K/Ubuntu

[lafleur1977]

hey,

I want to install either Kubuntu or Ubuntu on my Dell PC, which currently has Vista on it. Anyway, its unpartitioned, so I am wondering if I'm safe to edit the windows partition when installing K/ubuntu, and it wont mess up the windows partition.

Thanks.

[Alan2273]

Yes there is a danger of wiping Vista out if you make a mistake, make sure you back up your Vista partition before you attempt it.

If you go to this URL---http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first.htm?page=2---, it shows you how to do it with pictures, to walk you through, I suggest you print them out before you start.

[machiner]

I have installed Debian next to Vista a number of times. No sweat. Resize your large partition, make a couple new ones: 3. Make a recovery disc first.

sda1 -- keep it vista (ntfs) Vista needs 15Gb all by itself (AYFKM?) so leave enough space for your games or whatever.

sda2 -- linux root (10GB, you'll never use this much, mine is 4Gb and I'm using 45%) ext3

sda3 -- linux swap (2GB) (not actually needed if you've got the RAM except for uswsusp which needs swap for suspend)

sda4 -- linux /home - balance of space, ext3 formatted

All your stuff will go into ~/ (/home/user) as that's the only directory where you have write permissions by default so make it large.

[Panarchy]

^That is only if you have a scsi or sata drive.

For IDE I think it would be hda.

Anyways, use GParted to partition your drive. It is build into the ubuntu (and kubuntu) discs. On ubuntu click the topic left (Applications) then go Accessories (or whatever the first one is called) then Terminal.

Type this in;

sudo gparted

And you should understand the rest.

Panarchy

[Ubuntuser]

if you're running Hardy Heron or Intrepid Ibex it has Wubi, which works with Vista and you can install Linux right alongside Vista and chose which to boot at startup.

[Hb_Kai]

if you're running Hardy Heron or Intrepid Ibex it has Wubi, which works with Vista and you can install Linux right alongside Vista and chose which to boot at startup.

Dual-booting. I think that's what he's trying to do anyway.

I made a post about installing Ubuntu inside Windows earlier today actually. After looking around on the internet I've found out that by actually installing (K)Ubuntu inside Windows, this would cause performance issues with both operating systems, it'd probably be better to give it its own partition.

Anyway, on Vista ---

Start Menu -> Computer -> (right click) -> Manage (Management (one of them)) { You should get that Security Feature pop up thing here - Click "Continue" } -> Disk Management.

Your partitions' information should show now, right click the partition you want to resize and click Shrink, a box should pop up for you to enter the amount (MB) you want to reduce the partition.

You should probably also make a Recovery Partition about now.

Put the LiveCD in, press F12 to enter the boot menu, boot from CD, follow the guides on installing the OS, it should be done sooner or later.

That's basically all there is to it for dual-booting a PC with Vista already on it. But also make sure you follow the guides properly, because I nearly messed up here making the Ubuntu partition and nearly used the whole drive. :lol:

And another thing.... Before doing all this, put the LiveCD in first and see there is an option to try the OS out first before installing. It will require a reboot and should probably lag as you're booting it from the CD, but do this to check that all of your hardware works on the OS so you know whether or not you have to go driver hunting first too, or maybe K/Ubuntu has the drivers on the internet in which case you would have to go to the option of "activating" the driver which would connect to the internet, download and install the driver for you.

[Alan2273]

I know this is an old post that has been revived but I will repeat the warning I posted earlier on about dual booting when you have a computer with a recovery partition on it.

Just lately it seems there are a lot of posts about computer users who have tried to install a dual boot Windows / Linux system and have wiped out the recovery partition on there hard drive, so there is no way without a disk to reinstall Windows.

To anyone who is thinking of trying this, make sure you understand the Linux filesystem, before you start partitioning, so you do not wipe the recovery partition,

[Hb_Kai]

I never knew how old this was until I looked at the date of Panarchy's post. :lol:

What sort of things do you mean? I only understood about the home directory, everything starting at "/", and that the /home directory is the only one you have write permissions to unless you use the terminal, type in sudo, and enter your password. So I sort of knew how I was manouvering around the directories.

[Alan2273]

I was referring to the partitioning for installation, some people new to linux accept the partitioning defaults, if this is for the whole disk and they do not understand the partitions, they could take out any recovery partition for Windows.

If you have a Windows disk then you can partition to your hearts content.

[Hb_Kai]

Oh right. Well, for those that don't know; the blue bar is the size of the Ubuntu partition when installing it.

Well it was for me anyway. :P