Can i install Linux?

i have a Windows XP PC.


i have only one drive in it (Local disk C:).


it has a free space of around 8GB.





now can i install Linux OS while keeping my XP as it is, in this system without partitioning my C drive??





if not, is there any other possibility of having Linux in this system.


any suggestion welcome..


.


note: i need Linux rite now to do my college final year project work...

Can i install Linux?
You cant install linux on a single drive system without partitioning.And with only 8GB left you probably wont be able to install versions like fedora on a dual boot, you might get away with red hat tho. To be honest your options are: partition and install a small flavour like debian; get rid of xp (not a good idea) and install a higher build -or probably the best way - buy a second hard drive, external would be great, and install it on that you can get them pretty cheap now, and it will be worth the money if you pass.-think yourself lucky, i have to buy a server for my project lol Of course this all depends what you want linux for, which can change the version you need. tbh, if its just for networking or whatever, just stick with something like debian, (small and free :) )
Reply:If you want to install a full second operating system you'll need to partition your hard drive. A linux install usually contains fdisk or something similar to help you do this.





If you really don't want to partition, you could try using Gnoppix or DamnSmallLinux, which can be booted from portable media but which still give you access to your disc space. But in this case you won't be able to install any new software that isn't bundled with the distribution.
Reply:most likly this will not work since the drives will work against each other but i would look here at propcaid.com for more info
Reply:If your gonna install Redhat O/S you will need atleast 4 to 5 gb of space for all of the programs that they have to offer on the disk.





Is it XP home or XP pro ? Xp home should play fair with Redhat..... BUT XP pro does'nt like to share with redhat ...be very careful you could loose everything on your drive with Redhat and XP pro.





hard drives are cheap and getting cheaper





you may also have to up grade your RAM speed, most software needs atleast 256 mb or better





If you have the space on your drive, just partition the drive (xp home) and you should be up and running in an hour.





If your not sure how to do that contact a LUGS (linux user group ) in your area, they have members that are great at helping and showing you how to use Linux to the max.
Reply:Hi, sorry but its impossible to install Linux for you because first of there is only one harddisk partition with only 8gb of space which is too less. Linux has its own file system like reiser or ext3 not ntfs or fat32 even though it understands them. You will have to remove Xp if u want to use linux. You could run live a cd but you can't do assignments on it because they r just there for u to experience the feel of Linux nothing else.


You can get a new harddisk and install 2 harddisk on ur computer and install linux.


Linux needs a swap partition, a root directory for installation and a home directory for users.


Hope this helps!


Good Luck!