External Harddrive

[Levis 0]

I know about Virtual PC 2004 and desktop virtualisation :)But the problem I am facing is practical my brother uses Windows and he is not interested in Linux (saying it is not going to overtake Microsoft Operating systems in the Home desktop)he may be true.But I want to learn Linux so I am thinking an option in which I can install it in the same machine via a external Drive or something like that.I don't need a lot of space 20 GB will be more than sufficient.

Well virtual PC wouln't hog any resources as long as its nto running and it doesnt' work unless you start it. Its the best way to go. As some easiers said, you can split up your partitions, or if you want to do it your way. You can do it, but bootup will be a *****, you will have to reconfig GRUB bootloader to have it load windows unless specified. If you plan to take that route and need help configing GRUB, be sure to ask. I'll help you with it.

[Grafitti 0]

I have 3 external drives. One is a WD mybook, 320Gb, which runs very quiet and usually is fast as well. Only when i'm backing up huge files onto it, mostly over 2 GB in size, does it stop/start writing. Another is a 200GB Seagate in a junky generic casing, which doesn't even stand on end. It can't be plugged in for longer than a couple days at a time before I need to unplug it because it gets too hot. (there's no fan inside). Plus points are small form factor and no noise. Then I have a 120GB Seagate which doesn't actually have a casing, but i have a usb to IDE cable for 2.5/3.5/5.25 drives, which is useful when you've got little drives laying around everywhere and you don't want to buy the full case for each of them.I also have a 400GB rack-mounted drive, but that's not quite external....

[sujith 0]

I used to run Ubuntu 6.06 this way.It will be a pain managing both the partitions (i.e windows and linux)

I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to linux, but I know this is possible. I think the best way is to just make multiple partitions on the drive. Then you would just have a boot menu to choose which OS to boot into.You could run it from an external drive too if you wanted but it is possible to have both on the same drive.

OK I need to know how I can make my Windows XP come first into the list of Operating Systems ?What is the minimum requirement for running a Linux distro.I have only 512 MB RAM

Well virtual PC wouln't hog any resources as long as its nto running and it doesnt' work unless you start it. Its the best way to go. As some easiers said, you can split up your partitions, or if you want to do it your way. You can do it, but bootup will be a *****, you will have to reconfig GRUB bootloader to have it load windows unless specified. If you plan to take that route and need help configing GRUB, be sure to ask. I'll help you with it.

[WeaponX 0]

@knight17: Do you have a dual-boot or some multi-booting environment setup already? If so, you will need to go into that boot loaders setting and change the boot order from there. If Windows is managing the boot menu sequence, then you can try changing the boot.ini file. Go to Start->Run and type in msconfig and hit OK. Then go to the BOOT.INI tab and you should see all your different Operating Systems listed there. Set the Windows XP one to be the default and then hit Apply and OK. Restart the computer and see if that did the trick for you.Linux is not a power hungry operating system as far as I know. The newer versions may require a bit more resources, but with 512MB of RAM, you should be able to run Linux without any problems. I would also add that a Pentium II (preferably higher for newer Linux distros) or higher will be ok.

[sujith 0]

I have an AMD 3000+ 64 bit edition 939 pin processor.I am now in a dual boot setup.My distribution is Ubuntu 6.06 but I am not actively using it because, I can't connect to INTERNET using my CDMA Modem (fixed wireless phone).GRUB is my boot loader.

I wish to know about the resources necessary in a virtualized enviornment

@knight17: Do you have a dual-boot or some multi-booting environment setup already? If so, you will need to go into that boot loaders setting and change the boot order from there. If Windows is managing the boot menu sequence, then you can try changing the boot.ini file. Go to Start->Run and type in msconfig and hit OK. Then go to the BOOT.INI tab and you should see all your different Operating Systems listed there. Set the Windows XP one to be the default and then hit Apply and OK. Restart the computer and see if that did the trick for you.
Linux is not a power hungry operating system as far as I know. The newer versions may require a bit more resources, but with 512MB of RAM, you should be able to run Linux without any problems. I would also add that a Pentium II (preferably higher for newer Linux distros) or higher will be ok.

[Riverwind 0]

I am using a homebuilt External Hard drive (usb 2.0) 80 gigs for backing up my movies and exchange them with my friends.First I used for second os Suse 9.1 but from Usb it was unreilable.Virtual Pc is rather slow and consuming the pc cpu power so much.I recommend install a new hdd for a second os (Dual Boot or Tripple )

[€lite²³¹ 0]

Hey i need an exturnal hard drive lick 60-120 gb know where i can get one cheap

[WeaponX 0]

Hey i need an exturnal hard drive lick 60-120 gb know where i can get one cheap

Do you want to make an external hard drive yourself by using one of those USB/Firewire Enclosure Drives or do you want one that's already made an external on the store? I'm asking this because if cost is a factor, I recommend buying a enclosure drive and an internal hard drive to make your own external hard drive. Otherwise, you might be interested in this external hard drive by Western Digital. I'm personally not a Western Digital fan as I use mostly Maxtor and Seagate branded ones. If size is an issue, you might want to look for one of those smaller external hard drives, which can be expensive.