Linux for Windows 7.2

It's a good thing this software comes with a thick instruction manual, because none of the installation options are straightforward. The first involves setting the operating system up in its own hard drive partition, just like any other Linux installation, but, since this product is advertised as a Linux release designed to get along with Windows, we installed it in our existing Windows partition. There are some drawbacks to doing this, in that Linux runs much more slowly than it would if installed in a dedicated partition, and if Windows is uninstalled, Linux is lost as well. You'll definitely want a fast computer with plenty of memory to get the most out of the operating system, as the 400 MHz Pentium II test system with 64 MB of RAM we tried it on was barely adequate.

The Linux for Windows CD is bootable, and that's the easiest way to install the software if you know how to change the PC's boot order. Otherwise, when the CD is loaded in Windows, users are presented with the option to create a boot diskette. Either way, the boot CD or diskette is used to launch DrakX for the actual installation. DrakX is a graphical wizard that guided us step-by-step through the installation procedure, and the manual has information on nearly every option. It is possible to delete everything on your hard drive if the wrong option is selected, so pay close attention during every step.

Once installed, we had no trouble running Linux, aside from its operating extremely slowly during our first session. Subsequent sessions ran much more smoothly and booted faster, so give it a few tries if you experience similar problems. Our only real gripe is that the boot menu that let us choose whether we wanted to boot Linux or Windows defaulted to Linux, and there was no way to change things so that Windows was the default operating system. If you can deal with that and the relatively high system requirements, Linux for Windows is an excellent way for the timorous to experience and experiment with Linux without losing Windows functionality. However, power users will want to opt for a Linux distribution that sits on its own partition. --T. Byrl Baker

Amazon.com Product Description
This package allows you to install Linux on your existing system without resizing disk partitions, reformatting your hard disk, or losing your Windows environment. It aims to give you the best of both worlds with a minimum of hassle. Linux for Windows is designed to give the beginner a taste of what Linux is all about, but should not be substituted for a full Linux installation.

Most Linux distributions require the hard disk to be partitioned and formatted with a specific structure other operating systems can't read. With Linux for Windows, however, you're not limited to using just Linux on your computer--you can also continue to use Windows, run DOS games, work in other programs, and so on.

1st of all, I faced a very nasty problem. The computer hangs for no reason during OS loading, after the "calibrating delay loop" message followed by some information about memory and hash tables. I had no idea what can be wrong and spent a day trying different settings in the BIOS, trying to reinstall the system from GUI and text interface and nothing came out of this. A bit later I realized that the problem may have to do with the way memory is used in my computer. My computer is a cheap eMachines eTower 566i2 with Celeron CPU and video is a so-called "intel 3D AGP" thing which is inside a memory controller on the motherboard of the computer and it uses the same base RAM for video unlike a usual video card. Of currently installed 160MBs, last MB is always allocated by that chip for video. So I thought I might try to specify Linux less amount of memory than it thinks. It thinks 160, I tried to install the damn thing in text interface and supplied ther a parameter "mem=128M" and it worked. The kernel no longer hangs up the computer during loading. I bet this is the 1st problem to face for all users of cheap computers based on intel 810 chipset (e.g. that intel 3D AGP thing).

But that is not the end of the story... After that I immediately founf yet another problem. 2nd problem... The kernel reports 3 error messages and stops. The mesasges appear altogether as follows: ----8k---- request module [block-major-7]: Root fs is not mounted VFS: can not open root device 07:07 kernel panic VFS: unable to mount root fs on 07:07 ----8k---- I reread the manual a few extra times to see that I'm not following it somewhere and this causes the problem. But the truth is that I do follow the manual (though it looks like the manual describes a normal version of Linux installer DrakX but the actual one which I've got on the CD is different, it's oversimplified for completely stupid people that can not follow the clear manual, the installer prohibits manual manual selection of many settings and leaves the user only a few ones: language, type of mouse, time zone, type of monitor; e.g. more than half of the manual that ships with this product is useless too). The FAQ which can be found on the CD mentions this problem (see in the directory lnx4win of the CD) and states "In most case this problem can be fixed by disabling 'PnP OS support' in your BIOS." Neither disabling nor enabling of PnP support in my BIOS worked (I reinstalled Linux after making modifications in BIOS settings each time to make sure I don't have different settings in BIOS during installation and loading of installed system). Then the manual explains how the Linux file system, contained in a file on Windows file system, gets set up and if something is wrong with installation and the Linux file system can't be set up these messages appear. Well explained, I now understand how this should normally be done. ...though there's no mention of what to do next if this problem can't be cured by altering BIOS settings. So basically, I can't install Linux for Windows as easily as promoted on the retail box "Linux for Windows allows you to safely and easily run Linux on your Windows computer in 3 easy steps: insert CD, follow step-by-step installation process, reboot the machine". It just doesn't work that way.

Next problem... I registered the product and contacted Linux Mandrake support team. You must know what kind of answers I get... I was recommended to stop the installation of Linux just during the video system setup by resetting the computer and then see what the result is. I have no idea how video system can cause problems with Linux file system, but this is a nice recommendation. Isn't it. OK, now it's 4th day of struggling and I got a very funny response from the support team, namely "Lnx4win wasn't designed for Windows ME. Thus, there is no possibility to use a Windows ME partition to store your Linux files. You definitely need to use linux-dedicated partitions. For this, ..." If you read carefully description of the product, FAQ, readme's throuout CD and the retail box labels, you couldn't miss several places in which it's clearly stated that Linux for Windows *IS* compatible with windows 95, windows 98 and windows ME! Now, this is a support I've dreamed about!

Conclusion... If you're new to Linux, don't try this product. Better buy something else and ask your friend who knows very well how to install linux or ask in your computer store to install Linux for some fee or whatever but don't get fooled by Linux for Windows, it won't work even if you follow the manual.


Linux install   June 19, 2001
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

I am a die hard windows user. I have decided that I MUST learn to use Linux. Linux has some features that are very useful to people with home networks.

I do not agree with the person that wrote the LONG story about why he did not like this product and all of his install problems. First of all, IF YOU WILL READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU INSTALL the install will go very well. I installed and had NO PROBLEMS. However, I did take time to read the book.