linux instalation with wubi

[rapigan]

Im thinking of installing linux on my pc but i want to keep vista on and i dont want to partition my hard drive because i want to keep my date, so im going to use wubi, but i have two questions regarding wubi.

1: will i lose all my data in vista (saved games, videos, etc) ?

2: can wubi install the 64 bit version of ubuntu?

If you could tell me that would be great, thanks

 

[linux_0]

I have never used it but I have seen reports that WUBI has some major issues.

Have you considered adding a 2nd hard drive?

If you have vista on the 1st drive and Linux on a 2nd drive the chances or hideous breakage ( due to vista or human error ) are greatly reduced.

You can also shrink your vista partition, if you have room, but make sure you backup your data first.

Good luck

 

[rapigan]

so if i had another hard drive (which i do) would I even need to run wubi, and if not, and i just downloaded the install normally, how would i tell it to install in that hard drive and not affect the files of another drive?

 

[linux_0]

Ubuntu has a 7 step installation process during which you can select and partition the hard drive you want to install Ubuntu on.

Ubuntu only modifies the hard drive you tell it to use in the installer, it will leave your other drive untouched unless you tell it otherwise.

If you use a 2nd hard drive the recommended procedure is to install Ubuntu on the 2nd HDD and then only install GRUB onto the 1st HDD, this will overwrite the boot sector on the 1st HDD leaving everything else intact.

You just have to be careful not to specify the wrong drive during the process.

In Ubuntu your drives will normally be /dev/sda ( first drive ) /dev/sdb ( second drive ) /dev/sdc ( third drive ) and so on.

Install Ubuntu on /dev/sdb and GRUB on /dev/sda.

Good luck