W11 next to LM

Hello,

Many sections on the Web explain the "Dual Boot" setup on PCs... Including the Malekal site and Ubuntu's, absolutely interchangeable... for at least 10 years.

-- Let's say you need to shrink the Windows partition on the disk, and leave enough space available to install Linux Mint or Ubuntu or others. Formatted in EXT4.

-- Next, you install Linux in the dedicated partition, without forgetting to choose the boot parameter in the GRUB boot menu. On restart, it is Linux that is the only one present. No panic, Windows is still there, but not present in the boot menu... this can be done... depending on the Linux setup; It may also be present.

-- Otherwise, you must go back into Linux in text mode to add the Windows entries so you can find everything again

-- There are details not mentioned here... and also other methods for startup

Hi,

LM's documentation isn't too bad (but in English), . When you install it you will have the option to choose dual-boot mode (checkbox "install alongside Windows ..."). And when you reboot after the installation you will automatically get a boot menu that will let you choose the OS you want to start.

(You can also read the other parts of the tutorial which are probably a bit more up-to-date than CCM's article)

Regards.

Hello,

Here are the steps I suggest:

1) Under Windows, in Disk Management: create free space on your hard drive. This may require shrinking certain partitions (always via Disk Management). This space will eventually host the Linux partitions.

2) Prepare a bootable USB drive with a Linux installer. Download the image of the desired Linux (prefer a modern version). Then you can use a tool like BalenaEtcher. It requires a blank USB drive large enough to hold the image. Note that an installer image for a mainstream distribution is about 4–6 GB (Ubuntu, Mint). Distributions like Debian have much smaller installers if you are constrained by the USB size (but that is a distribution aimed at a more experienced audience). The data on the USB drive will be overwritten in the process.

3) Save the documents you care about on another medium (USB drive, online on a drive...). Updating the BIOS is important for somewhat older PCs because otherwise the Linux installer may fail (I had this issue with ASUS Zenbooks).

4) Reboot into BIOS/UEFI. Under Windows: Start > Power > Shift+Click Restart. Plug in the USB during reboot.

5) In the BIOS/UEFI, in the boot order, ensure the USB is first. Make sure that "Secure Boot" is enabled.

6) Reboot and boot from the USB, which will show the Linux installer.

7) Let yourself be guided. You must be especially careful during partitioning and use the free space released in step (1). The installer may propose installing alongside Windows, but if that option is chosen, you need to check (and cancel if it doesn’t look right). Personally, I recommend manual partitioning (see below).

In manual partitioning, in order, we configure:

- optionally, a software RAID (allows data to be replicated on several hard drives): if in doubt, skip
- optionally, encryption of the Linux partitions (useful in case of theft). However, this requires using LVM+LUKS. And Windows is not compatible with LVM. This option can only apply if the Linux partitions are on a hard drive that does not contain Windows.

- and finally, the partitioning. Here is what I recommend:
- 1 swap partition (written as swap), 4 GB – used for hibernation
- 1 root partition / (written as ext4) – 25–50 GB is usually enough, but if you have space don’t hesitate to allocate more. It contains the system and applications.
- 1 home partition /home (written as ext4) – the rest – for your documents.

8) The installation ends with installing the boot menu (these days, more likely GRUB) which allows the computer to choose at startup whether to boot Windows or Ubuntu.

Important: if one day you want to uninstall Linux, take the time to follow an uninstall tutorial to remove GRUB cleanly.

Good luck