Wubi review . part 1

I wanted linux on my system for a long time, and was trying to install freebsd, since it is obviously FREE FREE FREE and quite simple for my necessities. But then as I was using Partition magic, i realised, i cant have freebsd installed on my system because freebsd required a primary partition to be installed on, and my system had c: and extended memory as primary partitions. I couldnt create more primar partitions.

So I left it there itself and browsed the net. I remember that there might be an interface on teh internet that gave the shell environment, without installing anything. It is like practising unix commands on the net, without the burden of installing or uninstalling. As I was searching for this online shell, i stumbled upon Wubi. I read its reciews and found that it is relatively easy to install and uninstall if anythign goes wrong. Doesnt take up much space and detects network card automatically.

I was very eager to give it a try. I recently backed up my data, and pc restored my dell system. So I dint have anythign else to backup. If you have any important data, i suggest u back it up before trying this. So I downloaded the installer which took some 5 mins. Then I ran the installer. It took about 1.5 hours in my laptop (512 RAM, 1.6 ghz processor, and 60 gb harddrive). After successfully completing 100%, the screen stood still without much progress. I could move my mouse, so i knew the system did not hung up on me. I waited for few minutes before the error message came up. It dint specify any particular error, but said i need to install again. Oh God, I dont have another 1.5 hours for it. So i clicked the installer again, thinking, if the estimated time says 1.5 hours, then i ll do it again sometime later. But fortunately, it checked the checksums and then rebooted. Great. I entered into ubuntu during the dual boot up options.

The settings started taking place. It detected the hardware, found floppy drive, autoconfigured the network drive, installed packages and softwares. Everythign went fine until this stage. Then it started doing setup, and before it could finish 5%, my laptop hung up.

So I rebooted, went into ubuntu. the boot up proceedure cant take place because of some error, and the screen asked me to run the installer again. So i rebooted again, went into windows xp, and clicked the installer. It said, i have to uninstall first. So i uninstalled. Fortunately for me, it saves some backup files. So when i clicked the installer again, the installation was smooth and quick. Now i rebooted again, and went into ubuntu. Again it went into settings mode, and did everything like the previous try, including the system hanging ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGG.

It is getting on my nerves so bad, i want to hit my laptop, abandon the whole process, and go to sleep. But I want to work on ubuntu and I, that is my laptop, just have to pass the setup proceedure. I guess it is the memory insufficiency that is causing the problem. My system hangs up so often earlier. If i run yahoo messenger with webcam, and open firefox, the system will hang up. That is the main reason i did pc restore, to clear off the junks and have a clean start.

So now iam waiting for that 1gb i ordered online. will update once i resume the process of ubuntu installation.
continued in review part2 ...