Is it possible to Run Linux and XP without setting up a dual boot hard drive?

Hi There, It is entirely possible to run Linux from a "Live CD" without affecting your Windows XP or your hard drive. You can obtain a free live cd of Ubuntu, Freespire, Fedora by searching for Linux distributions and following the directions. I like Freespire, Fedora, Knoppix and Open Suse. Open Suse will not even let you "mount" your hard drive to open files unless you install it (which you do not want to do). With live CD's you can try out Linux, surf the web, send e-mail and use office productability applications without affecting your computer. If you have a high speed internet connection you can download an "ISO" file to burn your own live CD. To burn your own live CD you will need a free application like BurnCDCC. It will take an hour or two to download even with your fast connection but it does work. I have some links below and I hope this helps. Al

You sure can, but running from a Live CD is slow and you can't save anything because the CD is read-only.

Dual boot is a good option and the Linux installer offers this option and does all the hard work for it. Better might be to download the live cd version of a distribution offering this. This will do what you suggested. It can also be used to run a dual boot or total Linux install if you like it.

you could vritual machine linux on windows or vice versa

Do a search on both colinux and andlinux. Both run under windows

If you mean running Linux through the installation disc, many distributions have a download called the "Live Disc", or something like that. If you are talking about a true dual-boot, then what you will have to do is: 1. Make a new partition on your hard drive for Linux. Make sure you format it into an FAT32 file system. 2. Run the installation disc. It will ask you which partition to install it onto, just choose the one you made in step 1. 3. Continue installation. Hope this helps!

Yes. Most Linux CDs work as a Live CD, so just put it in the drive and switch on. It'll boot for that session from the CD. Take out the CD and the comp will boot back into XP. Only problem is that every time you boot Linux from the Live CD you will need to reset your prefferences each time.

yeah i think that sounds possible. im not a computer geek or anything but my brother has Linux on his memory stick and just plugs that into his laptop and runs it. when he doesn't have his memory stick inserted it just runs xp. the only problem is that obviously if you've been using linux and want to work on xp then all your work is still on linux. the other thing i don't like about linux is that it has no virus protector - this is because there are no viruses to get but im cynical and the idea of not having a virus protector doesn't please me ha ha hope my babbling has helped :)