Dual Boot Linux/Windows

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comdoc

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Converting old Asus X86 Intel CPU 12 Gb DDR3 650W HDD mid tower Win 7 system. New components: Asus TUF Gaming X570 Plus mb, AMD Ryzen 5 3400G CPU, Samsung 1T 970 EVO+ SSD, 16Gb 3200 Corsair DDR4 RAM. System uses include online college courses, video streaming, blogging, a few X86 legacy programs; no gaming nor overclocking. I have downloaded Linux Mint Cinnamon to DVD. Win 7 Pro is very slow to load (8-10 min). Have backed up HDD to external hard drive. Advised to clean install Win 7; I have original CD with product key. And use free AOMEI Backupper clone software to move Windows from old HDD to new SSD (both 1 T). All my connections are Ethernet.

Best to clone old Win OS to SSD first, then clean install Win 7 Pro? Or do clean install of Win 7 to HDD first, then clone to SSD?
Setup dual boot with Linux Mint first or Win 7 first? Partition 500 Gb for each OS?

Can I install Win 7 Pro on new SSD and Linux on old hard drive? How to switch between the two OS?
 
comdoc said:
Converting old Asus X86 Intel CPU 12 Gb DDR3 650W HDD mid tower Win 7 system. New components: Asus TUF Gaming X570 Plus mb, AMD Ryzen 5 3400G CPU, Samsung 1T 970 EVO+ SSD, 16Gb 3200 Corsair DDR4 RAM. System uses include online college courses, video streaming, blogging, a few X86 legacy programs; no gaming nor overclocking. I have downloaded Linux Mint Cinnamon to DVD. Win 7 Pro is very slow to load (8-10 min). Have backed up HDD to external hard drive. Advised to clean install Win 7; I have original CD with product key. And use free AOMEI Backupper clone software to move Windows from old HDD to new SSD (both 1 T). All my connections are Ethernet.

Best to clone old Win OS to SSD first, then clean install Win 7 Pro? Or do clean install of Win 7 to HDD first, then clone to SSD?
Setup dual boot with Linux Mint first or Win 7 first? Partition 500 Gb for each OS?

Can I install Win 7 Pro on new SSD and Linux on old hard drive? How to switch between the two OS?
Click to expand...

Install linux after you do whatever you want / need to with your windows. Yes you can install linux to a separate drive. (just be carefull you don't select the wrong drive when installing linux) after you install linux you will get a boot menu on startup that will let you choose to boot to either windows or linux.
 
motqalden said:
Install linux after you do whatever you want / need to with your windows. Yes you can install linux to a separate drive. (just be carefull you don't select the wrong drive when installing linux) after you install linux you will get a boot menu on startup that will let you choose to boot to either windows or linux.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I've read that Win doesn't like dual boot -- so this would solve that, and I'll have twice as much space for each OS.
 
You have to be careful where you put the Linux bootloader, make sure it's not on the same drive (edit: partition) as the Windows bootloader. Thus it's better to have seperate drives.
 
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Make sure that your system boots in UEFI mode. Dual-booting used to be a hassle in the old BIOS days, with UEFI it is less of an issue now. Linux and Windows side by side on the same HDD/SSD is no problem any longer.

About running Windows 7 on a 3400G with X570, technically it is possible but in practice you will have to jump through a number of hoops to even get it to boot, nevermind getting the USB ports to work. Keep a PS/2 keyboard ready and be sure to read through the necessary steps before you start the attempt.
I suggest to just install Windows 10 with your Windows 7 key, or if you are dead set on keeping Windows 7, run it in a VM under Linux.
 
What I did just this week was: In a system with 2 SSDs, WIn 10 installed on the first SSD. Unplugged that one, installed Ubuntu on the second drive. Plugged the Win 10 SSD back in and set the BIOS to boot to Linux. Once in Linux opened a terminal and ran sudo update grub. Now GRUB has the Win bootloader and with the BIOS set to boot to the Linux drive I choose which OS to boot into from there. No problems at all.
 
Holdolin said:
What I did just this week was: In a system with 2 SSDs, WIn 10 installed on the first SSD. Unplugged that one, installed Ubuntu on the second drive. Plugged the Win 10 SSD back in and set the BIOS to boot to Linux. Once in Linux opened a terminal and ran sudo update grub. Now GRUB has the Win bootloader and with the BIOS set to boot to the Linux drive I choose which OS to boot into from there. No problems at all.
Click to expand...

Same here. Windows 10 on old 128gb Adata ssd and FerenOS on Samsung 860 evo 500gb and after kernel update, grub was updated to include windows. No problems. I only use windows now to scan, print and play a game or two.
 
OK, I installed Asus Tufgaming mb. It boots into BIOS screen which shows DVD first in boot order. How do I get into DVD screen so I can see the mb install cd? How to install Linux (made DVD) to new SSD?

OK, I got LM to install, I think on the DVD. I just inserted the DVD I made and it auto installed. But the SSD is not found. Now in Linux Mint! :)

Computer shows SSD, ext WD HDD, old WD HDD, and File System, all gray. DVD drive is white.

Devices shows old HDD with all files and ext HDD with backup files.

When I try to open SSD, it says unable to mount location.
 
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comdoc said:
OK, I installed Asus Tufgaming mb. It boots into BIOS screen which shows DVD first in boot order. How do I get into DVD screen so I can see the mb install cd? How to install Linux (made DVD) to new SSD?

OK, I got LM to install, I think on the DVD. I just inserted the DVD I made and it auto installed. But the SSD is not found. Now in Linux Mint! :)

Computer shows SSD, ext WD HDD, old WD HDD, and File System, all gray. DVD drive is white.

Devices shows old HDD with all files and ext HDD with backup files.

When I try to open SSD, it says unable to mount location.
Click to expand...
When you try to open the SSD from where?
 
comdoc said:
When I try to open SSD, it says unable to mount location.
Click to expand...
You probably need to format it. Install gparted (sudo apt install gparted) and see if it already has a file system. If not, use NTFS for Windows or ext4 for Linux.
 
I built a new computer using AMD X570 Tufgaming mb, an M2 SSD and an optical drive. I installed Linux from a DVD download, and it worked. My goal is to install Win 10 from DVD to the SSD. Can I create a Win10 ISO file on a blank DVD, and install Win10 onto the new SSD by inserting the DVD with ISO file?

Asus UEFI BIOS Utility - EZ Mode screen comes up when I boot the computer without DVD. If I start with Linux DVD in drive, I get GRUB screen with 4 choices:

Start Linux Mint. Pressing return starts Linux Mint
Start Linux Mint...(compatibility mode)
OEM install for manufacturers
Check the integrity of the medium

I downloaded Linux Mint onto it installed onto the DVD.

Can I do the same process with Win10? Will it auto install from DVD to new SSD?
 
Jonnycat99 said:
You probably need to format it. Install gparted (sudo apt install gparted) and see if it already has a file system. If not, use NTFS for Windows or ext4 for Linux.
Click to expand...
Thanks. OK, I entered that command. Now what next to check for file system and format the SSD?
 
Run gparted, select the SSD (probably /dev/sdb if you only have two drives), then create a new partition with the file system you want. At that point you should be able to mount it.
 
Jonnycat99 said:
Run gparted, select the SSD (probably /dev/sdb if you only have two drives), then create a new partition with the file system you want. At that point you should be able to mount it.
Click to expand...
gparted shows unallocated under partition and file system. OK, I created new partition as Primary Partition #1. It shows ntfs, 931.51 GiB on /dev/nvme0n1. It says 1 operation pending. Now what?
 
comdoc said:
gparted shows unallocated under partition and file system. OK, I created new partition as Primary Partition #1. It shows ntfs, 931.51 GiB on /dev/nvme0n1. It says 1 operation pending. Now what?
Click to expand...
Next commit/execute the changes and formet the drive using ext4 or ntfs whatever you prefer and depending on the OS you want to use it with. If it's linux, use ext4. If Windows, use NTFS. Windows can't read ext4. After that the drive can be mounted.
 
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