ubuntu linux + windows 10 duel boot

[simberdavid]

i would like to learn how to do this on the same hard drive

[JaegerB]

So first things first, what kind of PC is this? Desktop or laptop?

You'll have to hop onto the Ubuntu site and download the iso file (this is what contains the files for ubuntu). This is here: https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop?

You'll also need a USB stick, 4GB+ is recommended. Download this program here called rufus, which will burn the iso onto your USB: https://rufus.akeo.ie/

Once its downloaded the iso, open up rufus and select your USB, and your ISO file. Make sure you format the USB during the process.

The rest is dependent on your device since it involves using the UEFI.

[simberdavid]

its on a desktop

[pipnina]

I advise not installing them to the same storage medium. It worked well historically but these days windows is a right bastard when it comes to updates.

I have heard many a story of windows 10 updates breaking dual boots as windows insists on rewriting th area where grub lives.

The only way to be sure it will work long-term is to have a 2nd drive. And have the boot partitions separate.

 

Are you trying linux for the first time, or a more experienced user who just has not dual booted before?

[JaegerB]

15 minutes ago, simberdavid said:

its on a desktop

Make sure you quote me so I can see your response

 

Cool, so open up the windows search menu and find "Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions". Open it.

Right click on your main partition and shrink it by however much space you want for Ubuntu (generally a minimum of 20 GB). You should be left with unallocated space.

Once you have your drive with Ubuntu, chuck it into a port and hop into your boot menu in your UEFI. Select your USB to boot off, and it should boot into a menu. The settings are up to you, but when you reach the partitioning menu, select "Something else". You'll be presented with a list of partitions, select the free space. Set the size to equal the size of the free space. Use it as Ext4, and ensure your mount point is /home. After that, follow the prompts and finish your personalisation. This includes time zone and accounts. After that it will complete the installation! 

 

[simberdavid]

6 hours ago, pipnina said:

I advise not installing them to the same storage medium. It worked well historically but these days windows is a right bastard when it comes to updates.

I have heard many a story of windows 10 updates breaking dual boots as windows insists on rewriting th area where grub lives.

The only way to be sure it will work long-term is to have a 2nd drive. And have the boot partitions separate.

 

Are you trying linux for the first time, or a more experienced user who just has not dual booted before?

I'm a complete noob when it comes to linux, just trying it out for the first time, 

 

6 hours ago, JaegerB said:

Make sure you quote me so I can see your response

 

Cool, so open up the windows search menu and find "Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions". Open it.

Right click on your main partition and shrink it by however much space you want for Ubuntu (generally a minimum of 20 GB). You should be left with unallocated space.

Once you have your drive with Ubuntu, chuck it into a port and hop into your boot menu in your UEFI. Select your USB to boot off, and it should boot into a menu. The settings are up to you, but when you reach the partitioning menu, select "Something else". You'll be presented with a list of partitions, select the free space. Set the size to equal the size of the free space. Use it as Ext4, and ensure your mount point is /home. After that, follow the prompts and finish your personalisation. This includes time zone and accounts. After that it will complete the installation! 

 

one last question, should i make another partition specifically for the linux file system or could I use the same partition for both the linux and windows 10 file systems?

also, since I am doing it on the same drive, how will I be able to choose which os to boot into?

[pipnina]

2 hours ago, simberdavid said:

I'm a complete noob when it comes to linux, just trying it out for the first time, 

 

one last question, should i make another partition specifically for the linux file system or could I use the same partition for both the linux and windows 10 file systems?

also, since I am doing it on the same drive, how will I be able to choose which os to boot into?

When you install them to the same drive, grub (grand unified bootloader) gives you the option at boot whether to launch windows or your chosen distribution of linux.

Your partition table will probably look like this:

DRIVE1
	PARTITION 1 - Windows (C:)
	PARTITION 2 - EFI (bootloaders: GRUB (/boot) and Windows bootloader)
	PARTITION 3 - "Root" ("/" in the Linux filesystem, i.e. the equivalent of "C:" in a way)

/ is the start of the linux filesystem. Linux allows you to mount drives to any point on this system, so you can make DRIVE1 mounted as /, DRIVE2 mounted as /home and that will cause DRIVE1 to hold all the files in all directories besides /home.

 

To access things like USB sticks, hard drives that are not integrated with the file system and phones etc, you look in "/media/<user>/<storage_name>"

[simberdavid]

2 hours ago, pipnina said:

When you install them to the same drive, grub (grand unified bootloader) gives you the option at boot whether to launch windows or your chosen distribution of linux.

Your partition table will probably look like this:

DRIVE1
	PARTITION 1 - Windows (C:)
	PARTITION 2 - EFI (bootloaders: GRUB (/boot) and Windows bootloader)
	PARTITION 3 - "Root" ("/" in the Linux filesystem, i.e. the equivalent of "C:" in a way)

/ is the start of the linux filesystem. Linux allows you to mount drives to any point on this system, so you can make DRIVE1 mounted as /, DRIVE2 mounted as /home and that will cause DRIVE1 to hold all the files in all directories besides /home.

 

To access things like USB sticks, hard drives that are not integrated with the file system and phones etc, you look in "/media/<user>/<storage_name>"

wait, so I have a partition with windows 10 on it, one with ubuntu, and one for a general file system? (i think this is wrong pls clarify)

[pipnina]

2 minutes ago, simberdavid said:

wait, so I have a partition with windows 10 on it, one with ubuntu, and one for a general file system? (i think this is wrong pls clarify)

Most configurations have a partition for windows, a partition for ubuntu and a partition that holds the bootloaders. Installing ubuntu in dual boot is easy enough. It guides you through the process, basically foolproof.

 

"/" is ubuntu's "c:" in a way, it merely marks the beginning of the file structure.

Sadly, windows only supports NTFS for installing to, can't read ubuntu filesystems, and ubuntu cannot be installed to NTFS (typically installed to an ext4 filesystem). However ubuntu can read and write to NTFS. This means you can take, modify and create files on your windows partition from ubuntu, but not the other way around.

[simberdavid]

10 hours ago, pipnina said:

Most configurations have a partition for windows, a partition for ubuntu and a partition that holds the bootloaders. Installing ubuntu in dual boot is easy enough. It guides you through the process, basically foolproof.

 

"/" is ubuntu's "c:" in a way, it merely marks the beginning of the file structure.

Sadly, windows only supports NTFS for installing to, can't read ubuntu filesystems, and ubuntu cannot be installed to NTFS (typically installed to an ext4 filesystem). However ubuntu can read and write to NTFS. This means you can take, modify and create files on your windows partition from ubuntu, but not the other way around.

so how do I get from here to there? (note that this is on my laptop, not my desktop)

[pipnina]

16 minutes ago, simberdavid said:

so how do I get from here to there? (note that this is on my laptop, not my desktop)

The ubuntu installer can do the partitioning for you. Burn an 18.04 iso to a usb stick and boot from it, then follow the on-screen instructions. If it detects your windows installation automatically (it should) it will give you a slider for you to choose how much space each OS has.

 

p.s. if the default ubuntu doesn't agree with you, give KDE Neon a try. It's basically ubuntu with a different desktop (which looks/feels a bit more familiar to a windows user, while still being extremely customizable)

[Sauron]

On 6/10/2018 at 1:49 PM, pipnina said:

I have heard many a story of windows 10 updates breaking dual boots as windows insists on rewriting th area where grub lives.

Can confirm, it can be fixed but it's a pain in the butt. I gave up on dual booting arch precisely because of this.

13 hours ago, pipnina said:

This means you can take, modify and create files on your windows partition from ubuntu, but not the other way around.

'course, one could make a separate home partition and format it in exFAT... I don't necessarily recommend it but if sharing files across the two systems is important it may be worth it. I don't think ubuntu lets you do that in the installer though.

1 hour ago, pipnina said:

The ubuntu installer can do the partitioning for you.

Personally I prefer letting windows shrink its own partition, it's a little safer. Regardless, you should do a backup of any critical data before you do this @simberdavid

[simberdavid]

5 hours ago, pipnina said:

The ubuntu installer can do the partitioning for you. Burn an 18.04 iso to a usb stick and boot from it, then follow the on-screen instructions. If it detects your windows installation automatically (it should) it will give you a slider for you to choose how much space each OS has.

 

p.s. if the default ubuntu doesn't agree with you, give KDE Neon a try. It's basically ubuntu with a different desktop (which looks/feels a bit more familiar to a windows user, while still being extremely customizable)

 

3 hours ago, Sauron said:

Can confirm, it can be fixed but it's a pain in the butt. I gave up on dual booting arch precisely because of this.

'course, one could make a separate home partition and format it in exFAT... I don't necessarily recommend it but if sharing files across the two systems is important it may be worth it. I don't think ubuntu lets you do that in the installer though.

Personally I prefer letting windows shrink its own partition, it's a little safer. Regardless, you should do a backup of any critical data before you do this @simberdavid

thanks for the help everyone, I honestly JUST built this desktop so I have absolutely 0 important files, I will try this sooner or later, if it works I will post it here

[geo3]

1 hour ago, simberdavid said:

 

thanks for the help everyone, I honestly JUST built this desktop so I have absolutely 0 important files, I will try this sooner or later, if it works I will post it here

Another option is to use WSL which is built into Win10.  It's pretty simple, just enter one command, reboot, then install Ubuntu from the windows store. Here's how.

You don't get the Linux GUI but pretty much everything else is there, it's a good way to learn Linux and is a useful tool if you want it to be.  As a developer I use WSL at work and it's like having the best of both worlds.