mjwebb007

OK..I know all Linux people are going to say Linux only...but I want a Win98/WinXP Home/SuSE 9.1 Pro "test box"...which I have discussed at length with Dapper Dan (thank you enormously). My question is I want to use System Commander 9 from VCOM. What is my order of installation? I will have to install Win98 on a second partition since I only have a WinXP Home Upgrade disc. Knowing that, do I install Win98 first, System Commander Second, Win98 again (on second partition), upgrade that to WinXP, then finally install SuSE 9.1? I have a 250GB Hard drive so space is not an issue... Also, where do I need to look to see if I even have a chance of using my Linux with my HP All in One printer/scanner/fax/copier? I really only want print and scan capability but all would be great.

Thanks. Yeah Mandrake would certainly be an add-on after I got comfortable with SuSE... But what do I do about making sure I get the best possible support? Do I need to pay for 9.2 or is that covered under my "warranty" period, and basically an update after 9.1 is installed? I just want to make sure I get the best compatability that I can, regardless of how good or bad it may be (ATI and SATA). And in the future if I refer to "Dan" it covers both Dapper and danleff....

And another question(s).... If I install SuSE 9.1, how do I upgrade to 9.2? Does it work like Windows Update or will I have to get the actual 9.2 software? I went to newegg.com and ordered the most recent they had (9.1) only to look at pricegrabber today and see that 9.2 was there (for less than I paid at newegg)...what are the (major)differences between the two? Also if I were to go with a quadboot system and install Mandrake 10.1 as well, being a newbie should I just go the low cost way and get 10.1 Discovery or should I get PowerPack? Also would PowerPack+ be too much for me?

Oh don't worry...I will document every sordid detail of the install.... Was trying to remove a Danger Den water cooling cooler from the northbridge of my motherboard yesterday and slipped...violently removing a few resistors and capacitors..not the normal sized ones but the ones measured in millimeters....needless to say (though I will) quite a few cuss words erupted.... Another motherboard is on its way already....

Thanks guys. Great info. Now to add another twist. I can actually use three drives with this system, the Raptor, a 120Gb WD Caviar and the 250Gb WD Caviar. I think the best thing in this case would be to install Linux on the Raptor, Win98 on the 120GB and WinXP on the 250GB. Does that seem right? Also, should I install the 64-bit SuSE since I have an Athlon64 processor? As far as Win98 on SATA, I spoke with some guys around here and they say since I have Second Edition it should work fine...but if not that will certainly be the OS that goes....maybe I will triboot with XP, SuSE and Mandrake....... You guys have created a monster! And to think I am going to try all this with an ATI AIW 9800 Pro....

Yeah..unfortunately all my drives are SATA... I have never had a problem with installing windows XP on sata drives but have never tried Win98... The Raptor is blazing fast (10000rpm and 4.9ms access time) so I think maybe Linux in 64-bit mode on this one? And Win98/WinXP on the other...(if I can get SATA to work with Win98)? I will be the sole user so user partitions would probably only need to be one or maybe two... As far as the HP it is a PSC 2710 (ethernet and wireless networking built in) and currently is connected on the wireless network...it has its own IP address Thanks for the help....

And another question....is it safe to assume I should install the 64-bit version of SuSE 9.1 Pro vice the 32-bit version (I am installing on a Athlon 64 system)

Thanks for the links... I mistyped/misspoke saying System Commander 9, should have been Partition Commander 9... I have two drives I can use...one Raptor (74GB) and one Caviar (250GB) ...suggested partition sizes and locations?

I am looking into making a tri-boot computer that will be my "hobby" computer (as if they aren't all hobby computers already). I want to use Win98 (for older games), WinXP (so my wife still has a usable computer) and a distribution of Linux. I was looking at Lindows/Linspire because I am not much of a programmer/tweaker. Any thoughts on user friendly versions of that OS or better recommendations? Now, hardware. Presently I have an ATI AIW 9800 Pro to use for this computer. After looking around a bit it seems like ATI is not necessarily Linux friendly and even more so the AIW versions. So I am willing to get something else as far as video is concerned. This will be an Athlon 64 3400 (754) running on an MSI Neo Platinum motherboard. Are there any recommendations for other hardware choices? Again...as far as gaming and such I will be using the Win98 OS for older games so low power older video is okay and onboard sound. But as far as peripherals and such-I just wanted some suggestions. Thanks for any help. P.S. Is Linux overclocker friendly as far as within the OS software (i.e. Powerstrip type programs)?

Oh, and any suggestions, comments, ideas about the overclocking?

I appreciate all the replies and suggestions. I am very receptive to them. Sorry..didn't mean to offend anyone by saying "mess up" vice test box! I think I will just try it and see if I am destined to fail or rather destined to let go of my wayward Windows ways.... Thanks again guys...it will be a little while before I actually assemble it and install... I would install everything anyway...can't see what it is like without testing everything....plus I have a 250Gb HD to install it on....

Thanks for the advice Dan. I am prepared to have multiple problems during install. The Microsoft people hear from me almost monthly to reactivate as I reinstall WinXP after bad installs of software and such so I am used to starting from scratch. The box with Linux will be built purely to "mess up" but hopefully with separate partitions and such, recovery will be less painful. This is also why I am willing to do it as it will be on a separate computer than my main Windows run computer. I would love to get to a point one day when I am purely using the Windows computer to play Windows only games and using my Linux box as my main computer but for now that it a long way off. I will try your recommendations and have all hardware present at initial install. Hopefully it will go smoothly. the article was in maximum pc when it was boot magazine so my memory of the author or subject of the article is limited. Thanks again and I will keep in touch as I progress....

One quick hardware question...I like to use wireless desktops (Microsoft preferred but Logitech too). Is there one that is "more" compatible or should I stick to PS2 wired keyboard and mouse?

Thanks again. I was looking at the Netgear cards too. My router is the WiFi G with Speedbooster but as long as the Netgear will talk to it (which I know it does) I should be fine. I ordered SuSE 9.1 last night! I am really just interested in delving into Linux from a curiosity standpoint - I use WinXP almost exclusively due to compatability but want to see what all the fuss about Linux is about. As stated before it will just be a hobby box. I remember seeing an article one time about a guy who had over 30 O/S partitions on a computer and used every single one of them...even DOS 3.0. At the time Win98 was the latest Win O/S but he had all sorts of Linux and Unix on his computer. Even O/S2 Warp. Anyway, if i run into any problems I will be sure to post them here. Thanks for all the help so far.

Thanks Dan. I wanted to try a seamless version of Linux (as seamless as it can be for a rookie, hence the Linspire version) and I will take your advice and go with SuSE 9.2 (I think the price point is agreeable as well)....I am assuming based on the ATI driver website and this website that I am pretty much going to be using my AIW 9800 as a "vanilla" 9800 Pro rather than the AIW flavor which is fine. If it doesn't work out, I will switch to an nVidia card of relative low cost (less than $100) and sell the 9800... I was looking at the wireless network recommendations other places on this site and was wondering how agreeable Linksys stuff is since all the other computers will use Linksys (I tend to experience better throughput when the adapters are the same brand). I know Netgear seems to be the adapter of choice but will I have any luck with Linksys? Any other recommendations?