installing linux as second OS

chirufan1

Honorable
Oct 9, 2013
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hey guys i have windows 7 installed and want to add linux as a second OS.below is the current configuration of my computer
c drive : 1.1 gb free of 37gb
d drive :12 gb free of 35gb
e drive : 20 gb free of 55gb
f drive : 16 gb free of 55gb

here the c drive is the boot drive
i will one of the other drives for the second OS
My main questionis
must i do something to make the drive ready for second OS(like make it bootable)

can anybody explain me the process of installing a second OS (or)
any links to useful videos is good enough too
 
Solution


Don't worry about that, you can have many partitions if you desire, why you would I have no idea. It's 4 primary...
Am I correct that you have chopped up your drive into separate partitions already? Linux distros typically come with grub2 (grand unified boot loader) that will automatically set up your boot menu and include all operating systems. Ubuntu and Mint are probably the easiest distros to learn on and are pretty small for installation purposes.

Before you do an install, I suggest that you download YUMI (enables you to run multiple o/s'es from a usb) and then download Ubuntu and/or Linux Mint and put it/them on the thumb drive to try out.

If you decide you really want to go with linux, there is a good site HERE that has useful tips and how to's.

Regardless, unless you have some specific reason to cut up your drive with various partitions, I would suggest you back up all your data and do a fresh install of windows (and linux if you so choose).

Mark
 

chamaecyparis

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Nov 21, 2010
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A GNU/Linux distro will recognize no more than four partitions and you already have four. Backup what's on d:\ e:\ and f:\ , make a Boot Disk, get rid of at least two partitions and proceed to install Linux, as per many dual-boot refs as markwp provided. Use gparted as asuggestion for partitioning all but the windoes partiitions
 

stillblue

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Nov 30, 2012
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11,660


Don't worry about that, you can have many partitions if you desire, why you would I have no idea. It's 4 primary partitions that is the limit, you probably only have two. To make it easy, if one of the existing partitions is a storage transfer it's contents to another partition and then delete it. Most distros will simply configure the empty space into what is needed.

 
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