

You could also try WinLinux, which is a pretty old Linux distro now -- it was only just predated by DragonLinux, and that's now a dead distro. WinLinux was basically created with user-friendliness in mind, althouggh I found it a bit clunky the last time I tried it (admittedly, that was in 1999 or so).

I don't remember if Mandrake can resize NTFS partitions; I seem to remember installing Mandrake 9.2 on my girlfriend's laptop, which had Windows 2000 preinstalled. I opted to resize the Windows partition, which worked flawlessly. I think it was NTFS but I am not really sure.