[SOLVED][HELPFUL]Need Guidance For Dual Booting

[kukamuumuka]

In the 2nd video he is using a software called EasyBCD
So which will be better grub command or easybcd?

If not wanting headache, use Grub and forget EasyBCD

[rene]

Later released Pentium 4HT processors could run 64bit OS.

Mm, right. Note that if indeed you have a 64-bit capable P4 I would advise the 64-bit version of Mint (not personally fond of MATE but yes, that'll be a fine choice). The thing is that with 3G RAM more than two-thirds of your memory would when using the 32-bit version be sub-optimally used (as "highmem") and likely even more importantly, would not have access to double number of general registers that 64-bit mode has. 64-bit code is slightly bigger and given non-stellar cache-sizes on the P4 that's an issue, but at 3G I'd definitely use 64-bit if indeed possible.

[sohamsen]

thanks

[sohamsen]

I have no WiFi or Broadband.I use usb tethering to use internet via my android device.
During installation through USB can I use usb tethering to get internet?

[rene]

That should be possible; the Linux Mint Live DVD/USB you will be installing from is a pretty complete Mint system itself. Old link, but USB tethering looks be to a non-issue as far back as Mint 11: https://www.howtoforge.com/android-smar ... ux-mint-11

I feel you are over-planning this. Make sure to backup anything that should and can not be replaced and just pop the disk in and go.

[michael louwe]

Later released Pentium 4HT processors could run 64bit OS.

Mm, right. Note that if indeed you have a 64-bit capable P4 I would advise the 64-bit version of Mint (not personally fond of MATE but yes, that'll be a fine choice). The thing is that with 3G RAM more than two-thirds of your memory would when using the 32-bit version be sub-optimally used (as "highmem") and likely even more importantly, would not have access to double number of general registers that 64-bit mode has. 64-bit code is slightly bigger and given non-stellar cache-sizes on the P4 that's an issue, but at 3G I'd definitely use 64-bit if indeed possible.

.

The Pentium 4 lineup should have X64 support, but odds are it will run slow as a dog because, well, its a Pentium 4.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/33522 ... dows-64bit - Pentium 4 processor support windows 7 64bit
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/34124 ... processors - Will my p4 dual core processors run win 7 64 bit os?

[rene]

Not sure there's a comment or question in the directly above, so just a small comment on that last link: note there's no such thing as a dual core P4; only hyperthreading P4's that were sometimes mistaken for such.

[sohamsen]

How much space should i give the /root partition?
is 25Gb enough?
HDD SPACE IS 75GB
and beside /root /home any other partition necessary? Like /usr.
In live usb i saw that to use themes I have to put theme file in usr in Mate 19

and lastly is /swap necessary?
I have 3GB physical ram.
I am a power user aka root user of android,i flash custom kernels,roms and recoveries, busybox commands,applets
i know these things a bit.

[sohamsen]

and should i use the bootloader location of mint the /root partition ?
If not then do i have to make /boot partition?and how much space should i give it?

[rene]

Let me first say that calling it the "/root partition" can be slightly confusing: /root is on a Linux system the home directory of the all-powerful administrator user "root" and is expected to reside on the root partition --- note "root partition" without an initial slash. I on this forum usually try to say "/ partition" so as to avoid that specific potential newling confusion.

Yes, 25G is essentially enough, even if not hugely roomy, for a / partition but as commented before, I would not for your first Linux install separate out any directory to its own partition. Would either disconnect the drive you want undisturbed and let the installer do so automatically, or use the "Something else" option to create a 1G swap partition at the beginning of the drive (or end, but beginning is faster, as mentioned) and use the remaining 74G as one big root partition; two partitions total. Even the swap partition is by the way not necessary any more, but I'd still advise it.

Separating out directories over partitions mostly serves to fragment free space; with for example your suggested 25G for / and, then, somewhat below 50G for /home you'd potentially find yourself in the situation of having 10G free on / when you've filled up /home or vice versa; to be out of space even though you still have 10G on the other partition. There's some point to separating out /home generally, /boot in specific circumstances such as larger than 2T drives on a BIOS system --- but either you should do only in specific circumstances and after gaining a bit of experience mapping onto personal needs and desires. One big, combined / partition is the norm and that which the installer would create by default.

The bootloader you need to install into the MBR of the drive that your BIOS boots from; usually /dev/sda. This is independent of you installing the system itself onto /dev/sda as well (onto partitions /dev/sda1 for swap and /dev/sda2 for /, say) or on your secondary drive /dev/sdb. That is, even more explicitly, no, don't install the bootloader onto the / partition (/dev/sda<N>, or /dev/sdb<N>) but onto the device itself: /dev/sda, assuming your BIOS boots from the first HDD as usual, /dev/sdb if you have set it to boot from the secondary drive (or if you want to use a BIOS boot menu to boot Linux, with the default MBR on /dev/sda undisturbedly booting Windows).

1. Advise: 2 partitions, 1G (to 3G if you insist) swap, and remainder /
2. Install Grub onto the device, /dev/sda usually, that your BIOS boots from, not onto any of its partitions.

[Petermint]

25 GB is more than enough. There are other topics asking about 20GB with people talking about 10 GB. For 75 GB, I would not bother with more than one partition. You will end up pushed for space in the main partition and have to shrink your 25 GB partition.

My machine is 4 GB and rarely runs over 2 GB because I do not use Chrome. I use Cinnamon, run Web servers and sometimes run masses of applications without the memory usage reaching 2.5 GB. At the end of the day I shut down instead of hibernating the notebook, giving me a fresh clean system the next day.

After three hours of use, including some programming while sitting on the beach, memory usage is at only 1.8 GB and swap usage is zero. You can run System Monitor to track the memory usage. I deleted Chrome after testing Chrome. The Chrome background memory eater is the only insane application I have found.

KDE based applications, video editing, and games can use heaps of memory. If you use any of those, you should then look at using the minimum size GUI and other memory saving ideas. For video, use one big partition without a separate swap partition. Everything is then free to expand to the maximum.

[sohamsen]

Let me first say that calling it the "/root partition" can be slightly confusing: /root is on a Linux system the home directory of the all-powerful administrator user "root" and is expected to reside on the root partition --- note "root partition" without an initial slash. I on this forum usually try to say "/ partition" so as to avoid that specific potential newling confusion.

Yes, 25G is essentially enough, even if not hugely roomy, for a / partition but as commented before, I would not for your first Linux install separate out any directory to its own partition. Would either disconnect the drive you want undisturbed and let the installer do so automatically, or use the "Something else" option to create a 1G swap partition at the beginning of the drive (or end, but beginning is faster, as mentioned) and use the remaining 74G as one big root partition; two partitions total. Even the swap partition is by the way not necessary any more, but I'd still advise it.

Separating out directories over partitions mostly serves to fragment free space; with for example your suggested 25G for / and, then, somewhat below 50G for /home you'd potentially find yourself in the situation of having 10G free on / when you've filled up /home or vice versa; to be out of space even though you still have 10G on the other partition. There's some point to separating out /home generally, /boot in specific circumstances such as larger than 2T drives on a BIOS system --- but either you should do only in specific circumstances and after gaining a bit of experience mapping onto personal needs and desires. One big, combined / partition is the norm and that which the installer would create by default.

The bootloader you need to install into the MBR of the drive that your BIOS boots from; usually /dev/sda. This is independent of you installing the system itself onto /dev/sda as well (onto partitions /dev/sda1 for swap and /dev/sda2 for /, say) or on your secondary drive /dev/sdb. That is, even more explicitly, no, don't install the bootloader onto the / partition (/dev/sda<N>, or /dev/sdb<N>) but onto the device itself: /dev/sda, assuming your BIOS boots from the first HDD as usual, /dev/sdb if you have set it to boot from the secondary drive (or if you want to use a BIOS boot menu to boot Linux, with the default MBR on /dev/sda undisturbedly booting Windows).

1. Advise: 2 partitions, 1G (to 3G if you insist) swap, and remainder /
2. Install Grub onto the device, /dev/sda usually, that your BIOS boots from, not onto any of its partitions.

So the "/" is the main system directory where the OS installs.So if i use remaining part of the memory after 1G /swap in "/" directory,there is a risk? that i can lose my videos, personal files after OS update? because everything is in same partition.

[Petermint]

my videos, personal files after OS update?

You can set up two backups. One is your system files using Timeshift or similar. The other is your home directory using anything including one big copy. Copy /home/sohamsen/* or whatever is your home directory.

I copy everything using one big backup. Two separate backups work better for many people due to permissions and timing. You can backup your system only when making major changes. You can backup your home directory every time you save photographs of your favourite grandchild/dog/plant/computer.

Backup to several different devices for safety. The only time I have lost anything is when an automated update killed something, the main reason I do not have automated updates for anything.

[rene]

So the "/" is the main system directory where the OS installs.So if i use remaining part of the memory after 1G /swap in "/" directory,there is a risk? that i can lose my videos, personal files after OS update? because everything is in same partition.

Only when actually reinstalling does that matter at all; certainly you'll be able to upgrade in place all of the 19 series. It is also quite advised to back up personal data to a different drive anyway, and at most 50G isn't a lot to restore after a full reinstall.

Even if you want to keep personal data on your system over reinstall I lately tend to advise against having it directly in /home. Other than personal files your home directory also contains many "hidden" private configuration and cache directories and most of those you generally want gone at a reinstall so as to start with a clean slate. I personally keep e.g. my Documents folder on a partition that's mounted on /data and only link to it from my home directory. This means I have little use for a separated-out /home.

In these Timeshift and Flatpak days a 25G root partition is not too hard to fill up. Many people do on the other hand have trouble filling up even 10% of a 50G /home. If that's not you feel free to have a separated-out /home or as just now described a separate /data partition but be prepared to potentially run into issues regarding fragmentation of free space.

[sohamsen]

I installed linux Mint but windows 7 is not showing up in grub menu but still i can access my windows 7 hard drive
from linux mint
So i did following steps to install mint
1.I have two separate HDD
Windows 7 HDD HAS 150GB(sda) AND WINDOWS XP HAS 80GB(sdb)
2.So in installation i created two partition in sdb.
one is swap 1GB and one is root 79GB
and set the BOOTLOADER TO SDB
3.Ran linux mint successfully and after booting up ran sudo update-grub then rebooted

and after entering in the Grub menu by long pressing shift
there is no windows 7 help me

[rene]

You as mentioned should've installed the bootloader to the drive your BIOS boots from, either automatically or through you specifically selecting a drive through a BIOS boot menu.

In the latter case it is expected that the undisturbed MBR on /dev/sda boots Windows 7 same as before and you'd only select /dev/sdb in the BIOS boot menu when you in fact want to boot into Linux. In the former (automatic) case it seems you have set the BIOS to boot from /dev/sdb, which given that you apparently want to be presented a boot-time choice is not generic at least; you'd in that circumstance normally have installed the bootloader onto /dev/sda and have kept your BIOS booting from there as well.

As in, sure, GRUB on /dev/sdb should also still allow you to boot into Windows on /dev/sda, but it's a little misty what you are doing and why. As such, only repairing Windows not showing up in GRUB stands the risk of fixing a symptom rather than a cause.

I.e., what drive is your BIOS set to boot from and what situation do you want to end up with?

[sohamsen]

Forget it Did a backup and completely uninstalled win 7 now only Linux mint
Man Linux Mint mate is now my favourite.
Tried Ubuntu mate,xfce, cinnamon but Linux mint mate hatsoff really amazing experience.My permanent distro.

By the way I selected the 80 GB HDD ENTIRELY FOR /root and 150GB hdd entirely /home separated and i am quite happy cuz i have lots of music,videos , software

[rene]

OK. If you reconsider at some point due to e.g. Windows-only tools for hardware you have I'd split the 80G drive 40/40 for Linux / and Windows 7; 80G is going to be a chore to fill...