XP and Linux

[Arjun Shastry]

After spending Rs 4000($100) my laptop finally 'UP' now.
On C: there is Windows XP.
I want to install any Linux(I have Mandrake/Fedora/Slackware)on D:
Laptop configuration is 20GB Harddrive/128 MB RAM/750 MHZ
Has anybody tried XP with Linux with partition in laptop/PC?
Thanks

[Stefan Wagner]

My laptop (sony) came with xp preinstalled.
But the manuals told me, that with the rescue-cd the machine can only brought back to initial state, with both partitions reformated.
That was the last time I saw xp on my laptop. Installed w2k. and linux.

After a harddisk-crash, I decided to install linux and reinstall windows later. It's 3 months ago, and I didn't get the feeling I could need windows.

With a better rescue possibility, I would have kept xp.

[Ben Buchli]

hi,
there is a great site about linux on laptops with lots of tutorials, how-to's and links to other sites:

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

I'm running slackware and xp on my asus laptop. no problems so far...

[Arjun Shastry]

Thanks.Its very helpful.Unfortunately my laptop model was not included there.

[Tim Holloway]

You might want to get a Knoppix CD and try booting off that. That will tell you how well your laptop will work with Linux. Laptops have funny sound, network, and modem "cards" in them, so it's not always possible to get the drivers you need.

If your hardware is happy with Knoppix, you can back up your XP partition, use a partition resizer (such as Partition Magic) to reserve space for Linux partitions (OS + swapfile), and install. Grub or LILO can be used to dual-boot. It's the same deal as making a dual-boot desktop system.

Modern Linux distros generally need 2-5GB to hold all the goodies.

[Arjun Shastry]

Thanks.I tried installing Mandrake official 10 and with dual booting.Run Level I put it as 3 as previously LCD used to flicker with run level 5.Everything seems to be working now.