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installing dual boot with Windows 10
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:35 am
by freshtamatic
I now feel comfortable enough to install LM on my main driver. It's a Dell gaming laptop but I don't play games, except for retro games, I use its power for content creation.
It has 2 SSD Drives. One has Win 10 on it, the other I just installed but haven't formatted.
I'd like to have LM on the new drive.
What is the safest way to install LM on the 2nd drive, giving me the choice on which SSD to boot with.
I've heard horror stories with GRUB with Win 10 PC's. What are my options to safely boot from the drive I want (either Win or LM).
Thanks.
Re: installing dual boot with Windows 10
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:34 am
by gostal
I recently installed LM 19 in a dual boot with win7 using nothing but standard choices. No hick-ups whatsoever. Of course grub replaced the windows boot manager and I had to change the grub font afterwards to make it readable without a magnifying glass. I had only the one disk but you have two so you should be able to choose to install Linux on the new SSD. In one of the installer screens "Installation type" you have the option to chose "Something else" regarding how and where the installation should be made. I believe I would put grub on the new SSD as well as the rest of Linux. That way it's absolutely impossible for grub to screw anything up with your windows installation. Probably the installer choses to make the new SSD the boot disk so that on reboot grub fires up anyway but maybe not. If the windows disk remains the boot disk you wont be able to boot Linux right away but fear not. There are ways to deal with that, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaCbTe1eEes
and
https://www.techspot.com/downloads/3112-easybcd.html
You can also use some partitioning tool to set the boot disk according to your preference.
Good Luck!
Re: installing dual boot with Windows 10
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:39 am
by gostal
gostal wrote: ⤴Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:34 am
I recently installed LM 19 in a dual boot with win7 using nothing but standard choices. No hick-ups whatsoever. Of course grub replaced the windows boot manager and I had to change the grub font afterwards to make it readable without a magnifying glass. I had only the one disk but you have two so you should be able to choose to install Linux on the new SSD. In one of the installer screens "Installation type" you have the option to chose "Something else" regarding how and where the installation should be made. I believe I would put grub on the new SSD as well as the rest of Linux. That way it's absolutely impossible for grub to screw anything up with your windows installation. Probably the installer chooses to make the new SSD the boot disk so that on reboot grub fires up anyway but maybe not. If the windows disk remains the boot disk you wont be able to boot Linux right away but fear not. There are ways to deal with that, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaCbTe1eEes
and
https://www.techspot.com/downloads/3112-easybcd.html
You can also use some partitioning tool to set the boot disk according to your preference.
Good Luck!
---
Sorry about this! I must have accidentally hit the wrong button.
Re: installing dual boot with Windows 10
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:29 pm
by michael louwe
freshtamatic wrote:.
.
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295 (UEFI Installing - Tips; see Two Drives Install)
[For installing Linux on an external USB hard-drive, a workaround is to unplug the Win 8.x/10 internal hard-drive and install LM on the external USB hard-drive together with its bootloader = plug in the external USB hard-drive only when you want to boot LM.
....... The above workaround may also work for a 2 internal hard-drives desktop setup, ie after installation of LM, boot each OS via the Boot Menu of BIOS Setup by selecting the appropriate internal hard-drive as the 1st boot device]
.
P S - All OEM Windows computers bought new from 2012 onward(= Win 8 or later) are UEFI. All those before 2012 are Legacy BIOS, which are much easier to install, eg two-drives install as a dual-boot.
Re: installing dual boot with Windows 10
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:47 pm
by freshtamatic
Thanks.
But how do I install LM on the second SSD? Even If I take it out, I'd need a way to interface with it.
Re: installing dual boot with Windows 10
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 3:29 pm
by gostal
michael louwe wrote: ⤴Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:29 pm
freshtamatic wrote:.
...
P S - All OEM Windows computers bought new from 2012 onward(= Win 8 or later) are UEFI. All those before 2012 are Legacy BIOS, which are much easier to install, eg two-drives install as a dual-boot.
Regarding UEFI there's an interesting guide here:
https://itsfoss.com/install-ubuntu-1404 ... 8-81-uefi/
The guy even encourages questions!
Re: installing dual boot with Windows 10
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:08 pm
by michael louwe
freshtamatic wrote: ⤴Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:47 pm
But how do I install LM on the second SSD? Even If I take it out, I'd need a way to interface with it.
.
You run the Live LM USB/DVD, click the "Install Linux Mint" icon on the empty desktop screen, follow the self-explanatory prompts and choose the manual "Something else" install method. Then manually partition the SSD accordingly and be guided by my above link at ubuntuforums.org. Also, have a look at ...
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=163126 (Tutorial for dual-booting UEFI computers)
http://linuxmint-installation-guide.rea ... en/latest/
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=122276 (manual partitioning Tutorial for Legacy BIOS mode and MBR/ms-dos disks)[use as a guide for UEFI mode install]
.
P S - For unencrypted install of LM 19, you do not need to create a Swap partition because it has been replaced by a Swap file that will be auto-created by the LM Installer.