Ok...lets say your windows won't boot up. No problem, just boot from your linux partition and access windows files(read NT file system{XP,2000 pro,NT} ,read/write fat 32/16{win 95,98, dos}) Access internet, office software, windows networks, multimedia, back up utilities(burner). If linux is not installed before the windows failure..no problem...boot from the disc and access the same desktop features directly from the CDROM. This means you should always be able to access you computer if the hardware is functional! You don't need to call anyone for help just to surf the web, send e-mail, chat, use office software,etc.
The debian distro I use the most is Mepis Linux and is very easy and fast base install...anyone could do it. It provides enough for most...you may not require any more than this. You can download it for free and burn the disc from your windows machine. Boot from it to test operation and compatibilty...install if you like...register it with Mepis Linux for about $10 US per machine for full support. Mepis 3.3.1 is ten times better out of the box than Windows XP for my desktops, excluding support for Direct X 3D games. On the other hand drivers from ATI and Nvidia are ten times better for windows then linux. All the Linux ditros I use are Debian based sept one...Puppy linux...very small distro that can run fast on almost anything that sports 128MB RAM. Puppy could be used for a lot of things and can be stored on a USB pen drive.