How can I install MSN on Linux?

How do I install Linux (e.g. Linux Mint 12) on a laptop?

• I have a HP dv6000 with Windows 7, it has the standard C and D drives. I know that if I want to install a Linux distro for dual-booting it's recommended that I create a separate partition so that I can install it. I wanted to have a step-by-step guide of how I can do just that. When I wanted to make a partition earlier, I couldn't because the only drive that I had with adequate space was my C Drive, and since that has Windows 7 on it, the software (partition magic) said that I could not perform any operation on it. So, if I want to install a Linux distro on my laptop with just two drives (Local Disc C and HP_RECOVERY D), how do I do it? Thanks in advance :) Specs of laptop: Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T5550 @ 1.83GHz Merom 65nm Technology 256MB GeForce 8400M GS <-- Graphic card 3.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 332MHz (5-5-5-15) <-- RAM Quanta 30D2 (U2E1) <-- Motherboard My C Drive has enough space for Linux (I am planning to dedicate 8GB to Linux Mint 12), whereas my D drive only has 2GB, which I presume is not enough. P.S. If you have any suggestions as to which Linux distro to use, feel free to mention them. I am quite new to Linux, so I am getting the hang of it, I have Ubuntu 11.10 on my desktop.

• Answer:

  You should still be able to shrink your C drive. You certainly don't want to overwrite your recovery partition; in case something goes wrong, you're really in it then. How to resize your C drive from within Windows: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/resize-a-partition-for-free-in-windows-vista/ Note that the tool will tell you the maximum amount of space it can comfortably shrink; don't be surprised if this is less than your total "free space", as Windows saves files all over your disc. Once you've got space freed up for Linux Mint, you can install it onto the new partition from the Live CD as normal. Make sure the partition is in ext4 and the mount point is / (root). Just some distros to look at to get a flavor for what's out there (and their differences): Mint (Cinnamon or Gnome) Crunchbang (Openbox distro) OpenSUSE (KDE, .rpm distro) MacPup (Enlightenment/E17) Fedora (Gnome 3, .rpm distro) Lubuntu (LXDE) Fuduntu (Gnome 2, rolling release distro) Vector (XFCE, based on Slackware)