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I'm not sure if I am posting this in the right place. Maybe it belongs in the Computer Section.
I am thinking about putting LINUX on one of my computers.
How hard is it to do it myself.
Or should I take it to a shop to do it for me?
Also .. can I put it on a PC that presently has Windows XP.
The computer was built for me in 2011 so it is only a 2 year old computer.
It's not hard. It may take several steps, however. Linux can co-exist with a computer running XP, but that does require caution as it is slightly possible to ruin your XP installation. Now if you want to -replace- XP with linux, then that is quite easy.
Look up 'pen drive linux' as a way to run linux solely from a flash drive without touching your XP installation. You can later install to the hard drive with a few mouse clicks, or you can continue to run from a flash drive.
The computer was built for me in 2011 so it is only a 2 year old computer.
Unless you live in a time warp that would be working on 4 years old
It's not excessively difficult, but it depends on your skills. Do some research, read tutorials, and make sure there are Linux versions available for the software you want to use.
It's not hard. It may take several steps, however. Linux can co-exist with a computer running XP, but that does require caution as it is slightly possible to ruin your XP installation. Now if you want to -replace- XP with linux, then that is quite easy.
Look up 'pen drive linux' as a way to run linux solely from a flash drive without touching your XP installation. You can later install to the hard drive with a few mouse clicks, or you can continue to run from a flash drive.
This.
Also consider creating a bootable install CD from a downloadable ISO image and booting Linux read-only (won't destroy your Windows install) to get a feel for Linux.
Another slightly more advanced option is to run Linux within a virtual machine. So, you would run Linux from within Windows. VMWare has free 'players' with loadable 'appliances' (pre-made images) that you can load. You can also use the free VirtualBox virtualization software.
Whatever you do, if you value your files you MUST make backups.
There's some great advice in the posts above. If you are brand new to Linux, and particularly if you are not at least somewhat knowledgeable of your computer's hardware, it may be best to install it on a PC w/o any data you're concerned with.
Always be very careful with the root (admin) account. Make yourself a user and log into the root only when you need to. Linux will allow you to destroy everything, usually with no questions asked.
VirtualBox (as suggested above) is a great way to try things out and (IMO) the easiest to install and work with. It's unfortunate that it is proprietary (Oracle) but that's the way it goes.
Linux can take you places you've only dreamed of. Good luck and have fun!
If you haven't installed Linux yet, I suggest watching this Youtube video by 'sakitech'. He goes step by step with clear instructions. http://youtu.be/lIF8e_5F9B4 If the link doesn't work just go to Youtube and search 'How to install Linux'. Sakitech's video is one of the first options.
When Windows XP no longer had support from Microsoft I installed Linux Ubuntu. Then later installed Linux Mint as a dual boot (so I'd have both Ubuntu and Mint on the PC). Mint uses Ubuntu as it's base, but I much prefer Mint. Mint 17.1 came out now long ago, obviously the updated version of Mint 17. I ended up getting rid of Ubuntu, just keeping Mint.
I did try to install other Linux distros to try them out but had a lot of trouble with them. Installing Mint and Ubuntu was very easy. Nice thing is you can boot up your PC or laptop with the USB flashdrive and check out Mint before installing it. If you like it then you just click on the install icon and follow the instructions.
As far as Mint goes I'd recommend either Cinnamon or Mate as the desktop setup. Just my personal preference.
By the way, you can have both Linux and Windows on the same laptop or PC. When installing Mint just choose the option 'run alongside', I think is the wording. It gives the option of replacing what's already on it or running it alongside, then you chose which one you want during boot up or let it boot up with the default choice. I have Windows 7 and Linux Mint on my laptop and Mint is my default option.
When downloading the distro Mint's website will ask if you want to make a donation. If you don't at that time just change the amounts in each box to 0, as they are pre-filled with amounts. I haven't donated yet, but will be sometime this month.
Suggest that if you install a Linux distro that you do an internet search on 'Things to do after installing Linux Mint' or whatever distro you decide on.
My only problem is I wish I had old PC's or laptops to use to play around checking out more of the distros. I don't want to use my good laptop to constantly change possibly causing a problem. Besides I can get it set up to dual boot, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to replace one of the two systems while leaving the other.
It should be noted that the developers of Linux Mint have chosen to not update critical software components by default. This includes the Linux kernel and X.org. The significance is that unless a user changes the settings of their update manager, they will be using a system that contains known security holes and will be vulnerable to attack! Mint does this to accommodate users of proprietary drivers for video chips and other hardware. It is for this reason that I recommend for new Linux users to use Ubuntu or one of its official "flavors."
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