Things didn't work out

[blacklab]

I had planned on roaming around the South-Eastern States by now, but then the world changed and I find myself stuck at home.

Now for a new plan. I am getting tired of MS changing my settings two or three times a month so it is time to switch to Linux. I want to set up my system as a duel boot between Win 10 and Linux. Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to remember reading about changing a setting in my BIOS so I can make my computer a dual boot system. For the life of me I can't remember what it was about so I can look it up. I know someone at speedguide will know what I am talking about and can give me a few tips on what to watch out for. For instance which OS should I install first? What stupid mistakes should I watch out for?

I plan on using Linux for my main system, but I need a Windows machine for an accounting program I use for the club. I also need to run Excel and Word to give assistance to other club members.

Appreciate any help offered.

[Philip]

Good to see you around, a lot of people's plans were changed with this pandemic :/

As to the dual-boot Windows and Linux, here are a few tips.

1. It is best if you have Windows installed first, worry about Linux later.
2. Choose a modern/friendly Linux distribution, some of the most popular are Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, but there are countless others depending on what you want to focus on.
3. Download and make bootable USB/DVD media to use for the installation.
- It is a good idea to have options if something goes wrong, such as Windows/DOS Bootable USB, Windows Recovery Disk, etc.
3. Have some free HDD space for Linux. This usually means that you have to reduce the Windows partition to create free/unallocated space on your hdd for linux. Some modern distros (Ubuntu) can resize the Windows partition for you without destroying the OS, or there are third-party tools to do it. The Windows Control Panel disk management tool usually fails to reduce partition size.
4. Read some docs about the boot loader/dual booting with your chosen distribution.

As for the BIOS/UEFI, there was a time where EFI wasn't supported well by some OSes, but that's long gone. You will have to make sure to look up the boot order though, USB bootable flash drive first, then your HDD so that you can boot from the USB to install the second OS. If you run into problems, you may have to turn off "Secure Boot" depending on the distribution.

[Easto]

I had planned on roaming around the South-Eastern States by now, but then the world changed and I find myself stuck at home.

Good to see you.

Join the club. I recently retired, have the cash, the wife's not working, we have all the time in the world to travel and....

[Norm]

Good to see you blacklab.
I sent you a PM

[Philip]

Hi Norm

[cybotron r_9]

[David]

Hi Norm

[blacklab]

Good to see you around, a lot of people's plans were changed with this pandemic :/

As to the dual-boot Windows and Linux, here are a few tips.

1. It is best if you have Windows installed first, worry about Linux later.
2. Choose a modern/friendly Linux distribution, some of the most popular are Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, but there are countless others depending on what you want to focus on.
3. Download and make bootable USB/DVD media to use for the installation.
- It is a good idea to have options if something goes wrong, such as Windows/DOS Bootable USB, Windows Recovery Disk, etc.
3. Have some free HDD space for Linux. This usually means that you have to reduce the Windows partition to create free/unallocated space on your hdd for linux. Some modern distros (Ubuntu) can resize the Windows partition for you without destroying the OS, or there are third-party tools to do it. The Windows Control Panel disk management tool usually fails to reduce partition size.
4. Read some docs about the boot loader/dual booting with your chosen distribution.

As for the BIOS/UEFI, there was a time where EFI wasn't supported well by some OSes, but that's long gone. You will have to make sure to look up the boot order though, USB bootable flash drive first, then your HDD so that you can boot from the USB to install the second OS. If you run into problems, you may have to turn off "Secure Boot" depending on the distribution.

Hi Philip

Thanks for the information. I am planning on installing Windows 10 Pro on half my SSD drive. I am thinking about using 60 or 70 GB for Windows and using the rest of a 128GB SSD for Linux Mint. My understanding is a SSD drive should not be formatted if possible.

I guess what I need to know can I get a clean install without formatting? I have not had any really bad problems with the computer, but I am starting to have some heat problems so I think it is time to get the shop vac and the power washer and give the hardware a bit of a going over. I have not checked the heat paste on the CPU since I built it twelve years ago so I figured it might be a good idea to do that while I still can. Just dusted it out every two or three years.

I was planning on using a boot manager from TeraByte to boot between Windows and Linux unless there is something better. Thanks for reminding me about a recovery disk. I need to make sure the old one I have still works.

[Philip]

If you are doing a clean install the easiest thing is to repartition/reformat the drive.
I would install Windows with custom size partition (half, or whatever, leaving the other half "unallocated" i.e. no partition/format), then just boot from the Linux boot USB/disk. Linux will use the unallocated space to make 3 partitions (boot/os/swap) most likely, or it can run from one partition in some cases. Other than that, the Windows and Linux boot managers are quite capable themselves of running a dual boot and displaying the OS options at boot time, you don't really need a third party boot manager imho.

If you don't want to delete your current Windows install you would have to shrink the current drive partition to leave some "unallocated" space for the Linux install.

I hope this helps

[MadDoctor]

Hi Norm you stud you........

[blacklab]

Good to see you.

Join the club. I recently retired, have the cash, the wife's not working, we have all the time in the world to travel and....

Hi Easto glad to see you are still around.

I wanted to ask you how you were planning on travelling, and where. Are you planning on staying in the lower 49, or are you one that wants to see the world?

Whatever you do try and do it without an agenda or timetable. It is nice to change plans with only a moments notice.

[blacklab]

If you are doing a clean install the easiest thing is to repartition/reformat the drive.
I would install Windows with custom size partition (half, or whatever, leaving the other half "unallocated" i.e. no partition/format), then just boot from the Linux boot USB/disk. Linux will use the unallocated space to make 3 partitions (boot/os/swap) most likely, or it can run from one partition in some cases. Other than that, the Windows and Linux boot managers are quite capable themselves of running a dual boot and displaying the OS options at boot time, you don't really need a third party boot manager imho.

If you don't want to delete your current Windows install you would have to shrink the current drive partition to leave some "unallocated" space for the Linux install.

I hope this helps

Thanks for the suggestions and information.

I am going to do a clean install. I have partitioned my SSD drive in half, about 65 GB each. I try to limit what I install in my C: drive, hoping 65GB will be enough.

I have downloaded Linux mint and made a bootable disk. My next task is to download Win 10 and make a bootable disk with it and then go at it.

I want to get a good nights sleep and then spend a day getting things working again. I might even downloading the programs I want to install.

[Philip]

Justa a couple of suggestions. Windows needs more room than Linux.. Windows 10 with updates and some programs installed may be a bit tight in 65GB - I would bump it to 90. Windows 10 major updates need 20Gb+ free space. Linux can live happily with 20-30 GB total, the Linux Mint distro should be small.

Other than that, you don't have to make the Linux partition, leave is "unallocated" until the time you install Linux - the Linux boot/install disk will have a partition manager to make the Linux partitions.