If you completely reformat the hard drive, you will lose all your original files and data. If you wish to keep all your files and data, do an external backup of the hard drive using a hard drive adapter.

Note that the disk space saved will be significant if you only have one operating system stored on the HD. However, the speed of the computer might seem faster if you run Linux verses Microsoft OS, depending on how many programs you had running in the background of the old OS to begin with. It really is the computer hardware; including CPU speed, memory available, and other computer components as to what governs the actual speed of the computer.

Hope that clarifies it a bit.

Thanks in advance and more power to you. God bless.

There are some some Linux distros such as Damn Small Linux that provide the means to boot from a CD or even a USB stick. See list of Linux distributions. I do know there are others, although I am not sure which Linux distributions provide the means to run Linux within Windows Operating Systems, as opposed to having to reboot the system. Do a little research online to find out which Linux distros provide this option.

It’s important to understand that Linux is typically installed as another operating system in a stand-alone mode of operation or dual-boot PCs. Linux is an alternative to Windows Vista or XP, and not really designed to run within Vista, though as I stated above, some Linux distros can run within Vista, XP, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME without rebooting. There are probably Linux distros that can even run within the Mac OX X environment.

Hope that explains Linux OS a bit better for others out there in Internet land. Give it a try on an old PC that is just lying around. Install Linux and see what you think.

Have fun, learn, and share.

Good luck,

Jim