You might get more help on the irrigation forum.

to actually install ubuntu on the same hard drive as xp you have to set up a dual boot, you would have to create a partition for your ubuntu to live on, which entails using the partition program that is on the live cd, probably Gparted, you then make the windows partition smaller and from that new free space you create the partition for linux. This is the most dangerous part because if you do it wrong you can wipe out your entire windows partition, so it is usually best to get help from someone who has experience if you feel you are not up to the task. Once you have the partition set up the rest is basically naming the proper areas for your root, swap, what ever you want to set up. What happens after it is set up as a dual boot system is that when you boot up it will present you with a boot screen that lets you select which you want to boot to the xp or the linux. I bet there is a linux users group (LUG) around you somewhere, they are a great resource and very helpful to new linux users, in fact most have an install day about once a month or so where you can bring your computer up there to where they meet and they will help you do your install. Look up linux user groups on google and see where the nearest one is. I have ubuntu 7.10 and Mepis 7.0 dual boot system on one of my computers. I have not upgraded to ubuntu 8.04 yet because it is still a bit buggy, I am happy with 7.10 so will wait a while till some of the stuff gets worked out, like all new distro upgrades there is that break in period. What ever you do before you attempt to set up a dual boot with windows BACK UP every single thing, if possible do an image with Acronis True Image or some image program, because I have seen way too many people come crying to the linux forums about losing windows, be safe not sorry. I love linux I am using Mepis right now, I never surf the net on windows anymore, for day to day use I only use linux. this is a link to a good guide. Here is a link that might be useful: partitioning

If you are adept enough to install a dual boot setup with Linux, you certainly know how to remove trial and ad offerings that most new PCs ship with. No 'deptitude required. The Linux MINT installer told me it detected a Windows 7 installation and asked one question - whether to preserve the other OS or kill it - and created the dual boot installation for me when I said "preserve it". If I had not resized the slider, Win7 would have had half the disk, and Mint the other half. In my previous Linux experiences, most of the distributions assassinated the existing OS without asking permission. This refinement makes Mint a good distribution for anyone who wants to keep an existing Windows setup because they have some Windows-only software. Yes, removing the bundled "crapware" is easy. But, how would you remove the LENOVO ad that LENOVO inserted into the middle of the installation procedure? Without borking the install? It was a pointy-clicky minimal intervention required kind of installation, which is not true of all Linux distros. Mint is worth posting about in areas where novices hang out . Yes, I can get Libre Office, the GIMP, and all the rest for Windows by downloading and installing them ... the point is that I didn't have to. They "came with" the OS, as usual. Unless I need to do something most users don't, such as video editing, I had not only a working OS, but a system that could do real work with no further effort. Getting more software for Linux is usually just opening the software installer and clicking "Install" in what you want. I'm not sure what you've accomplished is an improvement and not just a change. Read the threads here about browser hijacking and viruses and malware and bad links and google for zero day exploits in Windows and IE. It's definitely an improvement, and perhaps knowing there is a easy to install Linux version out there may help someone get into a safer computing environment. Or update the OS on an old machine to get a couple more years out of it? Or get the whole office on a single OS without spending oodles of money? ========== NOTE: I'm a long-time Linux fan. The last Windows OS I installed as the primary OS on a personal machine was Windows 95, although various jobs have had Windows on the office computers. I have Windows only because some software I have to run can't work under WINE.

the main reason some things have usable linux drivers and some don't all basically boils down to who will work with the linux community and provide the info for the creation of linux open source drivers and who will not work with them. Some companies simply refuse to work with the linux community to create free drivers for their proprietary products. HP is one of the companies that has been very willing to work with linux. There are petitions out there to various companies with thousands of signatures of linux users pleading for certain companies to join in and aid in the creation of drivers for their products to be used in linux , sometimes they help. Recently the petition that was sent to VIA asking for linux drivers made an impact and VIA has said they will start aiding in the creation of linux drivers. I hope they do since one of my linux boxes has VIA in it. Have you tried Mepis? it will often work when others won't is why I ask.