New to Linux and laptops...Advice please.

1. FOr wifi you will need "ndiswrapper" It is very easy to install..

You need the windows driver for your wlan card.
unzip windowsdriver.exe
cd /windowsdriver
ndiswrapper -i filename.inf
modprobe ndiswrapper
and to make it load after every boot echo ndiswrapper >> /etc/modules-2.6.10 or whatever kernel version you have.


2. http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

3.Depending on what disto you decide to use... I know now to set it up on a Debian based system only Whatever you decide to use don't follow ATI's instructions.

www.rage3d.com

www.distrowatch.com


I hear SuSe is very easy....


Welcome to Linux

you could always just install windows xp on a second partition, but linux is good.

i use suse (not on a laptop however) and it's pretty good for a beginner, which i am. really simple to use and to install stuff with yast. it'll be really hard to use get drivers for yur videa card though because ati doesn't make good drivers for windows, and they're even worse for linux.

i also read that Ubuntu is very easy to work with.

Generally speakin you should avoid any rpm distros like redhat etc..

if i were you i would try Ubuntu first. They have a liveCD and an install CD. Take both. Use the liveCD first to see if you like it or not then if you want install it on your hard drive.

RPM is a package management format (how programs are distributed to the users, like .exe or .zip files on Windows). SuSE, Redhat, Mandrake use RPMs. Debian uses DEBs. Others use other stuff. Honestly, for you, it makes absolutely no difference. With new utilities like apt4rpm, ..., the problems with dependency hell are almost gone. And, there is no intrinsic advantage of using a distro based on DEBs vs RPMs.

So, I would recommend either SuSE or Mandrake, because I just don't like Redhat. Ubuntu, I've heard, is good but I have no personal experience with it. If you feel masochistic, please go straight to Gentoo .

EDIT: I think something here needs some more explanation. If you are familiar w/Windows, you should have already encountered dependency hell. It happens when different apps want different versions of a library, they all overwrite each other versions, and almost nothing works correctly. The reason RPMs are considered so "bad" is that there used to be absolutely no utilities to automatically/easily solve library problems and conflicts. Debian got rid of this problem by using a package management software called "apt". Now, though, there is such software available for all packaging formats. So, you don't really have to worry about it. Also, even if you do end up having some problem, there is tons of help available online for any distro you may choose to go with.

Hope I didn't confuse you too much,

zakaluka2.

I've been researching Linux on my Toshiba as well and over at linuxforums.org many people say Mandrake and RedHat are the best for laptops. Especially, Mandrake 10.n and Redhat FC3. I'v already downloaded the FC3 iso and will hopefully get around to burning the CD tonight or this weekend and trying to install. I'll try to remember to let you guys know how it's going.

you can try knoppix distribution which you can run from CD without installing anything on HDD. I didn't played with it much but i guess it will support wifi and your video card.

Try YOPER LINUX, it is decent to use and it is fast. But it is hard to remove the boot loader after you remove it, and also it is very easy to config. To make WLAN drivers work you can do the procedure someone mentioned above.
Good luck.
KNOPPIX is the best choice for you anyway.
www.yoper.com

Or better yet, get your own laptop and avoid getting fired when they find out what you are doing (and they will, sofware like PowerCensus will pick up your dual boot arrangement).

I'd have to 2nd Ubuntu. The new Hoary built on the 2.6.10 kernel is amazing. using it right now. After installing it earlier this week, I am yet to reboot into WinXP Pro SP2. I love it.

1) I have a Atheros built in wifi card, and did try ndiswrapper before, but the install took forever, ubuntu recognized it automaticaly (just pick a network you want to connect to from a drop-down box, and click "connect", few secs later, you're online!)

2) no clue

3) there are available packages you can get through apt-get (synaptic) but ATI is very hard to get support for (esp on a free distro, some commercial distros come with prebuilt ati drivers). you'll have to change a lot of stuff, as well as have to give up xorg for xfree86 (which doesn't work with my screen for some reason) to have tha ati drivers working

FYI, the latest batch of ATI drivers is actually compatible with Xorg 6.8.

If you really don't want to leave any trace of linux on the computer, just use knopppix like makumba said. Since it runs off of a CD, it will not change anything on the computer. When your done with it, pop out the CD and no one will know