I bought a used Laptop less than 6months ago from a guy on Craigslist. It is a Dell C600. The guy said it had bought Windows XP professional for it a few months earlier.
Well long story short after around three months I got the "not a genuine copy of Windows message" every time I turned on my Laptop.
I am looking to install Linux as I cannot afford Windows and cannot get a hold of the guy to replace it for me.
So I need some direction on how to remove Windows, I dont care if I loose all my info from my computer, not used for much but surfing.
Also if you have any suggestion on which version on Linux to use and where to get it from.
This computer id mainly used by my kids so a windows like distribution would be great.
THANKING YOU
2006-09-24 18:39:00 · 10 answers · asked by Morid Rocks 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Laptops & Notebooks
There is notin much you need to do to remove Windows and install Linux. Just go ahead with the linux installation and at the point where you need to set the partitions just select the option "Delete all the partitions" ( different options are available on different linux flavours and you will have this options maybe with different wordings) and then create the necessary partitions for linux and that will make sure that all the windows partions are deleted on your machine.
The flavours of Linux which will give you good graphic interface are
Fedora Linux
Mandrake Linux
RedHat Linux ... Make sure you download the latest versions of any of these since they will have lot of added features and will make working it much easier.
Link for Fedora Linux : http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Distribution/Download
Link for RedHat Linux:
http://www.redhat.com/download/howto_download.html
Link for Mandrake Linux:
http://www.mandriva.com/download
I suggest you try using the mandrake Linux it is relatively to install and use.
2006-09-24 18:48:35 · answer #1 · answered by Ravi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I suggest you start at: http://distrowatch.com/
You will see the different variations of Linux there (there are many)
You should be able to install any of these over top of your current Windows.
Regarding the "Not Genuine Copy of Windows" message..it's obvious that the person who sold you your laptop did not buy the Windows version installed in your laptop. You should get back to him on that. I can remove that message and it will stay off so long as you shut off automatic updates on your system.
2006-09-25 02:02:05 · answer #2 · answered by Bob A 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not much help on which Linux to pick, but when you install Linux you can just tell it to erase that current partitions (where Windows XP is) and use the whole disk.
I suggest that you post about which Linux in find a user group for Linux like from here: http://www.linux.org/groups
2006-09-25 02:13:32 · answer #3 · answered by Bulk O 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
all the modern distributions of linux hav windows like interface ie xwindows. so u can use redhat, mandrake etc.. or even as said in above answers u can download free linux versions. u gt problem in windows because windows automatically updates in ur pc..
while installing linux give option to format the drive in which windows is installed and windows will be removed.
2006-09-25 02:00:33 · answer #4 · answered by Vinod V 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here's a link for linux flavors and left side of is the installation guide.
Since most linux flavors are LiveCd, you can collect some and try for yourself. Maybe a good one is Kid-Safe LiveCd (see second link), as you said your laptop will be used by your kids. Another which is very similar to xp is LINUX XP, and as they say can run thousands of windows program on it, though I think it is not totally free.
2006-09-26 22:13:22 · answer #5 · answered by VBACCESSpert 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get a copy of Linux to start with.
Format the C drive - you can download a bootable CD from Google.
Boot up with Linux
Proceed with installation
2006-09-25 01:46:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That laptop probably sold with an operating system. Just because you don't have the discs doesn't mean that you don't own an operating system license. Most computers sold are sold with an OS. It would have transferred over with the machine. Perhaps it's Windows 98 or ME, but you still own it and it's legit.
You can contact Dell and tell them that you lost the system discs. I haven't done this with Dell, but HP asked for my name and the serial number of the computer (and $10 including shipping). No sweat. Hope this helps!
2006-09-25 02:20:09 · answer #7 · answered by BSFSU 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just pop the Linux set up CD into the CD drive, reboot, and Linux will remove everything for you
2006-09-25 01:48:20 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can't afford to pay a hundred bucks for windows? how much was the laptop? you need to find a way to contact that guy and ask him for a genuine copy of windows. he is responsible for that. also, just get a mac. they're better...:)
2006-09-25 15:58:50 · answer #9 · answered by csalm87 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
there is a free download of linux operating system on its homesite
http://www.linux.org/dist/ . you can just format your hard drive and install new operating system..
http://www.mandriva.com/download is also a good choice..
2006-09-25 01:46:17 · answer #10 · answered by gtgrgagsghgegr 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋