- Sep 25, 2018
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How to boot two OS in one laptop?
- Thread starter Tylor Turpin
- Start date
Rukbat
Retired Moderator
- Feb 12, 2012
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Re: How To boot two OS in one laptop
Use the disk manager (Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management) to shrink the volume of the drive to as small as you think will be enough for you for Windows. Then boot the Linux disk (If you haven't made a choice, I'd suggest the Ubuntu (or Mint - same base) distro - it has a large support community) and follow the instructions for installing Linux on the "other" partition, not the one Windows is on. (Windows will be on "1" [as in sda1] if you don't have a hidden partition to redo Windows, "2" if you do, and there will be a 3rd, unformatted partition. that's the one you want to install to.)
But before you do anything, I suggest you go to the Ubuntu forums, hang around [register an account, of course]], ask questions if something isn't clear, learn a little, before you even attempt to install Linux. Do you want a swap partition? Why? You need to know such simple things before you start. Then how do you set GRUB up (so that you can choose which OS to boot into by default, and how long the choice stays on screen). Learn what you're doing before you do something wrong and have to reinstall Windows because you wrote all over it. It's always better to ask before you do - and it's encouraged, there and here. (We'd rather say "this is what you should do" than "this is what you should have done, but it's too late now" - on both forums.)
Use the disk manager (Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management) to shrink the volume of the drive to as small as you think will be enough for you for Windows. Then boot the Linux disk (If you haven't made a choice, I'd suggest the Ubuntu (or Mint - same base) distro - it has a large support community) and follow the instructions for installing Linux on the "other" partition, not the one Windows is on. (Windows will be on "1" [as in sda1] if you don't have a hidden partition to redo Windows, "2" if you do, and there will be a 3rd, unformatted partition. that's the one you want to install to.)
But before you do anything, I suggest you go to the Ubuntu forums, hang around [register an account, of course]], ask questions if something isn't clear, learn a little, before you even attempt to install Linux. Do you want a swap partition? Why? You need to know such simple things before you start. Then how do you set GRUB up (so that you can choose which OS to boot into by default, and how long the choice stays on screen). Learn what you're doing before you do something wrong and have to reinstall Windows because you wrote all over it. It's always better to ask before you do - and it's encouraged, there and here. (We'd rather say "this is what you should do" than "this is what you should have done, but it's too late now" - on both forums.)
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