[SOLVED] Recommendations for Single-Boot Installation

[leehach]

Just got a new ThinkPad T480 and will be installing LM 19. I haven't installed LM in a couple of years, and all my previous laptops were MBR. The new laptop is UEFI. I will blow away Windows and do not need to dual boot. I would like to keep the recovery partition.

The current partitions are:

Code: Select all

Device         Start       End   Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sda1       2048    534527    532480   260M EFI System
/dev/sda2     534528    567295     32768    16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sda3     567296 974725119 974157824 464.5G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda4  974725120 976773119   2048000  1000M Windows recovery environment

Questions:

1. On MBR system I would install bootloader to to sda, but for EFI should I install to sda1, overwriting Windows bootloader? Or, if I should install to sda, should I also delete partition sda1 (as I won't need the Windows bootloader)?
2. Info on Microsoft Reserved Partition suggests that it is only useful if Windows is installed. Can I delete it?
3. If I leave Windows Recover Environment, will Linux bootloader find it?

[michael louwe]

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1. "Device for boot loader installation" should be the EFI System Partition or /sda1. You should not delete the EFI System Partition.
....... IIRC, if you use the auto "Erase disk and install LM" method, the Windows EFI System Partition will be deleted and a new EFI Boot Partition(= fat32/about 550MB/mount point is boot/efi) re-created at /sda1 by the LM Installer.
2. Yes. Use the manual "Something else" install method. Click on the partition and click -.
3. The Windows Recovery Partition can only be run by Windows, eg for Reset or Refresh or System Restore or Restore from a System Image or Repair Computer, etc. It can be used from Windows to create a Windows Recovery USB Drive ... https://www.howtogeek.com/131907/how-to ... windows-8/

[leehach]

3. The Windows Recovery Partition can only be run by Windows, eg for Reset or Refresh or System Restore or Restore from a System Image or Repair Computer, etc. It can be used from Windows to create a Windows Recovery USB Drive ... https://www.howtogeek.com/131907/how-to ... windows-8/

OK. I've already created the recovery USB (even though I can't imagine the circumstances under which I would use it), and IIUC you're saying the Windows Recovery Partition is useless if the laptop doesn't have the Windows OS, so I can delete it.

[michael louwe]

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Yes, you should delete the Windows Recovery Partition.

Remember, to reinstall Win 10, you need to have created a Windows Recovery USB flash-drive that has a System Image on it(= about 12GB in size), ie not just the Windows Recovery Environment or System Repair Disk/Drive(= about 200-400MB in size).
....... The Windows Recovery Environment or System Repair Disk/Drive is used to recover a running Win 10/8.1 system, ie not for a reinstall or restore from System Image. A reinstall can also be done by downloading the Win 10 1803 ISO file from M$'s website and creating an Install USB-drive or DVD from it = reinstall to about Factory condition = more updates required to be downloaded after install.

[leehach]

Remember, to reinstall Win 10, you need to have created a Windows Recovery USB flash-drive that has a System Image on it(= about 12GB in size), ie not just the Windows Recovery Environment or System Repair Disk/Drive(= about 200-400MB in size).

Done, but thanks for the reminder.