Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question
Solved

Dual Boot 2 ssd + 1 hdd

Tags:
  • SSD
  • Dual Boot
  • Hard Drives
  • Linux
Last response: in Linux/Free BSD
Share
December 28, 2013 7:35:03 PM

I'm building a new system and have a few questions regarding dual booting Windows 8 and Linux(possibly ubuntu).

Right now I have a Sata III 180gb ssd and a 500gb hdd. I have found a refurbished Sata II 100gb ssd for $50. My questions are as follows:

1) Is it worth buying the 3rd hard drive even though it's Sata II? I don't think I'll have space issues if I partitioned the 180 and just used that for both OS's but I like the cleanliness of dedicated drives.

2) What hardware configurations do I need to consider? Aka will the multiple drives need to be set up for RAID or just plug all 3/2 in and go? I'm willing to read, multiple drives is my weakness in hardware since this will be my first attempt at it so I'm just looking for direction here.

More about : dual boot ssd hdd

a b 5 Linux
December 28, 2013 7:48:17 PM

Given those options, I'd get that other drive, even if it is SATA II.

Windows on the 180GB
Linux on the 100GB
Use the 500 as a shared space for both.

No RAID needed or recommended.
m
0
l
December 28, 2013 7:55:09 PM

That was my exact thought, it's always nice to get confirmation though. One more question that is more based out of my impatience. The copy of Windows 8 I bought is going to arrive about 1 week after all my hardware. I've read that Windows needs to be installed first on the master drive and then Linux after. However I'd love to be able to build and install Linux and then a week later add Windows. Do you foresee any problems with this?
m
0
l
Related resources
a b 5 Linux
December 28, 2013 8:09:47 PM

For two discreet drive (choose which one to boot from the BIOS) it probably doesn't matter.
If you want the GRUB subsystem to choose the boot system, Windows first, then Linux.
m
0
l
December 28, 2013 8:38:45 PM

Can I still reinstall GRUB using the boot repair utility and then there will be no difference? Since the OS's will be on separate drives I'm thinking I'll install Linux on the second smaller ssd which will be slaved. Then a week later install Windows, then repair the bootloader. It seems like the problems stem from partitioning a single drive.
m
0
l

Best solution

January 3, 2014 12:58:38 PM

No, that will make no difference, if it is boot repair from a Linux ubuntu live cd (Ubuntu install) disk), if u go in software centre and type in boot repair and do that it should be fine.

Also, I reccomend Ubuntu.

Also, before u install windows, download gparted from the software centre. Select the other two drives and format them to NTFS. Windows can't see ext file systems, and fat32 I find needs chkdisk a lot. When installing windows be sure to select the bigger ssd
Linux can read NTFS, so format the HDD to that and you can place files that you can use on both OS's there. Then the two OS's can go on one of the ssd's each.

Plus I think that you may still find grub problems if you use two separate drives and li ux first. Just make sure you boot repair
Share
!