Dual Booting

[Lefaid]

Hey, I really want to give Ubuntu a try. I am thinking about downloading it on my Asus G51. I want to keep my Windows 7 on my computer untouched. How would I go about doing this?

Also there is some Asus quick start OS on my computer already. I am pretty sure it is Linux based. I was wondering if there was anyway I could just upgrade or change that to Ubuntu. I guess I feel that by doing that it will have very little effect on the rest of my computer. I also want the button I use to start that up to start up Ubuntu either way. If I you do not think I can just upgrade the quick start OS, do you know of a way I can program my computer to use that button to start Ubuntu? Thanks

[Winged Owl]

Well, there are a couple of ways of doing it.
You can download ubuntu on the site :

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download

and choose either a flash drive or cd(i prefer the flash drive, as i rarely use cd's anymore) and you can plug it in and try out Ubuntu without installing it. You can look around GNOME and see if its what you want. If you like it, you have the option of installing it. The instructions for installation are really helpful and I will only go over the skeleton basics for now. You will be able to partition your hard drive and give Ubuntu as much or as little space as you think you will need. And you will be able to boot into both windows 7 and Ubuntu at the same time.
If you have any other questions, the website is infinitely helpful, and we will still be here.