T60 , Dual boot

[Truthfinder]

Hello group:

I currently have a T60, running Win XP. I have a 250gig HD, with the C: partition set up at 60gigs. The D: partition has the balance of the space.

I am interested in trying out Linux and would like to make my unit a dual boot.

I also have the original 100gig drive with XP installed.. This drive is in a USB case.... I don't know if this would come into play....

Could anyone direct me on where to begin and how to get moving on this. Do I have to start to ground zero or can I just move on from where I am at present?

Thanks to all who respond.

Steve

[ZaZ]

You could hack off a section your D:\ drive and install Linux there. Or if you just want to give a try, download the Live CD. It usually works better if you have XP installed first and let Linux control the boot process.

[carbon_unit]

I would recommend trying some Live Linux cd's first to get a taste of Linux and find a Linux distro that appeals to you. They are all a little different. Once you find one you like then give it a spot on your hard drive. If you have a friend who will tech support you until you learn, go with whatever they are running.
When you go to install Linux it will have a partition manager built in. It will ask you if you want to resize the Windows partition or partition manually. Personally I would not use all the D:\ drive for a Linux install. I would use 30gig for Linux, 1 gig for swap and the rest as FAT32 D:\ drive for file storage that is easily accessible to both Linux and Windows. Let Linux install Grub or Lilo and it will give you a choice at startup to run Windows or Linux.