running ubantu only/formatting primary HD

[pmeranda]

Hello,

I am sorry to bother everyone with such a 'newbie' question.....however, appreciate your time and any feedback given.
I wanted to know if - after downloading Ubuntu and saving it to CD, can I completely format my hard drive (wiping out my Vista, and anything else), then load Ubantu as my single & primary OS subsequent to wiping the drive?

I ask because 1) the obvious distase for the product & desire to move ahead and actually move ahead towards proficiency and understanding of the principles of development and overall knowledge, and 2) my OS was infected via trojan sometime ago, and corrupted by a cracker who set up a device in a remote network.config, using low value port/superuser ports (not protected under windows) & used a UDP to essentially - steal money/passwords/other sensitive info....granted, I would like to just "kick their ***," however, being the "look on the bright side of it" kind of guy, am grateful for inspiring me to pick up a book and begin to learn how to read & write code for myself (since the binaries dropped on me were "beyond" the scope of Microsoft's tech team & remote assist options - [[another reason for (see 1)]]. I began learning Apache the other day, and learned many of the processes the person used to establish them-self on my system, i.e. different variables, re-directs, proxy & remote directories bla bla bla....long way to go, but humbly impressed, and really enjoying the new adventure.

So, I wish to evolve...and do so on a Ubuntu only - driven platform. Will the process described work? If so, I have only 700MB CD-R's , and need to split the save...which files should I put on the primary disk (to initiate the primary boot)? i.e

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read this, and if you can offer any advice, I would greatly appreciate it! i.e *.config files...

Thanks....have a great night.
Paul

[Ms_Angel_D]

In one word the answer is Absolutely. Just slip the disk in and follow the install instructions, in about 15 minutes or so you should have a fully function Ubuntu Computer.

in reference to your small cd's You could download a minimal install iso, then install the desktop from the command line.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...tion/MinimalCD
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/minimal
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=9670

also look here
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation

[powel212]

Boot from the live cd select install, when you get to the partition editor just select use entire disk and hit next. This will install Ubuntu to the entire primary disc and give you a clean single boot.

I hope that helps.

Powel

[pmeranda]

GREAT! Thank you so much for the info! In the meantime I found an ancient MP3 player that will be my 1.5G removable HD for the amputation! I will be able to get all the files on there. I am so excited to be removing that appendage!
The funny thing is that; I was worried I wouldn't have anything to learn, or keep my mind busy in the upcoming year - given that; I took it off from grad school.... It turns out to "fulcrum" to which I do a "180;" quit med school, and learn/evolve into my new tech world I used to work on programing in BASIC...waaaaayyyyy back in the day - we're talking grade school, featherd hair, hair metal, slow dances ("Stairway to Heaven" or "Free Bird" of course), Trans Am's and - my poster of Farrah Fawcett in her red one piece Now THAT was a tedious language...<if line 8, then GOTO line 20>, and on and on...but I am absolutely in love with everything available to us these days, and psyched by the idea of having access to such a vast diversity of code, programs, and people that are at the forefront of this - well, I want to say "movement'" however, that seems to be just a small facet of what "open-source" is about. I am old enough to remember that programs/applications were something that was done by "computer programmers writing bi-nary in Bill G.'s basement...." copyrighted, and somewhat intangible...and my "HD" was a cassette recorder attached to my TRS-80 (which, I still have! funny how I say "old 1.5 GIG" device nowadays). I guess it's a perfect fit for someone like myself...yea, that's right ADD, I said it! wow...seriously though, thank you...and sorry about the tangential, dully articulate, sometimes monolingual posting of mine. Wish me luck....I'm "goin' in"!

[pmeranda]

Thank you Powel212! Oh, by way, I forgot to mention earlier that; the mal.program on my system has breached the partition containing my re-boot OS, so, that is why I want to wipe it out "military-style!" Unfortunately, I now know enough recognize/locate the program/files that are problematic, however, I do NOT know enough to be able to eradicate it...it's one of those doosies that...the moment you go in, change the permissions on the children folders, etc., etc, and delete it...BAM, another one just miraculous appears....and the irony is; is that many of the files are named "Microsoft," but just slightly different...like Microsoft Corp" or, something like that, just enough to not only bypass the existing internal (and external software, i.e. McAfee/Norton) security protocols, but enough that, even the Microsoft tech guys who were doing remote assistance couldn't get rid of it...I was on the phone with everyone at Micro. from the Level 1 tech, up to his supervisor - while they had control of my system, and watched as they attempted......and failed. I was like - "oh, I don't feel so bad now," then, I remembered who I was talking. I was amazed at how minimal their training req's are....seriously, NO language or network proficiency (beyond establishing a remote connection)? As they read their "troubleshooting algorithm" half out loud, I felt like saying, "JUST E-MAIL ME THE PROTOCOL," and not paying for that lame "support"...yea, they charge for support! It's not like I'm "JOE-TECH," or anywhere near proficient....but that is precisely my point.
Anyway....thank you again!

[powel212]

Happy to help.

Be sure to post any questions you have in the forum. I know I had a lot of questions when I started but the community really helped me out a lot.

Good Luck and have fun.

Powel