Win XP and Linux dual OS, please help

[BlackmanOne]

Hey guys, I am a total noob when it comes to this, but I figured that this would be the best place to ask. I am getting a new computer, and want to fix some of my previous problems (namely a ton of adware and virus's (I know of ad-aware, but they always keep coming back), anyway, I am planning on using a partition to get both Win XP and Linux, I just have some questions.

1. Could I technically use Linux for web surfing, email, etc, and just switch back to Win XP at my whim (by rebooting I know), for my applications and games? I know of wineX, but its not 100% gaurentee, so I would like to keep XP.

2. Which is the most user friendly of FREE linux? I was looking at Suse, but I wasn't sure if that was free. Mandrake and RedHat 9 also look tempting.

3. Would surfing the net and opening email in linux effectively stop most virus's, as they are not for the linux os? Or would they jump right over to XP?

4. The computer will come loaded with XP, do I just install linux on top of that? I am assuming it would give me a choice to partition part of the hardrive for a second os? And I would think 20GB out of a 120GB hardrive would be enough, seeing as it will have no huge applications or games on it, so maybe I should go smaller?


Thanks in advance for all your help, I know I will get it in spades.

 

[ADZ]

I was in the same situation as you. I had a 120 gig HD and i split it in half. I put Linux Fedora on one side and XP on the other. Most impressed with the way it turned out. I use my Linux for the surfing and various other stuff...i rarely go back to windows.

Go Linux Fedora - Its Free and its the place to be! see!?!

 

[BlackmanOne]

Is Fedora the new Red Hat Linux name?

As a side note, as this isn't important, but which of the linux looks the flashiest? I know that it's not important, but having a really killer looking OS is always nice to look at

 

[Him]

If you go to redhat and dual boot, you will have some difficulties to get around. Linux Redhat, when installed, makes 6 or 7 differnt partitions for itself. Have some fun screwing around with that.

 

[BlackmanOne]

I've been thinking Mandrake 9.0. Just DLed all three cd's in fact...

 

[rasputinj]

Most of the new distros on Linux have an auto format feature for the different paritions you will need. 20Gb should be fine for Linux, now on RH 9 if you install it after XP it will provide you with a screen in the beginning for dos (Win XP) or linux to help make dual boot easy. Now if you reinstall XP, it could screw up the dual boot.

 

[BlackmanOne]

okay now heres a big question. Say I am running a dual OS on my computer, and WinXP is giving me tons of stability problems (we all know itll happen sooner or later), do I just reformat the harddrive and the partition is gone? Or will Mandrake always be there and available as a second os until the time where I delete linux (not bloody likely lol).

 

[Traudong]

If you install Linux after Windows, Linux will provide you a choice to boot. And therefore, if you uninstall XP or even format its partition, you can use Linux normally. But don't try to delete Linux or you will take lots of probs. . And I like Redhat (70 per cent of Linux OS which is being used in the world)

 

[BlackmanOne]

So once linux is on your system, it's on your system for good?

 

[Traudong]

I'm not sure. I don't know how to uninstall Linux. Perhaps you can use floppy disk. My Red Hat works very well so I haven't think of getting rid of it . Anyone know?