Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

install linux vs keep windows

Jun 6, 2012 1:47PM PDT

500gb hdd sata (ahci mode)
LG sata dvd-ram drive(ahci mode)
8GB ddr3-1333 memory
msi 880g-E45 motherboard
msi 1GB pcie-2.0 x16 radeon HD 6670
650 watt 80 plus bronze certified PSU

currently running windows 7 ultimate
considering freeBSD (i wanna learn about bsd)
a few questions

-will there be any issues installing and running bsd with
this hardware?
-how would i go about dual booting this kind of setup?
-would dual-booting have any effect on hibernating the
pc?
-what kind of performance could be seen with windows
7 in a vm(for online gaming and a few small games)?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
virtualizzz
Jun 20, 2012 6:36PM PDT

I would suggest using virtual machain!
doant do nun dayt funnay businezz with only one hard dive
virtuah mashine will save ya from catastropic boot failure
virshual mahhcheen wont do nonthing good for 3D performance

- Collapse -
Answer
dual boot
Jul 5, 2012 6:13AM PDT

I recommend buying a disc on ebay with Linux. When you install it it will ask would you like to keep windows and dual boot say yes. When you boot up the machine it will ask if you would like to boot in to Linux or Windows. I also believe any hardware will work and you will have to partition the drive. Performance in a virtual machine his about the same it might me slower if you are using a lot of programs on windows while using the virtual machine.

- Collapse -
Buy Linux?
Jul 5, 2012 6:19AM PDT

Why? I thought most Linux distros were free and open source. I know Ubuntu is.

In fact I can download Ubuntu for free to do things like that.

Mark

- Collapse -
Linux
Jul 5, 2012 8:23AM PDT

I think it is easier to get a copy on Ebay. When I tried getting downloading Linux it took a long time and it had several errors even when I tried it on other computers.

- Collapse -
Works fine for me.
Jul 5, 2012 8:26AM PDT
http://www.ubuntu.com/download

I'm downloading their ubuntu-12.04-desktop-amd64.iso now (698MB) at 2.2 MB/s

I will let you know when it is done. Estimated time left, 3 minutes.

Seems you are having problems with your computer.

Mark
- Collapse -
Done
Jul 5, 2012 8:29AM PDT

Download complete.

Mark

- Collapse -
not downloading
Jul 10, 2012 10:37AM PDT

The hardrive had been having problems I have installed a new one and it works perfectly now.