How to wipe Windows 8 and install Linux Mint?

[xenopeek]

Oh... Guys !

I have recently bought a new Dell planning to install Mint... but didn't realize Windows 8 was a virus.

My question for you all is very simple...

How can I wipe out window 8 from my laptop and install Linux Mint ??


Thanks for reading ! (hopefully for helping !)

Fra

[caf4926]

You need to consider if it's UEFI BIOS?
Can you set it to Legacy?
Then just choose the middle option here
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10573557/Mint_ ... n_opts.png

[srs5694]

Any desktop or laptop computer that ships with Windows 8 and has a Windows 8 logo on it is UEFI-based. Most or all such computers also support BIOS-mode booting, so if you intend to wipe Windows from the computer, it's possible to install Linux in either way. There are some caveats, though:

• Computers that ship with Windows 8 also ship with Secure Boot enabled. The only practical way to install Mint on such a computer is to disable Secure Boot. Unfortunately, how you do this depends on your firmware's menus, and those vary greatly from one system to another, so it's impossible to provide a step-by-step procedure for doing this that applies to all computers. For general guidelines, see this description.
• It's not easy for a novice to tell whether a computer is booted in EFI mode or in BIOS mode. The installer's boot mode determines which way it will try to install the OS. In Linux, you can determine your boot mode by dropping to a shell and checking for the presence of a directory called /sys/firmware/efi -- if it's present, you've booted in EFI mode; if it's absent, you've probably booted in BIOS mode.
• The Mint 14 installer has problems booting in EFI mode if you try to boot it from a USB flash drive, but it's more likely to boot in EFI mode if you write it to an optical disc and boot from that.
• The Mint 14 installer seems to have rather hit-or-miss EFI support -- sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Thus, if you try an EFI-mode installation, be aware that it might not work.
• If you attempt a BIOS-mode install, it's often best to erase all your partitions and switch from a GUID Partition Table (GPT) to a Master Boot Record (MBR) partition table. I'm pretty sure the Mint installer does not provide an option to do this, so you should use parted, GParted, or some other tool to do the job before installing.

Overall, I'd say it's probably best to disable Secure Boot and attempt an EFI-mode install, at least if you've got an optical drive on the computer. This requires jumping through the fewest hoops, with the important caveat that if it doesn't work, you'll either have wasted a few minutes in the attempt or you'll need to put in some more effort to get it booting after you've installed it. If your system lacks an optical drive, though, or if you have reason to think that your model is one that will present challenges for Mint in EFI mode, converting the disk to MBR format and attempting a BIOS-mode installation is likely to be the path of least resistance.

[fitascshooter]

Oh... Guys !

I have recently bought a new Dell planning to install Mint... but didn't realize Windows 8 was a virus.

My question for you all is very simple...

How can I wipe out window 8 from my laptop and install Linux Mint ??


Thanks for reading ! (hopefully for helping !)

Fra

Did this very thing yesterday. As others have said you have to deal with secure boot. The easiest way to determine if you're in secure boot or not is to plug in a USB with a stable version of the Mint .ISO and enter bios upon boot. If you don't see your USB as a possible option in the boot menu, your definitely in UEFI mode.

Here are the steps I took in order to install on my Asus UX31A.

1. Downloaded Mint 14.
2. Use UNebootin to create a bootable USB (unetbootin.sourceforge.net)
3. Re-boot laptop and entered BIOS. This was F2 on my Asus.
4. Toggle over to "Security" then arrow down to "Secure Boot" and disabled it.
5. Toggle to "Boot" then arrow down to "CSM" and enabled it.
Note: CSM may be called something else on your machine possible "Legacy Boot". Also note that this can not be enable unless you disable secure boot. You may be allowed to change it but when you close and save it will revert to disabled.
6. Save and exit then allow machine to boot.
7. Shutdown then insert your USB with the Mint .ISO
8. Restart and (hopefully) Mint will start up in live mode
9. Click the install icon on the desktop and follow the prompts
10. When you get to the installation type window choose "Erase disk and install Linux Mint" WARNING...THIS IS FOR FRESH/CLEAN INSTALL AND NOT DUAL BOOT.
11. Continue to follow prompts
12. Enjoy

Keep in mind that I am a complete Linux newbie. I've only been messing around with various distros for a about a week. After receiving my new laptop Windows 8 just HAD to go. I'm very pleased with Mint and have spent the last day and a half doing the customization thing.

[Fra]

SO MANY THANKS TO YOU ALL MATES !!

I really appreciate your help. I read carefully all the posts and now understand the situation much better. I am glad to know that somebody did it at least. Yes, my pc is a UEFI based one but I think I can disable it with no major problems. I performed the operation once before but still couldn't use the disk containing Mint, so I must have made a mistake of some sort. Now that I know that it is possible and it is only a matter of finding the right way and believing that you can do it, I would say: farewell microsoft !!! I won't miss you

I'll try some experiments and let you know.

f

[Fra]

Ok. Just did something.

I manage to set:

secure boot off
boot mode legacy

is this what I was suppose to achieve ? But the pc says that no operating system can be found. It can see windows anymore. Is it normal ?

What am I supposed to do now ? To boot Mint from the disk ?

f

[fitascshooter]

Fra,

You now need to re-boot into BIOS again. Then you should be able to set your boot option to "boot from USB" or "boot from CD/DVD" or "boot from optical drive" something like this.

Also, make sure your USB or DVD has a copy of Mint on it. It should look something like this...linuxmint-14.1-mate-dvd-64bit.iso (depending on the flavor you intend to install) and have a DVD looking icon.

[srs5694]

Fra,

Your first post seemed to imply that your computer currently has Windows only, and that you want to install Mint. Your last couple of posts, though, make me think you've got an existing Mint installation that you want to boot, and you just want to remove Windows. Could you please clarify which is the case? If the former, then selecting a boot option to boot from the installation media is in order. If the latter, though, you probably shouldn't disable EFI-mode booting, assuming Mint was already booting successfully; you should just remove the Windows partition(s) and re-use that space in one way or another.

[caf4926]

SO MANY THANKS TO YOU ALL MATES !!

I really appreciate your help. I read carefully all the posts and now understand the situation much better. I am glad to know that somebody did it at least. Yes, my pc is a UEFI based one but I think I can disable it with no major problems. I performed the operation once before but still couldn't use the disk containing Mint, so I must have made a mistake of some sort. Now that I know that it is possible and it is only a matter of finding the right way and believing that you can do it, I would say: farewell microsoft !!! I won't miss you

I'll try some experiments and let you know.

f

As mentioned you must set the boot devices so that USB and CD are before HDD.
Please also note that you may also have a option to press a F button - such as F12 to access boot device options (but each computer differs here)
You must have a DVD that you have burned the Mint .iso to (You can also create a bootable USB)

[catweazel]

Fra,

Your first post seemed to imply that your computer currently has Windows only, and that you want to install Mint. Your last couple of posts, though, make me think you've got an existing Mint installation that you want to boot, and you just want to remove Windows. Could you please clarify which is the case? If the former...

Maybe you missed this bit:

Ok. Just did something...

[Fra]

Fra,

Your first post seemed to imply that your computer currently has Windows only, and that you want to install Mint. Your last couple of posts, though, make me think you've got an existing Mint installation that you want to boot, and you just want to remove Windows. Could you please clarify which is the case? If the former, then selecting a boot option to boot from the installation media is in order. If the latter, though, you probably shouldn't disable EFI-mode booting, assuming Mint was already booting successfully; you should just remove the Windows partition(s) and re-use that space in one way or another.

Sorry if I was not clear. Window is my only operating system.

Thanks.

[Fra]

[/quote]

As mentioned you must set the boot devices so that USB and CD are before HDD.
Please also note that you may also have a option to press a F button - such as F12 to access boot device options (but each computer differs here)
You must have a DVD that you have burned the Mint .iso to (You can also create a bootable USB)[/quote]


I saw the list of the boot devices but didn't realize there was a priority there. How do I change it ?

I burnt a DVD so I have it. Is it better to use the DVD or the USB way? Or the are the same ?

[caf4926]

BIOS setting, ... read the manual

DVD or USB either is OK, both the same

[Pierre]

use the DvD, as it can be simpler to go that way.
if you haven't, enabled the bios mode, & the boot from cd,
then when you restart the pc, the DvD drive light should work,
& it should be quite active, - after a few minutes - you should get the live desktop.
click the installer & at the partitioning option, - use the option to erase the whole disk . . . . .

[srs5694]

I burnt a DVD so I have it. Is it better to use the DVD or the USB way? Or the are the same ?

If you're installing in EFI mode, stick with the DVD; I've seen numerous problem reports about EFI-mode installs of Mint from USB flash drives. (The developers don't seem to have quite worked out a reliable way to do that.) If you're attempting a BIOS-mode install, either should be OK.

[Fra]

I DID IT ! I am so exited about being able to use Mint on my laptop. Now that I solved the mistery I would say that is is not particulary difficult but I couldn't have been successful without your help guys ! THANKS TO YOU ALL !!

f