For those new to Linux you are going to hear the term swap partition or swap file. In very simple terms a swap partition or file is a temporary place to hold data & memory on the hard drive. Windows has a similar system called a page file.
Please follow installation instructions for your Linux distribution, but a general rule of thumb is making your swap partition two times your RAM memory. It should be noted I’ve heard that 2GB is the limit for PC computers.
256MB RAM=512MB Swap partition
You will normally setup a swap partition when installing Linux so get ready with the size you want to use. Many Linux installations now have automatic partitioning routines, so if you are just test driving, let it do the work for you.
WARNING: Partitioning your hard drive can erase ALL data, be very careful if you are using your main computer. Backup important files before partitioning.
