Linux . . .

[Warren Pnigel]

I am considering learning linux, but don't wan't to partition my storage hardrive to be able to boot linux, because I have windows on another ssd and I just want to keep things simple. I'm thinking of buying another hard drive (1tb or 500gb) just for linux and all of my linux files and stuff. Can anyone recommend this? What hardrive should I use?

[kevink817]

Rather than purchasing a separate hard-drive and trying to dual boot Linux and Windows, i'd recommend installing vitualbox and setting up a Linux virtual machine on that... at least to get started.

[SuperJeRoT]

Just get a small hdd. I have a 20gb partition for my Linux Mint Mate and I find it enough although I use windows more often but something like a 120gb hdd for Linux boot should be plenty and use your existing hdd for storage. Just disable fast boot in windows if you have problems accessing files on that hdd.

[manikyath]

Rather than purchasing a separate hard-drive and trying to dual boot Linux and Windows, i'd recommend installing vitualbox and setting up a Linux virtual machine on that... at least to get started.

this is great to get into linux, because you cant actually do anything wrong on your actual system.

[Elapo]

I don't know what you're planning on doing on that linux distro, but an average distro takes like ~5GB install space. I have a 50GB partition on my laptop with linuxc mint on it, still have loads of space left.

[Albatross]

I believe he needs room for file creation etc etc. For that I would recommend 500gb but it really depends on how much you plan on doing with Linux and if it really needs all that space.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Rather than purchasing a separate hard-drive and trying to dual boot Linux and Windows, i'd recommend installing vitualbox and setting up a Linux virtual machine on that... at least to get started.

I can only second that. Giving Linux its own dedicated HDD is a big step, so make sure you like it enough to take that step. A virtual machine is ideal to try it and won't affect performance too much.

VirtualBox is free, and so is Linux. All you lose by going the VM route is some disk space, which you can easily reclaim if needed.

[linuxfan66]

My first dual boot had two drives with mepis Linux. The hard drives died after a couple of months sadly...

[Satlen]

If you just want to try out a linux distro without messing with anything, you can just install it in virtualbox. Even if you get a separate hard drive, you will still need to install a bootloader to allow your pc to boot into your linux distro.