How To: Dual Boot Windows and Fedora (or Ubuntu)

For those of you who have been reading my blog, you are no doubt aware of the fact that I use GNU/Linux (Fedora to be precise) as well as Windows (...damn windows only programs)
So for those of you that happen to be interested in GNU/Linux a try but aren't completely sure what to do, this guide is for you (think of it as a chance to learn from my mistakes, and all around stupidity) Also for those a little more on the fence than others just know that you don't need to actually install GNU/Linux to get an idea of what it's like, modern technology (and more specifically cheap hardware) have advanced to the point that you can simply install to and boot from a cd, dvd or even usb drive (though that one requires more work).

Please note, I'm just going to cover Fedora and Ubuntu here, mainly because they are very user friendly (and I haven't installed any other distros). Also note this guide is written with the assumption that you're currently using windows (sorry mac users, I can't really help you here).

Getting Started:
First download the iso of whatever version of either Ubuntu or Fedora you want to install.
To the newbies out there I'd recommend getting started with Ubuntu, as it's generally easier to set up and get running, it's probably the easiest to make the transition from windows to, but of course if you'd rather try fedora (as I do) if you're more on the technically inclined end of the spectrum go ahead.
*As a side note, if you happen to know someone that is GNU/linux-savvy and would be willing to help you, it would behove you to install the same distro they have, as they'd likely be of more aid than I in case you run into difficulty (I lucked out in this regard when I switched to fedora I also started a class where my professor not only uses fedora, but actually works at Redhat)

Now that you have your iso it's time to install it.
The easiest way would be to just use your preferred cd burning tool (when I first did this I used roxio creator) to create a live cd (make sure that you're burning the contents of the cd, and not the iso itself, generally if you double click on it it should load it into whatever software your computer defaults to for these kinds of things.

You can also install it to your usb drive using either Fedora's Live usb creator (which works great) or one of various tools for Ubuntu (e.g UNetBootin)

Linux Live:
Once you've got that all set up, you're ready to try out Linux, restart your computer and insert your media of choice, on the first screen you see (the BIOS page) you should see in the top right corner (usually when it's almost done loading) the key you need to press to bring up the boot menu (it's usually F10, F12, DEL, it's possible it may be different for some people, if all else fails google it) if you accidentally get into your BIOS setup page, make sure you don't screw around with anything (unless you want to break your computer) just exit without saving and try a different key until you find the one that's just right (if all else fails and you can't find the key that works for you, you can go into BIOS and change it boot order so it boots first from the usb or cd automatically (just remember to change back it later) after that you're pretty much in, select the Try without any change to your computer (or live cd) option to run the OS in live mode.

At this point you can have some fun navigating around the GNU/linux interface, which is pretty intuitive (although still noticeably different than windows) taskbar on the bottom, menus on the top, applications can be installed from what's called the repository which is essentially a store of free open source software that you can install on your computer without having to worry if it's a scam or malware, it's one of the reasons that linux is more secure than windows and the like, all necessary software are downloaded from trusted sources and have millions of eyes looking over them for bugs so that your system is kept secure You'll find that pretty much every software you use has a linux equivalent sitting in the repositories,(to use the obvious examples OpenOffice -MS Word, Firefox - Internet Explorer, etc....) I could sit here and preach to you the benefits of using Linux and Open Source Software until I'm blue in the face (and I still wouldn't be able to come up with as convincing a speech as you can find online) but it all means nothing if you don't try it out for yourself, so if you've been sitting there just reading through the article trying to see what to do only to be thinking that you'll do it later, stop reading right now (can't believe I said that) go to the website of whichever distribution you're interested in (Ubuntu/Fedora) download the iso and get installing, it'll run you 30 mins or so (might vary depending on your internet connection) and try booting up GNU/Linux, it'll be worth your time (really) try it out and see if you can get the hang of it, yeah it's different, and it's not the same ol' windows UI (user interface) you may have grown up on, so it'll take some getting used to but that's inherent in trying anything new, and you can even come back here and continue reading the article if you like (though you may want to plug in an ethernet cable if you aren't already doing so, for reasons I'll get into later).

So, go on now, go..., don't worry I'll wait ...really, go. now.
...
Back? good.

Some Side Info:
Well now that you had a chance to see GNU/Linux for yourself what did you think of it? not bad right?
Are you thinking about installing it to your hard drive maybe? (it'd be really awesome if you did, seriously ...if someone does, post in the comments I'd love to hear it)
Before you do, there are some things you should be aware of:
firstly your wireless card and/or video card may not be completely compatible with Linux, this is because certain companies refuse to release their drivers source (despite promises by developers to sign NDAs) or even release drivers compatible with linux, so it falls on linux developers to write their own.
*note it's possible other parts of your hardware may not work, but you shouldn't worry about that if you were able to boot the live installation of GNU/Linux *
The reason linux developers want open source drivers for use with linux systems is because it's more secure and stable that way, a code that is closed source provides a security risk to the computer as it could be exploited without the knowledge of the user and not fixed until the company decides to release a new update. There is also the idealogical and practical ideas behind open source computing, which I won't get into (put you can read about online if you like).
So, let it be known that your graphics driver &/or wireless card may not immediately work in linux (check here, or here to see for sure)
It's at this point that I hope you followed my advice and picked Ubuntu (unless you have a nearby linux guru who'll help you)
Because Ubuntu is a bit more lax when it comes to drivers, as in they offer a readily accessible way to change your drivers to use proprietary versions (if you want)
Fedora so far as I can tell Fedora does not (there is a workaround for most things, but some are pretty complicated ....I haven't even figured out how to do it yet)

* Now if you've decided that you don't want to go on with the installation, that's fine just exit out and continue with windows, I will make one recommendation, hold on to that flash drive/CD just in case your computer has issues and won't boot, that live install might be your only way to rescue the data on your computer (plus if you ever change your mind about Linux.....)

Installing:
So... you've made it this far, either you've decided to go through with the installation or you're just that interested in what I have to say (either way: awesome)
Before you go on, back up your hard drive, anything and everything you feel is important, trust me, it's better safe than sorry.
Now if you're still running the Live install of there should be an option on your desktop to install it to your hard drive, click that.
You'll be prompted to decide on certain configurations for your system:
Time Zone,
keyboard layout,
login username and password,
and root password (important: make sure this is a strong password that you don't forget, and do not tell anyone this password, it's important)

Fedora will also prompt you to name your computer
the default being: localhost.localdomain,
It's just how your computer will be identified if it's on a network, you can keep it as the default if you like, it won't make too much of a difference

Now the most important step.
Partitioning your hard drive.
you will see:
Since you want to dual boot and not replace windows entirely, pick the shrink current system option (or for ubuntu pick manual), and it'll prompt you to resize your windows partition, depending on how big of a hard drive you have you may want to give it around 25 or so GB, though it really depends on if you like to install other applications and the like on your computer, if you have a lot, feel free to give it more (I personally made my XP partition ~50 GB on a 149 GB hard drive) the now on the next screen, if you want to have some free space shared by both Linux and XP you can create a new NTFS partition of however much size you want, and it can house whatever data you want both to access.
The Steps listed above are pretty much the same (though a bit more intuitive) in Ubuntu, you can resize your XP partition and create a new partition to share between the two (still NTFS) *note your Ubuntu system will probably look different than that picture, as it's just an example I found online). When you're done with this STOP. If you're still reading, finish up and then close firefox and anything else you have open (except the install prompt of course) this is because when the computer is resizing your partitions and installing your new OS you don't want to touch it, at all just leave it be until it's done because messing with it then could end up screwing something up, while it's resizing the partitions or installing the OS (I think that may be why I ran into so many issues with Ubuntu).
Also make sure your computer is plugged in (if it's a laptop).

Ready?
Good, now click next and let your computer do it's work, get a drink, grab a book see what's on tv. This might take a while, every 10-20 mins or so check back up on it to see if it's finished up. After it's done, it'll power down, eject the CD and after the BIOS page you'll see a boot page for picking what OS you want to boot up (Windows would be listed under other) So sit back, enjoy and congratulations on your new Linux Installation, now make sure you're computer is connected to the internet (via ethernet cable) and install some updates to ensure your computer is running smooth, (you should be able to connect to the internet wirelessly afterwards, assuming a driver has been written for your wireless card. If you're on Ubuntu go into System>Administration>Hardware Drivers and you can pick your driver for your wireless, video (and whatever else)cards after that just have some fun, you can enable some cool desktop effects for your computer in System>Preferences> Display Effects (you'll have to first restart if you've just activated your video driver)

There are tons more stuff to do (which would probably take several posts on their own) if you're at a loss for ideas go online there are plenty of resources and information for GNU/Linux that you can use to make your experience with linux better than ever.

Hope you enjoyed (or at least benefited from) this guide, 'twas a bit wordy, and possibly preachy at times (yes even I noticed) but hopefully it wasn't too onerous, and if you've been here thus far, you probably liked it somewhat (or are an extremely nice person)
At any rate, thanks for listening. and see ya later next time.
[images taken from: here for Ubuntu, and here for Fedora]