install linux on a pc the already has windows 8.1 installed(without deleting the windows install)

Ruin91

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i have had windows 8.1 on my pc since i built it around 6 months ago..however iv been looking at switching to linux since my install of windows in buggy as hell....so what would i need to do to keep my current install of windows 8.1 on my pc while installing linux...is there some way io could just install linux on a second hard drive and tell windows to boot from that hdd instead of the current one that my install of windows is on? or would it be more complicated then that?

any help would be very welcome...i was looking at installing something called zorin os whis supposedly is built on linux but looks simaler to windows 7

idk if this mater but heres the specs to my pc

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690K CPU @ 3.50GHz
Video Card 1 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950
Memory 8.0 GB
Operating System Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional Edition (build 9600), 64-bit
1 240GB ssd that windows is currently on
1 3TB hdd that i keep most of extra stuff on
 
Solution

USAFRet

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Dual boot on another drive? Sure.
Boot from your Linux install, and select that other drive to install to.
Select which OS to boot into at boot time.

Zorin OS sucks. They talk a big deal about compatibility with Windows, when in reality is is just another Linux variant, and they are playing on WINE functionality.


The other question is, why is your current Win 8.1 "buggy as hell" ?
 
Solution

Ruin91

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i call it buggy but its more of just a annoyance really.....the window where u go to change you background pics..the drop down location/categoray thing dont work it just freezes the window and i need to close it...i have no idea why it does it its just really annoying.....
theres also little things like sometime when im in the middle of a game the pc disconnects my keyboard/ or mouse for a few seconds then it reconnects....and my pc video drive randomly fail or a second then come back

if not zorin os what linux os would u suggest that wouldnt be to hard to get to no?

 
as stated above you can dual boot from 2 separate hard drives or 2 partitions on the same hard drive.
As far as Linux goes, Try LUBUNTU.
I am a total Linux noob. But Lubuntu is the easiest I have found so far.
It also has a dedicated Driver install area for Installing Intel,Nvidia,AMD etc... drivers without knowing the terminal commands.
 
1) Why not upgrade to Windows 10?

2) Dual-boot info is easy to Google.

3) I use Linux Mint. (I only added the NVidia recommended video drivers which it prompted me to)

Fun to mess around with but simply not a replacement to me for Windows. Browsers fine, gaming not great yet. Maybe another year as SteamOS takes off prompting better drivers (even Torchlight stuttered). It's a bit hit or miss really, with some games unplayable, or 30% performance loss, other issues.

4) Your issues should get fixed with W10, though you may also have hardware issues such as memory.
a) Memtest86 (full pass ) www.memtest86.com
b) SSD/HDD diagnostics (manufacturer)
 

Ruin91

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from what iv red so far..even if linux doesnt natively support a particular game i can still play it with wine

and yes it would by 95% gaming pc 5% tv pc lol

 

USAFRet

Titan
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Not all games run within Linux
Not all games run under WINE in Linux.

Fix your current Windows 8.1 install first, or Upgrade to Win 10.

Create a Linux LiveCD, and play with it before you devote time and drive space to it.
 

DeadlyDays

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Look at wine's website for listed compatibility with games(winehq), I imagine they have particular trouble with newer games because they don't have support for latest versions of directx as of last time I checked.

There is a reason most people run a separate windows box for gaming. Personally, I've been looking at qubes and getting it running with direct GPU passthrough to windows vm, but that is so far above what most people are capable you probably shouldn't even look at doing it lol. Dual boot it or run it on another machine.