Moving to Linux

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DefiantMandalor

n00b
Joined
Nov 15, 2011
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I wasn't sure where to put this so I put it here.

I want to leave Windows and move to Linux but I don't want to reformat my entire drive. I have a 1TB hard drive. Couldn't I make a two partitions, one called D:/ to store my Windows files and the other E:/ to install Linux? That way, I can copy the files from D:/ into Linux without losing anything.

Please let me know if this is possible or if it would be better to get an external drive for storage.

Thanks!
 
Most Linux installers will create a partition for Linux without affecting Windows at all, in fact I know for certain Ubuntu will do it and even allow you to choose Windows via the grub menu without needing to fool around with it.
 
You already have a partition with windows, so why not just create one other and install linux there? You will need to make sure you boot from the linux partition ....Then just mount the windows partition and copy over.
 
Yeah just shrink your Windows partition. And whatever distro you choose, make sure you don't select to use the entire disk.

But I would honestly get something like virtualbox and install Linux on a VM first. Play around with it, mess up a few installs, get a feel for it first, experience the awful support and performance with your Radeon card on linux, etc...
 
Thanks for the responses! I just wanted to be sure that I could get all my Windows stuff into Linux before I got rid of Windows.
 
Cheetoz said:
experience the awful support and performance with your Radeon card on linux, etc...
Click to expand...

Awful isn't the word. If you're going to use Linux, I would strongly suggest just replacing your AMD card with one from Nvda. I say this, because AMD does not make a usable kernel module for linux. Though, you could get a second card or use intc gpu and connect it to the second video input on your monitor.

Oh, and Linux doesn't use the same conventions as Windows does. You're not going to have lettered drives in Linux. I don't even really understand the need to have such a naming convention at all? But whatever..
 
hedron said:
Awful isn't the word. If you're going to use Linux, I would strongly suggest just replacing your AMD card with one from Nvda. I say this, because AMD does not make a usable kernel module for linux. Though, you could get a second card or use intc gpu and connect it to the second video input on your monitor.

Oh, and Linux doesn't use the same conventions as Windows does. You're not going to have lettered drives in Linux. I don't even really understand the need to have such a naming convention at all? But whatever..
Click to expand...

Heed this guy's warning on the AMD video card.

I have yet to get those proprietary drivers to work on my computer. At the moment, the included drivers that came with Linux Mint 14 have been working pretty good so far. TF2 for Steam Linux at the moment hasn't given me any issues.

But, older versions of the AMD proprietary drivers have given me these issues with my Radeon HD 6950:
  • Yellow-screen freeze
  • Screen corruption
  • Blocking proper shutdown of the computer
  • Missing taskbar and desktop icons
I am not sure if these were fixed in Catalyst 13.1 for Linux.

As for the drives, try to keep a mental or written note of the drive designations. You'll always see if the drive is for Windows or not given it'll be formatted in NTFS. Another thing to take note of if you're going the dual boot route is where to put the boot sector (not boot partition, /boot). I have mine on the first bootable hard drive listed in my system (sda1 according to Linux Mint installer). Yours may be listed differently on your computer depending on the distro. I believe Fedora or CentOS has them listed differently. Ubuntu and Mint should be the same.
 
If you just want to try to move to linux but aren't 100% sure about it you can use ubuntu's wubi installer to install linux as if it was a normal program. You will be able to boot into linux like normal but if you end up fed up with linux you can simply uninstall it as if it was skype or something.
 
I'm surprised no one's asked the big question yet: WHY do you want to switch to Linux?
 
Last edited:
Radical said:
I'm surprise no one's asked the big question yet: WHY do you want to switch to Linux?
Click to expand...

This is a good question. Desktop Linux is good for many things, but not for everything. Even with Valve's great efforts with Steam, it's still not a truly viable gaming platform.
 
There's always Wubi from Ubuntu as well (and all the Ubuntu derivatives like Kubuntu and Xubuntu). Wubi allows you to 'install' Ubuntu/etc on the same hard drive that your Windows installation is on (even the same partition) inside a folder using a loopback file system meaning the entire OS exists inside a single folder. It modifies only the Windows boot loader configuration file (not the boot loader itself, big difference) and adds Ubuntu to the config file.

This allows you to run Ubuntu completely native on the same machine in a dual boot situation where you define how large the install/folder is (Wubi asks that when you install it, as well as the target partition/drive as well).

You're left with a complete 100% full blown functional installation of Ubuntu that you can use on the native hardware - this isn't a virtualized environment at all.

Best thing? If you decide you don't like it, you re-run the Wubi installer (just a small .exe file) and you can uninstall/delete the entire Ubuntu installation in 3 seconds flat, or even faster if you're on an SSD. :)

If you're interested in using Linux this is pretty much the best way to do it. Ubuntu gets a lot of crap from diehard Linux supporters but, the project has done more to spread word of Linux itself than anything else ever has.

Wubi only works for Ubuntu/etc sadly, it can't be used with other distros (although that would be awesome if it did). Highly recommended since you can just "get rid of it" in a few seconds if you're not interested, and it disappears leaving your current Windows installation right where it's always been, no harm, no foul.

I use Wubi/Ubuntu 12.04 on my current Windows 7 installation, and I also have Ubuntu 12.04 in a virtual machine with VMware Player as well, but that's limited in terms of hardware compatibility (the VM can't see through to my wireless hardware unless I plug in a USB Wi-Fi stick). When I reboot and use Wubi/Ubuntu, it's native on the bare metal machine and it works as expected.

Can't hurt to try it and see if you really do want to use Linux full time, right? Faster than using a LiveCD, a native install that beats any virtualization method, etc. It's all good.
 
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