Quote Originally Posted by Domhnull
I now have Knoppix installed on my hard drive!

I haven't left Windows XP entirely at this point. I can't get online yet with Linux because I don't have a compatible wireless device. I'm planning to get a wireless ethernet bridge. I also need to figure out how to sync my Palm OS device, but I may be using XP for that for awhile yet. Plus there are games I'd still like to play.

I spent some time before trying anything reading posts here and at LinuxQuestions.org. I also used Knoppix in CD mode, tried a few other distros, and made up my mind.

I removed a bunch of unnecessary stuff from my hard drive, defragged like crazy, and then backed up all of my critical files. Once that was finished I used qtparted to resize my NTFS partition and free up some space. I rebooted, made sure XP worked still, then rebooted back to Knoppix. Then I created new partitions and ran the installer. LILO loaded fine. I tried XP first -- no problem. Then rebooted back to Knoppix on the hard drive.

Everything seems to be working fine. Once I get online I'll be transitioning more and more to Linux.

This is probably old hat to many folks here. Exciting for me, though. I have a lot to learn!
Yes it is a steep learning curve. But it is something new and its still fun for me.

One thing to watch out for. BEcause knoppix is based on CId (The unstable version of Debain) when you upgrade or try to install some programs it won't work because the libaries ca't be install. Don't fret, thats just how Cid is. So when you feel comfortable enough, try installing sarge or woody (go to debain.org to download, I would suggest the net install.

Because woody is stable (Sarge is testing, about to become stable) they will install with alot less problems.

Good Luck.