Any distro "play nice" with windows???

franguinho · May 10, 2005, 02:12 PM

I want to try a new distro, preferably something easy to set up and start using out of the box cause I'm fairly new to linux...

A definitely plus would be if it could access NTFS so that I could read/write to and from my storage HD. (not sure if this is possible)

Also, I'm aware that a lot of companies are starting to charge for linux distros... I'd like this to be free!

any recommendations/links?

thanks!!!

redsolar · May 10, 2005, 05:11 PM

Writing to NTFS is not a completely supported feature of Linux kernel, so most distributions come with write support disabled in kernel by default. You can enable write support and recompile (when you make appropriate backups).

If you are looking for a user friendly distro, check out Ubuntu Linux, SuSE Home, Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) and Fedora Core. They are pretty decent distros to start with before you start playing with anything more serious, like Gentoo, Debian, or maybe LFS (Linux From Scratch)

x0ph3r · May 10, 2005, 11:33 PM

Quote:

A definitely plus would be if it could access NTFS so that I could read/write to and from my storage HD. (not sure if this is possible)

This is possible, although, as redsolar said, the kernel ntfs-driver isn't quite ready yet, but there is an alternative. I see you don't like that companies are starting to charge users for linux; well you're not going to like this either. The alternative is the Paragon NTFS driver, also known as the ufsd (universal file-system driver). It works, but it's not free.

The kernel ntfs-driver works flawlessly as read-only. It can write too, but not delete files or rename/resize files..

RIV@NVX · May 11, 2005, 01:36 PM

There is a driver that uses Microsoft's ntfs.sys for writing, but it's not safe either. Hopefully we will have working NTFS driver at some point, since there is some happening in that direction.

DamentZ · Aug 16, 2005, 08:14 PM

I would probably choose mepis as it as the most user friendly installation ive seen and it runs from a live cd so you can see if the hardware detection can detect your nic card

May 10, 2005, 02:12 PM	#1
franguinho Brazilian Fool Join Date: May 2002 Location: São Paulo Posts: 3,380 Rep Power: 0	Any distro "play nice" with windows??? I want to try a new distro, preferably something easy to set up and start using out of the box cause I'm fairly new to linux... A definitely plus would be if it could access NTFS so that I could read/write to and from my storage HD. (not sure if this is possible) Also, I'm aware that a lot of companies are starting to charge for linux distros... I'd like this to be free! any recommendations/links? thanks!!! __________________ The Aliens mostly come out at night... mostly...

May 10, 2005, 05:11 PM	#2
redsolar Off duty Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Las Vegas, USA Posts: 1,242 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Writing to NTFS is not a completely supported feature of Linux kernel, so most distributions come with write support disabled in kernel by default. You can enable write support and recompile (when you make appropriate backups). If you are looking for a user friendly distro, check out Ubuntu Linux, SuSE Home, Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) and Fedora Core. They are pretty decent distros to start with before you start playing with anything more serious, like Gentoo, Debian, or maybe LFS (Linux From Scratch) __________________ Real_Men_Do_Not_Use_Space_Bar Main rig: Intel Core i7 930 @ 4.0 Ghz \| Corsair H50 Push/Pull \| 12GB OCZ DDR3 \| ASUS Radeon HD 5850 \| 3x 1TB Samsung F3 RAID5 on Dell PERC 5i SAS + 1TB Hitachi \| MSI X58 Pro-e \| 850W Antec Truepower Quattro \| RocketFish by Lian Li Full Tower Case \| Gateway XHD3000 30" LCD \| Dell 2408WFP 24" LCD \| Dell 2407WFP 24" LCD \| Logitech Z-5500 Speakers \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Laptop: Samsung x360-34P \| Core 2 Duo SU9400 1.4 GHz \| 4GB DDR3 \| 128GB Samsung SSD \| Intel 4500M w/ HDMI \| WiFi \| Bluetooth \| 13.3" WLED 1280x800 \| Windows 7 Professional x64

May 11, 2005, 01:36 PM	#4
RIV@NVX Freedom is a feature. Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Croatia, Rijeka Posts: 4,476 Rep Power: 67 System Specs	There is a driver that uses Microsoft's ntfs.sys for writing, but it's not safe either. Hopefully we will have working NTFS driver at some point, since there is some happening in that direction. __________________ -- Vedran

Aug 16, 2005, 08:14 PM	#5
DamentZ damentz.dontexist.net Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 93 Rep Power: 0	I would probably choose mepis as it as the most user friendly installation ive seen and it runs from a live cd so you can see if the hardware detection can detect your nic card