Reply to Re: Considering OS switch from Vista
If you don't have an account, just leave the password field blank.
I assume this is different from a regular defragment of the hard drive?
Nope. Just defragment from Windows. The thing is, data is probably scattered all over your Windows partition, meaning you can't partition it until you have put everything in its place (ie. at the beginning of the partition).
Cool that you're learning more about computers in general by just installing Ubuntu.
As for the whole partitioning bit, you could have Ubuntu automatically pick "install alongside other OSes" and it will partition things for you (though without /home being separate).
As for things you may not be understanding, I used some terms that would be showing up in the installer. Basically telling you what would be best to do without really explaining the terms themselves (well, except for / and /home).
<looks in amazement as all these cool people talk about programing>
Nobody's talking about programming. It's about installing a different OS alongside an existing OS. It's really not that difficult anymore, though some experience with computers and some prerequisite knowledge like what I'm giving is useful.
I boot Ubuntu from an USB drive. Works perfectly.
This works too. This is most easily done from a Live CD, and there are good online instructions on how to do this.
