If I install i386 bit architecture of linux on a partition, would it screw up vista on another?

Question

I'm about to install a linux distro on my AMD Athlon x2 Dual Core ql-65 processor(s) that will be running that kernel and Vista at the same time, but on different partitions. I downloaded the i386 iso files, so my question is, will this i386 bit architecture for linux mess with my vista home premium os? How would I know?

And is there a way to determine what architecture is compatible with my processor?

Here are the other types the linux distro comes in:

[alpha] [amd64] [arm] [armel] [hppa] [i386] [ia64] [mips] [mipsel] [powerpc] [sparc][s390] [source] [multi-arch]

Which one would be for me? I heard i386 is somewhat universal.

Answer 1

There is win32-loader (Debian) which works in a similar fashion to Wubi installer (Ubuntu)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Win32-loader_(Debian)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wubi_(installer)





LUg.

Answer 2

No the i386 will work well with the amd cpu. See the first link and click on Supported architectures. No I do not know how you would know if the i386 was messing with vista until you saw serious problems.

The faq explains how to select the correct image; see Which of the numerous images should I download? Do I need all of them?

You made a comment about running both vista and linux "at the same time". If you dual boot you will be running one or the other. You select the OS to run at boot time and must reboot to use the other OS. If you really want to run "both at the same time" you have to run one one of them in a virtual machine, which in your case would be debian in the virtual machine. But it doesn't look like vista home premium can run microsoft's virtual machine. Debian can run virtualization.

Debian has very good documentation and instructions.

Have fun

Answer 3

Just to be safe, back up your Vista partition before installing Linux.



i386 means you will be running 32-bit Linux. The 64-bit version is called "amd64" for historical reasons. That should also work on your hardware.



For a tutorial with Vista (installed first) and Ubuntu 9.04, see the link.

Answer 4

One question to ask, what Linux distribution ure using?