Just some general noob Mint 13 questions

[Encerspay]

Hey, I've been on Windows 7 for the past few years on my laptop, and it has served me well.
But just to shake things up a little, I was thinking about installing Linux Mint 13 (MATE 1.2, I prefer its stability) alongside my Windows 7.

My noob-tacular questions:
-I can install Linux Mint 13 (MATE 1.2) alongside with Windows 7 without hurting anything on my Hard Drive, right?
-How would I go about re-partitioning my hard drive?
-What could go wrong? (Murphy's Law applies to me especially when doing stuff like this).
-Could I game on Linux Mint 13? I'm having trouble finding games compatible.

That's it!
Thanks in advance!

[jagwinn]

Hello E,
Mint will dual boot with Win7 and it will plainly state this option when you select INSTALL.
Mint will automatically partition you HD, you have to do nothing! After install, you can partition again with software available in the Software Mngr.
What could go wrong? Most probably you will experience a troublefree install....Linux is good!
Gaming online is no different in any OS....it is the browser.

John

[Encerspay]

Wow! That's way helpful! Thanks so much!!
The only thing that's keeping me from installation right now is at&t's dsl download speed... download takes about 4 hours
But, for gaming, I mean, actually installing online games onto the Linux System, like Savage 2 or Alien Area.
Could I play those 2 games in Linux Mint 13 trouble-free?
Thanks in advance!!!

[Electroman6913]

If you have a slow internet connection I would recommend downloading via bit torrent. The direct links tend to become corrupted with slow speeds.

[Encerspay]

If you have a slow internet connection I would recommend downloading via bit torrent. The direct links tend to become corrupted with slow speeds.

:O I was 300 megs into an iso download..... :/
Oh well.
I have a huge concern about Linux games, though.
Will they work fine?!
Thanks in advance.

[jagwinn]

Sorry I am not a 'gamer'...but I believe the quality of the game is still relative to the hardware. If your game played well on your current hardware (monitor; video card; sound card; etc.) then rest assured that Linux has drivers available to ensure that these devices are driven to their full capabilities.

Linux is no band-aided half attempt to replace Windows. No, it is a bonafide, genuine and capable OS that stands on its' own. Nothing shabby about it. And there are game authors that are just as dedicated and committed to write the programs/games to perform on Linux as well.

Perhaps a search for 'games' or 'gaming' in the upper right corner would lead you to the reassurance you are looking for.

John

[abnvolk]

If the games you mentioned have Linux versions, that would be OK. If it only have Windows editions, you can use Wine http://www.winehq.org to install and run it. It's better to check the App Database of Wine http://appdb.winehq.org/ to see if these games have problem running under Linux or not.
Anyway, you can always dual-boot Windows and Linux and run them on Windows

[Encerspay]

You guys are awesome!! Thanks so much!!!! Downloading the torrent for Maya MATE 1.2 64 bit now!!!
2 hours left....

[RETNUH]

I'm pretty sure that you can play both Savage 2 and Alien Arena on Mint through "Desura". Though many games unfortunatly don't work on Linux. This may change soon though, Valve is making a Linux Steam client.

Also someone mentioned WINE. WINE may work, or it may not. It depends on the game.

[Encerspay]

Okay, so, I just installed Linux on the same partition as I had Windows 7 installed on.
Bad idea?
I'm on Linux Mint, now.
Can I get back to revisit Windows for all of my precious data??? D:
PLEASE HELP.
Thanks in advance.

[Encerspay]

Duh, it's at the start up menu! Lol! Sorry!
But, here's a real concern.
I didn't partition my HDD before installation.
I couldn't quite figure it out!
So, I had Linux installed on the same partition that Windows was.
Which seems fine, at the moment.
However, on my first Linux boot, I installed Chrome for Linux.
I shut down, turned on, and booted into Windows just to test.
Nice.
I shut down and turned on again, and booted into Linux, and Chrome was gone! Everything was just like it was the first time I booted into Linux.
Is this because of the partition?
Or am I just being a noob again....
Please help.
Thanks in advance!!!!

[Encerspay]

Normally I wouldn't post 3 times in a row like this!
My apologies, fellow forumers!
But, here's a screenie of my current hard drive setup as seen from Windows!
http://puu.sh/10dcB
Pleeeeeeeeeeease take a look at it and tell me if things look okay or not?
You guys are so great!
Thanks in advance!

[jagwinn]

Well, I will venture a reply here....Windows cannot see Linux files, but Linux can see Windows files.

Using Linux Mint, try the download manager and select a partition or disk utility to install and use it to look at your HDD. You will get a different view.

Also, the files for Windows will appear on your desktop as COMPUTER. Select this and your Windows files will appear as something like 5GB FILE SYSTEM.

[Charles123]

I could be completely wrong here, but I'm wondering if Linux Mint isn't installed to your hard drive & you're actually booting it off the Live Cd. Make sure there's no Cd in the drive & then see if you get a boot manager, or if it goes straight to windows.

Worth a shot anyway.

[Encerspay]

Hey guys, thanks for all the help. I updated my current situation in my thread, located in the Installation&Boot section. This includes a more detailed situation plus screenshots.
Please help me!!!!
Thanks in advance.