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<DIV>Two other ideas:</DIV>
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<DIV>If you purchase a boxed distribution (like SUSE Open Linux from Novell) you get 90 days of free support for getting it running. I myself am not too experienced with Linux, but long ago I installed Mandrake on a Windows computer for dual boot and it was fairly painless. One would hope things are even better now, although I don't know from my own experience.</DIV>
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<DIV>Or, if you goal is just experimenting, you could watch the Sunday Star-Tribune want ads (section 355) for a really cheap used computer. Put Linux on that one instead and experiment in total safety. There is something reassuring in knowing that if you hose your computer beyond repair you can just wipe out the disk and reinstall. In fact, I have done that a few times now, and I notice my confidence level is up quite a bit.</DIV>
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<DIV>If you are handy with hardware and like to fuss, and could find a used computer with an earlier version of Windows that does not require activation, you could get that Norton Ghost program and a fresh new hard disk, clone the hard disk from the used computer as backup, and you would be really free to experiment without fear. Then when you are sure of your ability, you could dual-boot your main machine.</DIV>
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<DIV>Ok, that was three ideas.</DIV>
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<DIV>Steven White<BR>City of Bloomington<BR>1800 W Old Shakopee Rd<BR>Bloomington MN 55431-3096<BR>USA<BR>952-563-4882 (voice)<BR>952-563-4672 (fax)<BR>steven.white@ci.bloomington.mn.us<BR><BR>>>> "Chris Schumann" <cschumann@twp-llc.com> 4/6/2007 12:10 PM >>><BR>> Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2007 08:41:50 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)<BR>> From: "Nick" <nick@chaska.net><BR><BR>> I would like to do a dual boot ( XP & Linux ) on my computer. Where can<BR>> I take my computer for help? I live in Chaska. I'm 68 yrs old , so<BR>> please be patient with me.<BR>><BR>> Thanks, Nick<BR><BR>Welcome, Nick!<BR><BR>If there's an installfest coming up, that would be a perfect time to do<BR>it. However, there are many places to look for yourself.<BR><BR>I imagine you know you can boot a LiveCD and run Linux that way, without<BR>changing your hard drive. But to really install, you'll need to either<BR>make room on your existing hard drive, which can be tricky, or add another<BR>drive and install Linux on that.<BR><BR>If you can add a drive, that may be the easiest. However, you can use<BR>Knoppix to re-size your existing NTFS partition and go from there.<BR><BR>So we know what we're dealing with, what's your CPU and RAM? And about<BR>your hard drive, what size is it, and how much is used?<BR><BR>Also, do you have a preferred Linux distribution?<BR><BR>Chris<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota<BR>tclug-list@mn-linux.org<BR><A href="http://mailman.mn/">http://mailman.mn</A>-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list<BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>