Decided to give the Unbuntu Linux distro a try - downloaded the CD image file and booted from it, and am on it now

Very Mac like

Not got any plugins tho so can't try me media files (mp3, divx, ect out on it)

Seems a bit slow aswell (loading webpages) but I guess thats cos I am running on CD and not from a HDD?

 

yea its slow when running on CD but its usable... you can get all the codecs on the ubuntu forums the easiest way is to download easy ubuntu .... you can install these onto a thumb drive while using the CD

when you add and remove programs it gets the applications from the net for you and then installs them.

It is mac like as both are unix type operating systems... you can get many different desktops Ubuntu uses the Gnome desktop while its sister Kubuntu uses the KDE desktop which is more windows like.

Even if you do not decide to use it its worth keeping hold of the disk because if windows ever stops working you can get your data off using that disk

 

I am holding onto the disc, purely for the reason you stated!

What I want to know tho, is if Windows fucks up, is there anyway I can boot up with Ubuntu from CD, and then access files/data on my C: (Windows) drive to safely squirrel it away before reinstalling Windows on the C: drive?

also, by having this CD, does that mean I can boot up a computer that doesn't even have a HDD in it? So say I had a system complete except for a HDD, boot up using the Ubuntu CD, and access files (music, video etc) from a USB HDD?

 

Yes you can use the hard disk which has windows on it from the CD and this is how

First of all you need open the 'teminal' which looks like the dos prompt in windows.

In this screen you need to set an administor password (this is called root) you do this by typing sudo passwd the screen will now prompt you for your password..

You now need to make a directory or folder on the system related to the windows drive this is done by typing in the terminal sudo mkdir /media/windows if you are prompted for a password you just enter your chosen admin password.

You now need to attach or mount the Windows drive to the system and this is done by typing in the terminal sudo mount /dev/hda1 /media/windows -t ntfs -o this statement only works if your hard disk is a NTFS drive... if it is a FAT filesystem which has been used you require a different command

The drive is now mounted and can be accessed... which would allow you to drag files from a damaged windows install to a USB drive.. you can also transfer files over the network connection to another machine

Unfortunately these commands are in memory only and as such when you turn your PC off or enject the drive the information is lost

 

Yes this is correct, obviously your ability to play the files depends upon what codecs you have installed for this purpose such as DivX

A typical example of use... My work used to lock down the Windows installation I used and limit what I could do and what I could access on the net. To get around this I made a Linux disk complete with thumb drive which had available my favorite codecs and browsers (divX, Flash Player, Firefox etc) and booted the system from this.
This allowed me to do exactly what I required and access any area of the net without placing any information which could be recovered onto the computer hard disk.

When I surf from my media centre I also use a CD as I do not want cookies, popups and other general internet crap on this system.

 

Doesnt seem too bad this Ubuntu.

Running it through VMWare and all looks good from here.

Only issue i have is the screen size in the VM Console. 1024x768 on a widescreen doesnt look very nice

Sorted, found the full screen button

 

Yea its pretty reasonable, if you want a more 'windows' like experience try Kubuntu which has a different desktop.
Although ubuntu is far from perfect but then again the same could be said for windows.... I prefer it for general web surfing and email because there is no browser hijacks, spyware or virus issues in general that effect you.

That in reality is what made me look for alternatives as it seemed I was forever cleaning and scanning windows for problems

 

Now downloading. Best set up another virtual machine

 

In and running. VMWare is cool lol

 

if you have a net connection running on your VMware install you could have changed to Kubuntu by typing in the command terminal

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

and it will download and install it for you, you can then switch to it from the login screen

likewise sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop installs the ubuntu desktop

 

Got Kubuntu running on another machine with VMWare. I have Ubuntu on this machine.

Will fire it up in a second and run the above.

Looking for an old machine now that I can install it on to to see if its any different to the virtual machine.

 

On its way now

 

from the login screen you can select what desktop session you wish to use ubuntu uses the gnome desktop and kubuntu uses kde.

There is another desktop called XGL-Compiz or Beryl which is 3D and super stylish however ubuntu needs to be installed to use this... you can see the effects in action at the following url

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lawkc3jH3ws

 

Dont think that would be quite so impressive on a laptop in a VMWare console

 

nahh I agree... probably run like a three legged dog

 

I'm trying to do this exact thing at the mo, any chance of some more info re: FAT filesystem. i've tried this way but when i go to drag data across onto USB drive nothing happens. when i try to open the folder it says i havent got permission to view contects, the owner is set as ROOT?


thanks in advance!!!

 

INFORMATION IN BOLD IS WHAT YOU WOULD TYPE

Ubuntu does not use use root it uses sudo for this privilege to set the root (sudo) password type the following in a terminal

sudo passwd the screen will now prompt you for the password you wish to choose..

I have in this instance assumed that fat drive is /dev/hda2 is the location of Windows partition (FAT)
Local mount folder: /media/fatdrive

sudo mkdir /media/fatdrive
sudo mount /dev/hda2 /media/fatdrive/ -t vfat -o iocharset=utf8,umask=000

fdisk -l lists all the known connected drives on a Linux system and the filesystem used. (you may need to use this to discover the drive label such as dev/hda1 or dev/hda2 or hda3 etc

Ubuntu linux mounts the drives locally in /media as such the command sudo mkdir (makes the folder required to mount and can be named anything you wish) and then you give the command to mount the specific drive or partition and use the correct file type... both the NTFS and FAT mounting have been posted in this thread

 

thanks for that, all data saved now due to the part of the hard disk going wrong, ubuntu saves the day!