Can I run Vista and Linux together or will they conflict with one another?
Well not 'run' together but have both installed
Yep, you can. You just need to partition the HD so they have separate areas to install to. I had my HD on my netbook partitioned to run Win7 & Ubuntu while I was deciding if I was going to keep Ubuntu.
Queen of English Language Mangling, Master of the Edit button
Can I run Vista and Linux together or will they conflict with one another?
Well not 'run' together but have both installed
Yup. That's called "dual boot", and it's how I usually set up my machines as soon as I get my hands on them - but it's not for everyone. If you're uncomfortable with partitioning, you might want to skip trying dual boot. On the other hand, there's nothing to mess up or lose on a brand new, empty hard drive, so you might want to experiment.
You'll need one partition for each operating system, and a small swap partition for Linux as a minimum. I usually add a data partition to those, so that I can keep data on a separate partition in case I have to format the system partition - I don't lose data that way.
The GRUB boot loader will give you a list of OS choices to select from on startup.
Most Linux Live DVDs have a program on them called "Gparted", which I guess stands for "Gnu Partition Editor", or something like that, that makes the repartitioning a lot easier than trying to do it from a dos prompt. There are partitioning tools for Windows too, but I'm less familiar with them. The last time I partitioned a drive using Microsoft anything, it was from a DOS prompt. That was so long ago that I can't even recall the name of the DOS command right off the top of my head.
You can have two hard drives, one would be a primary and the other a slave drive. I know people who Love Linux, put I hear you can't play games on it and it's not Plug and Play as Windows is.
Linux has plusses and minuses. I wouldn't game on it - but then I don't game on anything. For basic 'puter stuff, it's ok - web surfing, office stuff, that sort of thing. I have some specialized mapping programs that Linux won't run, and some graphics programs that it won't run - like Terragen for rendering out landscapes. Other programs have ports for both Linux and Windows. Some don't, but will run in Wine on Linux - that's still kinda hit or miss, though.
Linux can also be a real pill to fix problems in. I had an issue with a graphics card that it took me a week to sort out.
Another option to run Linux until you decide if you like it is to get a USB stick and install a live copy of it on the USB with a "persistence file" ( www.pendrivelinux.com/ ). It runs a little slower that way than it would off of a hard drive, but you can make and save changes to it, which you can't do with a live DVD. That's the way I'm running Zorin right now, since technically this ain't my computer, and my laptop just fizzled and died several months ago. Some problem in the power module that I've not been able to track down - a short somewhere that I can't isolate.
If you decide you don't like it, you can always format the USB and use it for something else. If you do decide you want to set it up as dual boot, you can repartition the hard drive in Linux and preserve the data while doing so (called "shrinking" the partition), and install Linux from the USB stick. Not a bad deal. For example, you can "shrink" the windows partition, and free up enough continuous space for a Linux partition and a swap partition.
Read about partitioning but felt it too over my head to fool with
May just stick with Vista for now, until I educate myself more on that
And
Can I run Vista and Linux together or will they conflict with one another?
Ah.
No, they won't conflict, because one will not even know the other is there. You can only run them one at a time. Each partition on a hard drive is like having a separate hard drive, so Windows is on one, Linux on another. What it does is divide up a single physical drive into several "logical" drives - like separate compartments in the same box.
You CAN run Windows and Linux on the same machine but not at the SAME time. It's called a Dual-Boot configuration. Often times (but not 100%), one will see the other already on the machine when you go to install and the second of the two will try to set up the boot loader (which gives you a choice, eventually, of which operating system you want to use.)
Now having given the 'on paper' version above? I will give you my personal experience. Dual Boot systems rarely work as smoothly as you'd like, and often enough, end up in some form of system crash to one or both sides. I've had dual boot on my machines a number of times over the last few years, and tried making it work with a few different Linux distro's covering all the main variants. None have successfully co-existed with Windows for an extended period without SOME problems.
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That doesn't mean there isn't another way, and there certainly is! You'll earn your 'Power User' hat for this one, but its not near as tough as it may sound. It'll just sound all kinds of impressive to others you can brag to, and who don't know what is involved. :)
Download "Oracle VM VirutalBox". You do NOT want Virtual Machine, just "VirutalBox". One is free and simple enough...the other is a licensing deal and it is NOT simple, by any means.
Install Virtual Box, and you have what is called a 'Virtual Environment'. If you choose to go this route, and get this far? I'll be happy to walk you through the install and set up of your first Linux system within the Virtual environment. We can even do that by phone, if it would be easier. It isn't that tough, and you may figure it all out...but it'll save you a lot to be walked through the 1st run.
The UPSIDE of the Virtual option is that you have TWO totally independent systems of different types running at the same time, on the same hardware. You also have Linux in a safe, isolated and sealed box in terms of being able to play, learn and risk NOTHING more than having to reinstall linux inside the VirtualBox. Nothing OUTSIDE that virtual space will be impacted by even a worst case scenario of fail. We use VirtualBox in the Networking Courses at the college for precisely that reason. ANYTHING can go wrong...and you can always exit VirtualBox to leave it all behind, and have your normal system back...fully functional and unaware of whatever issues may have existed in VB.
Sometimes when installing new hardware with windoze you will have to call microsoft. Their software is written to be used on one machine and this is done with hardware verification. Each piece of hardware has a serial number that MS catalogues specific for that installation. This kind of sounds like what you're facing. It's usually no problem other than having to call.