[SOLVED]Thinking of changing to Linux Mint 13 from Ubuntu

[PGsm]

Hi there,
After 3 yrs of Ubuntu I am thinking of giving Linux Mint 13 a go. I want it to dual boot with Windows 7 (130 GB) so I started the installation process from the CD and at the partitioning step I see I've still got a previous Windows Vista loader which I erased when installing Windows 7. I want to erase Ubuntu 11.10 and in its place put Mint 13. I also want GRUB to handle the booting process and I want to definitely erase the Vista loader.
In the "Device for boot loader installation" drop down menu I have the following options:

• /dev/sda ATA ST9160821A6 (160.0 GB)
• /dev/sda1 Windows 7 (loader)
• /dev/sda5 Ubuntu 11.10
• /dev/sda6
• /dev/sda2 Windows Vista (loader)

1. How do I erase the Vista loader definitely? Will it affect Windows 7?
2. How much SWAP space do I allocate? (I think I have 1 GB RAM)
3. The second 11 GB partition (sda6), has a 'home' folder completely empty. How do I utilize that space?
4. Can you give me some advice on how to save my 'home' folder (in /dev/sda5) in all this?

[xenopeek]

1. Put your boot loader in "/dev/sda ATA ST9160821A6 (160.0 GB)". This will make GRUB2 the master over the boot process

2. I would probably go with 2 GB swap on a 1 GB RAM machine.

3. Start GParted before starting the installer. Delete the /dev/sda6 partition, and add the disk space that became available to the surrounding partitions (a little to /dev/sda7 for swap, most to /dev/sda5 to increase your home folder). You can do that without formatting or destroying data on those partitions, though it is a good idea to make a backup of important personal files before attempting this (or any operating system installation at that).

4. In the screenshot you shared you would Change /dev/sda5, and set its mount point to /home. And don't checkmark format However, is /dev/sda5 your current home folder of Ubuntu? Then it will have settings (in hidden files and folders) that may interfere with Linux Mint 13, possibly making some applications not work properly after installation. Usually you can solve that by just creating a new user, one with a clean home folder. Alternatively, you could copy the personal files from your home folder that you want to keep temporarily somewhere else, perhaps to the NTFS partition? (As it has room.) Then still set the mount point to /dev/sda5 but now do checkmark to format it. Then after installation, copy your personal files back from the NTFS partition.

[PGsm]

How to use GParted to get rid of Vista loader? Do I have to make a CD/DVD and quickly put it in my laptop as it boots, just like the Mint Installation CD/DVD?

By the way, I don't have an installation CD/DVD for Windows 7: I installed it from a one-use original copy that I got through an agreement between my University and Microsoft. So I'm not completely sure if I should knock out that last NTFS partition or not. If it's just occupying space, then I'd want to use that space.

[xenopeek]

Sorry, I meant you can run GParted from the Linux Mint installation DVD. It is installed on there, just find it in the menu

As for the Windows Vista loader, /dev/sda2, I think you can remove that as Windows 7 has installed its own loader. GRUB2 will detect Windows 7 loader and offer you to start that instead of booting to Linux Mint.

[PGsm]

Thanks for all the help. After some further consideration, I've decided to stick to Ubuntu 12.04 and put Cinnamon with it as I really like the touch it gives to the desktop.

[PGsm]

I take that back. Have wasted the whole evening trying to get Adobe Flash Player to work. It's conflicting with something but I don't know what, so now I'm forced to re-install the system anew. Might be a sign for me to try Lint (Linux-Mint).

[xenopeek]

Ah, welcome back then Please share if we can help with any steps.