Linux for n00bs, by n00bs!
by krazykrakr01

Fresh Install:

The first thing you have to do is decide which linux distribution you will use. There are so many out there, it would make this article way to long to discuss here, so that is up to you to research and decide. One word. GOOGLE. I went with a distro named Vector (link @ end of article). Once you have downloaded the iso for the distro of your choice, you must burn the image to disk. When choosing between cd and dvd it is important to remember two things. A cd image won't burn to a dvd, it must be a cd (maybe-I installed a cd image off a dvd this weekend but that's all I know @ this time), and some older computers won't boot from dvd. You must also remember that you are burning the image to the cd. If you burn just the .iso file to the cd it will not boot. You MUST select "burn image to disk".

This will be written from my perspective installing vector and suse(linux) on a computer already running vista(windows). It may be very important to install in the same order, because when I installed vector first lilo couldn't boot windows vista and then in the suse install, grub couldn't figure out how to boot windows. I found that if you let grub take booting from windows it works fine then getting grub to boot other linux installs is trivial. You just have to get the working linux install to mount the new linux install to a folder. Then you show grub where the new install boot image is. Usually in a folder in / (mine is /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20.3). Then you show it where the initrd file is. Usually in the same folder as the boot image (mine is /boot/initrd). So in suse(the working linux install) in the /mnt/vector/boot/ you show grub the two boot files. But that will happen much later. I just put it here so I didn't forget to put it in (LOL).

First we boot the computer in windows. Go to the control center and pick admin tools. Depending on what setting you have chosen you might have to go to system first to find admin tools. Then you choose comuter managment, then the logical disk manager. When it opens up you right click on the main vista partition. One of the options on the right click menu should be resize partition. It will do some analyzing and tell how much it can squeeze it down (my vista install that came with the computer would not go under 95GB on a 160GB drive). Decide if the remaining space left for the windows partition is sufficient for you or adjust accordingly. When you have resized the windows partition it will either make a new partition for the extra or make it into extra space (that, as far as the operating system is concerned, does not exist. Which is really not as bad as it sounds). If it did turn it into a new partition with a drive letter delete that partition and turn it into extra space. We will format that part of the drive in the linux install. Setting it up like this will make it easier in the disk formatting section of the install.

Now we put the disk we burned into the cd/dvd drive of the computer and restart. If the cd doesn't boot the first thing to do is restart the computer and look for the button to push to get into the bios (should be one of the f keys or maybe esc button). When in the bios you cannot use the mouse so you have to move around with the arrow keys, enter, and escape. Navigate to the boot options and make sure boot from cd is above the harddrive in the boot order. Most likely the boot order will be floppy, then cd, then hard drive but I guess if it was, you wouldn't even be reading this. That is the order it should be in when you leave the bios to boot from the cd first. This way anytime you want to boot from a cd just put it in and restart. If you want to boot from the harddrive just make sure there is no cd in the tray and boot the computer.