Linux on NTFS??

[PhilC2005]

Ok, this question is probably answered somewhere else but I couldn't find it exactly.

Having just upgraded my computer with 512MB RAM and AMD 64 processor I want to be able to dual boot linux on it with Windows XP on a 120GB HD.

The version of linux that I have decided on is the free download of Mandriva 2006 64-bit.

I am going to do a reformat anyway so I guess what I need to do is to create two partitions, put Mandriva on one, GRUB in the MBR, and then XP in the other, however I have read that Linux cannot work well with NTFS, does Mandriva have this problem? And if so will I be able to access the Windows partition (NTFS) from linux?

Thanks
Phil

 

[Nodsu]

Yes, you will be able to access the NTFS drive from Linux. Read-only support works out of the box with most Linux distros. There is a project called Captive-NTFS that gives you full read-write access using Windows drivers.

 

[PhilC2005]

cool, thanks, as long as I can access documents and play music between the two partitions thats great!! I had a look at Captive-NTFS but I am putting linux on the computer for stability and so Read-Only will be fine.

 

[lewekleonek]

Why don't you give a shot to Suse Linux 10.0 - there is a community supported free version of it, so don't get deterred by the fact that Novell is selling this distro... and of course they do have a 64-bit version. I think Suse when it comes to stability + you get all the commercial packages with it, namely: Java, Adobe Acrobat Reader etc. Last but not least - NTFS support is flawless - I'm running a set-up very similar to yours 160GB HDD - GRUB in MBR, one partition used for Windows XP SP2, 1 partition Linux Swap file, 1 partition - main Linux partition - /.
Another distro that you should take a look at is Ubuntu: http://ftp.ussg.iu.edu/linux/ubuntu-releases/5.10/
The interesting part of Ubuntu distro is that they provide LiveCD version - don't have to install it to check it out, just boot it directly off CD.

Good luck!

 

[PhilC2005]

Yeah, I had heard of Suse but I hadn't checked up on it, that seems to be a good option as NTFS support would be useful, but does it use NTFS for its own installation partition? or does it still prefer FAT??

 

[computer help]

i need to know

is linux really that good?

and would i love it and how hard is it to adapt to?

 

[lewekleonek]

Suse's disk partitioning utility will resize your NTFS partition first, given that you have some space left on your hard drive. In its default configuration it will create 2 extra partionions in the free space:
- Linux Swap type partition - for swap file purposes
- Reiserfs type partition - main Linux partition /

You can choose to craete more partitions but it's not required if you will be running desktop Linux; linux does not use NTFS, nor FAT for its file system. You have a choice of ext3fs, reiserfs and others. Suse uses reiserfs by default.

 

[Nodsu]

is linux really that good?

How good do you think it is? SInce you are asking the question, then the answer is probably no.

and would i love it and how hard is it to adapt to?

That really depends on you, doesn't it? And since you are asking the question, the adaptation probably won't be easy.

 

[lewekleonek]

is linux really that good?

and would i love it and how hard is it to adapt to?

You never know unless you try it. Give it a shot and let me know what you think about Linux. For the starters install a user/desktop friendly distribution of Linux, e.g. Suse, Ubuntu, Mandriva etc.
... or actually in your case I would download LiveCD distribution of Linux so you can try before you commit to it. LiveCD distros allow you to boot Linux from CD-ROM without installing it on your hard drive, so you can get a taste of what this operating system can do for you.

LiveCD version of Ubuntu Linux 5.10 for PC: http://ftp.ussg.iu.edu/linux/ubuntu-releases/5.10/ubuntu-5.10-live-i386.iso

LiveDVD version of Suse 10.0:
http://www.mirrors.net.ar/pub/suse/i386/10.0/iso/SUSE-10.0-LiveDVD.iso

Mandriva LiveCD version Free 2006:
ftp://ftp.gtlib.cc.gatech.edu/pub/m...586/Mandriva-Linux-Free-Live-2006-CD.i586.iso

 

[PhilC2005]

ok then, i shall put suse on and see how things go, but not for a while yet as the brand-new bits for my pc (mobo, cpu, mem, gpu) are still in parcels at home!!

 

[LNCPapa]

Don't forget to include the 4.x Knoppix distros - those are decent also

 

[j4m32]

DSL(Damn Small Linux) Linux supports NTFS,

i know that for sure it saved my life once its a good boot CD / USB stick distro, not of any use really for a PC like yours.

Knoppix is good as you said LNCPapa,
What is whith this Ubantu crowd? i never tryed it but please tell me whats so good about it? lol

Always keep UNIX in mind not the same as Linux but similar i like it very nice setup of NetBSD(3.0) With Fluxbox on my old PII Laptop.

i dunno enough about 64-bit as my next project is an awsome PC with a 939 gonna be expensive...

Jim,

 

[smtkr]

UBUNTU/KUBUNTU/EDUBUNTU is a 'just works' linux distro. Any windows user should be able to use it.