RAMBO wrote:Just tried Mint/Mate on live cd, going to try Ubuntu, its variations and cinnamon later. I like Mints set up more than windows, its easier to find certain things. Could not md5 the cd for some reason. Thinking of just going ahead with the install and wiping out windows. I followed the steps but I think I can just do it easier from Mint later on.
I would still recommend two separate installs if you already have a Windows XP license.
Start XP setup, custom partitioning, create a 20GB+ partition for XP, install XP.
Boot from Mint/Ubuntu/w-e LiveDVD, choose install, choose install alongside XP.
Done.
When you boot, you will be asked which OS to run, with one of them booting by default after few seconds. That's it.
Virtual machines sometimes have problem when you have an app that doesn't work without hardware acceleration. And running Linux in VM will make you think it's slow.
Dual booting is really simple as long as you install Windows 1st, Linux 2nd. And it will always leave you a safe way to retreat.
I rarely check md5/sha1 myself. In Linux it's easy - "md5sum filename" or "sha1sum filename" in Windows it's PITA, so I don't even bother.