Ubuntu 14.04.2... What do I need to know...

[Ravenshire]

Unlike my last attempt at moving to the Linux world, I'm going to try this a little more sanely. Last time I decided to abandon all things M$ and jump directly into Linux leaving myself in a position of dealing with a learning curve just to get Linux up and running at a time when I needed to keep a functional computer.

So, with all that said, what do I need to do/avoid doing to set up a dual boot with Win7 and Ubuntu?

I have a smallish (250Gig SSD) system drive and Windows plus windows apps have fairly well filled it (about 45Gig free). I currently have a 2T (1.81Gig formatted) that I have recently cleaned off, moving everything to a 3T Raid 1. I plan on using the 2T drive for Linux then hiding it in Windows so M$ or I don't accidentally screw things up when I'm booted to Windows.

So, other that backing up the important stuff, can I just reboot and install Ubuntu to the newly cleaned drive or are there other precautions I need to take?

Thanks...

[Jackalope]

That depends.  Do you intend on installing the Linux boot loader on your SSD to select the boot OS, or do something like select the boot device from firmware?

If you're doing the latter, just disconnect the SSD and do the install.  If the former, do a backup just in case you make a mistake during installation.

[Jackalope]

(Actually, the former will end up with the boot loader on your 2TB drive and you can actually use either method to select your boot partition.)

[Ravenshire]

What I really want to get is one of these with an extra "sleeve" and another SSD. Then I can put windows on one, Linux on another and just switch discs whenever I need to switch the OS.

[Aoi Magi]

Just use virtualbox on windows and install ubuntu. Get your feet wet first and see how much better the linux world is. Then ditch both completely and move to fedora.

[pocaracas]

Yeah... ubuntu sucks balls:
http://www.howtogeek.com/188589/5-things...14.04-lts/
Amazon search integration turned ON by default?! WTH?!


Use Fedora, or just the basic Debian if you really want the .deb packaging system and repositories you'll find in ubuntu... or Mint.

Also, if you're noobing it out, use virtualbox in windows and install your linux distro in there... you can even make several virtual disks, each with one different linux distro so you can compare them all, before actual messing up your disks boot record(s).
Virtualbox works best if your processor supports virtualization (Intel or AMD).

[SteelCurtain]

I would very much suggest two things for sure before getting started:

1) If you are going to be switching back and forth a lot, I would recommend formatting your Linux partition NTFS, even though ext3 or ext4 is better. Reason being, you cannot access files from your Linux partition when you are back in Windows if you choose one of the latter. If this doesn't matter, ext3 would be my recommendation.

2) Check your peripherals in virtualization first. Mouse functions, keyboard functions, printers, etc. You might find some essential function is lost.

[Ravenshire]

Just use virtualbox on windows and install ubuntu. Get your feet wet first and see how much better the linux world is. Then ditch both completely and move to fedora.

Due to the need for AutoCAD, permanently ditching Winblows will continue to be a pipe dream as long as I continue to need AutoCAD.

---

Yeah... ubuntu sucks balls:
http://www.howtogeek.com/188589/5-things...14.04-lts/
Amazon search integration turned ON by default?! WTH?!


Use Fedora, or just the basic Debian if you really want the .deb packaging system and repositories you'll find in ubuntu... or Mint.

Also, if you're noobing it out, use virtualbox in windows and install your linux distro in there... you can even make several virtual disks, each with one different linux distro so you can compare them all, before actual messing up your disks boot record(s).
Virtualbox works best if your processor supports virtualization (Intel or AMD).

Not totally noobing. I've played around with Linux before, but needed a functional machine and didn't have the time or the know how when trying to blow M$ off. I now have the time, but still have a need for a functional Winblows PC as well. I kinda like the idea of the virtual machines, but I'm concerned with how well they'll represent how Linux actually runs on the hardware (don't trust windows to allow Linux to run properly). Dual boot sounds to me like the best solution for now.

---

I would very much suggest two things for sure before getting started:

1) If you are going to be switching back and forth a lot, I would recommend formatting your Linux partition NTFS, even though ext3 or ext4 is better. Reason being, you cannot access files from your Linux partition when you are back in Windows if you choose one of the latter. If this doesn't matter, ext3 would be my recommendation.

2) Check your peripherals in virtualization first. Mouse functions, keyboard functions, printers, etc. You might find some essential function is lost.

(emphasis is mine)

All my Windows shit is on a pair of drives in a 3TB Raid 1 configuration. Win 7 on the SSD. I have a whole, empty 2TB drive to play with.
What I might do is chop it into three or four pieces and install three or four distros on it so I can play with multiple version on a quad- or penta-boot system.

It's apparently not going to be Ubuntu 14.04. Two separate downloads, two DVD burns and a thumb-drive installer and I can't get it to the install screen on any computer in the house, including the old one that once ran Ubuntu 12.04. Time to try something else I think. Once I realized it might be the distro and not my hardware, I downloaded (alphabetically) CentOS, Debian, Elementary OS, Fedora, Mageia and Mint in addition to Ubuntu. I also still have my Ubuntu 12.04 install disc.

I'm thinking Mint first, though I'll probably try booting the Ubuntu 12.04 disc just to make sure I can get the installer running before burning more coasters.

[pocaracas]

Yeah... ubuntu sucks balls:
http://www.howtogeek.com/188589/5-things...14.04-lts/
Amazon search integration turned ON by default?! WTH?!


Use Fedora, or just the basic Debian if you really want the .deb packaging system and repositories you'll find in ubuntu... or Mint.

Also, if you're noobing it out, use virtualbox in windows and install your linux distro in there... you can even make several virtual disks, each with one different linux distro so you can compare them all, before actual messing up your disks boot record(s).
Virtualbox works best if your processor supports virtualization (Intel or AMD).

Not totally noobing. I've played around with Linux before, but needed a functional machine and didn't have the time or the know how when trying to blow M$ off. I now have the time, but still have a need for a functional Winblows PC as well. I kinda like the idea of the virtual machines, but I'm concerned with how well they'll represent how Linux actually runs on the hardware (don't trust windows to allow Linux to run properly). Dual boot sounds to me like the best solution for now.

The idea of going through the virtual machines is to help you pick the one you get better along with. Depending on your hardware, you may not notice any loss of performance with the virtualization process...

[Ravenshire]

Well, this is getting truly frustrating.

Ubuntu 14.04 - Fail
Ubuntu 12.04 - Fail
Mint 17.1 - Fail (runs on another machine though)
No error messages, no console, no nothing. Black screen and no response to anything other than the reset button.

I've just created a Fedora thumb drive installer to see if that one will work.

I'm guessing is some part of the hardware that doesn't have a good driver, but if I can't even get to the console.... Arrrrrrrgh!