Bootable Linux CD and other questions.

Jimbo Mahoney · 7 Nov 2008 at 11:34

I run a Smoothwall box and I'd like to become more familiar with the linux command line so I can become more self-sufficient in tweaking and fixing things.

My main machine is Win XP and I'd rather not dual boot as I've had nasty experiences of wiping data because of the different file systems.

I was looking at Knoppix as a way to boot from CD and play with Linux, but is it able to read my NTFS formatted HDDs without altering their structure? (I would guess yes).

Many thanks!

GarethDW · 7 Nov 2008 at 11:49

Yep, reading NTFS partitions is pretty much standard these dayts.

LiveCDs are good but I think they've become pretty redundant recently. I'd suggest using a VM or, if you're using Ubuntu, try using Wubi instead. You don't get the lag of using a CD.

Otherwise, just use the manual partitioning - not had a problem with this and I've lost count of the number of times I've installed distros over the years.

Jimbo Mahoney · 7 Nov 2008 at 12:12

Thanks. I've not used a VM before, but I'm familiar with the concept.

Any recommendations?

I'll soon be changing to Vista 64 if that makes any difference...

GarethDW · 7 Nov 2008 at 12:55

I'm a big VMWare fan, but that's because it's what we use at work (albeit the corporate stuff). It's free for personal use and works very well.

I'm afraid I've got no idea how it works on Vista 64 though.

JIM_BOB7813 · 7 Nov 2008 at 13:22

I like Virtualbox better than VMware, vbox is significantly faster at resuming/pausing virtual machines.
And it's totally free, VMware player and VMware server are free, but they are not as easy to use as Vbox or VMware workstation (costs £££).

VMware player doesn't (or didn't?) have a GUI to set up a virtual machine, and server is not really what you want for desktop usage.

FoxEye · 7 Nov 2008 at 14:21

Last time I used a VM (MS Virtual PC), it didn't give the guest OS access to my real sound & video hardware. Instead, it provided an emulated Sound Blaster sound card and S3 Virge graphics card.

To me that made a VM pretty pointless for trialling the OS.

quackers · 7 Nov 2008 at 15:03

Grab VMware server, setup a linux machine and your off. You should be able to play with the terminal etc all you want

manic111 · 7 Nov 2008 at 15:55

JIM_BOB7813 said:
I like Virtualbox better than VMware, vbox is significantly faster at resuming/pausing virtual machines.
And it's totally free, VMware player and VMware server are free, but they are not as easy to use as Vbox or VMware workstation (costs £££).

VMware player doesn't (or didn't?) have a GUI to set up a virtual machine, and server is not really what you want for desktop usage.

+1, I'm a Vbox man as well-I just found it easier than VMware, and just as effective!

craptakular · 7 Nov 2008 at 17:02

virtual box +1

but i would wubi install ubuntu (wubi = install ubuntu inside windows, can remove it by going into add/remove programs. It behaves like a normal app.)