Question

How can I make my computer dual booting? I want to install Windows 8 and Ubuntu alongside.

Answer 1

Updated:

If you're looking to expand your computer's capabilities and run multiple operating systems, dual booting may be the answer. In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10, allowing you to switch between the two operating systems on the same computer. Whether you're a developer, a gamer, or just looking to experiment with a different operating system, this tutorial will help you set up a dual-boot system with ease.
 

Here are the steps to dual-boot Ubuntu alongside Windows 10:

1. Creating a backup of your important files and data is a crucial step before dual booting your computer with Ubuntu:

• Identify the files and data that are important to you, such as personal documents, photos, and videos.
• Choose a backup method that suits your needs, such as an external hard drive, cloud storage, or a USB drive.
• Ensure that the backup destination has enough space to accommodate all of your important files and data.
• Copy the files and data to the backup destination using a file transfer tool or backup software.
• Verify that the backup is complete and that all files and data are included.
• Safely disconnect the backup device and store it in a secure location.

Remember, creating a backup of your important files and data is essential to protect your data in case of any unexpected issues during the dual boot installation process. It's better to be safe than sorry, so take the time to create a backup before proceeding with the installation.

2. Download the Ubuntu ISO file from the official website.

• Open a web browser and navigate to the official Ubuntu website.
• Click on the "Download" tab on the top menu bar.
• Select the version of Ubuntu you want to download from the dropdown menu. Make sure to choose the version that's compatible with your computer's hardware.
• Choose the download method that's most convenient for you, such as via a direct download or torrent.
• Please click the "Download" button and patiently wait for the file to finish downloading.
• Verify the integrity of the downloaded file by checking its MD5 or SHA-256 hash, which can be found on the Ubuntu website.
• Save the downloaded ISO file to a location where you can easily access it during the installation process.

Downloading the Ubuntu ISO file is a straightforward process, but it's essential to ensure that you download the correct version that's compatible with your computer's hardware. Additionally, verifying the integrity of the downloaded file is important to make sure that it's not corrupted or tampered with.

3. Create a bootable USB drive using a tool like Rufus or BalenaEtcher.

Here in these steps, we're using Rufus to create a bootable USB drive:

• Firstly, download Rufus from their official website and install it on your computer.
• Insert your USB drive into your computer's USB port.
• Open Rufus and select the USB drive you want to use from the drop-down menu.
• Under the "Boot selection" section, click on the "Select" button and choose the ISO file of the operating system you want to make bootable.
• Next, under the "Partition scheme" section, select the appropriate partition scheme for your system. For example, if you're using a UEFI-based system, select "GPT".
• Under the "File system" section, select "FAT32" as the file system for the USB drive.
• Leave the "Cluster size" and "New volume label" options at their default settings.
• Check the "Create a bootable disk using" option, and select "ISO Image" from the drop-down menu.
• To initiate the process of making a bootable USB drive, click the "Start" button.
• Wait for the process to complete, which may take several minutes depending on the size of the ISO file and the speed of your USB drive.
• Once the process is complete, close Rufus and safely eject the USB drive from your computer.

That's it! You now have a bootable USB drive that you can use to install the operating system on your computer.

4. Insert the USB drive into your computer and restart it.

• Plug the USB drive into any available USB port on your computer.
• Allow some time for your computer to detect the USB drive.
• Prior to proceeding, ensure to save any unsaved work and close all open programs.
• Click the "Start" button on your computer and then click the "Power" button.
• Click on the "Restart" option located in the power menu.
• Wait for your computer to restart.
• During the boot process, press the key that opens the boot menu. The key to press may vary depending on your computer's manufacturer and model, but commonly used keys include F12, Esc, and Del.
• Select the USB drive from the boot menu using the arrow keys and hit the "Enter" key.
• Wait for your computer to boot from the USB drive.

5. Enter your computer's BIOS or UEFI settings and change the boot order to prioritize the USB drive.

• Restart your computer.
• During the boot process, press the key that opens the BIOS or UEFI settings. The key to press may vary depending on your computer's manufacturer and model, but commonly used keys include F2, F10, and Del.
• Once you're in the BIOS or UEFI settings, locate the "Boot" menu.
• In the "Boot" menu, look for an option called "Boot Order," "Boot Priority," or something similar.
• Use the arrow keys to move the USB drive to the top of the boot order list.
• Save the changes you made and exit the BIOS or UEFI settings.
• Wait for your computer to restart.
• During the boot process, your computer should automatically boot from the USB drive. If it doesn't, you may need to repeat steps 2-6 to ensure that the USB drive is set as the first boot option in the BIOS or UEFI settings.

6. Save the changes and exit the BIOS or UEFI settings.

• After you have made the necessary changes to the BIOS or UEFI settings, locate the option to save the changes you made.
• Depending on your computer's manufacturer and model, the option to save changes may be labeled "Save and Exit," "Exit Saving Changes," or something similar.
• Use the arrow keys to select the option to save changes, and then press "Enter."
• Wait for your computer to save the changes and exit the BIOS or UEFI settings.
• Your computer will restart automatically.
• If your computer does not restart automatically, press the "Power" button to turn it off and then press the "Power" button again to turn it back on.
• During the boot process, your computer should automatically boot from the USB drive.

7. Follow the Ubuntu installation wizard, selecting "Install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10" when prompted.

• Wait for the Ubuntu installer to load.
• Select your preferred language, and click "Continue."
• On the next screen, select "Install Ubuntu."
• On the "Updates and Other Software" screen, choose whether to install updates and third-party software during the installation.
• Choose "Install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10" on the "Installation Type" screen, and proceed by clicking "Continue."
• On the "Partitioning" screen, you can choose the size of the partitions for Ubuntu and Windows 10. If you are not sure, you can leave the default values as is and click "Install Now."
• On the next screen, confirm that you want to make changes to the disk by clicking "Continue."
• Select your timezone, and click "Continue."
• Choose your preferred keyboard layout on the "Keyboard Layout" screen, and proceed by clicking "Continue."
• Enter your user information, including your name, username, and password.
• Wait for the installation process to complete.
• After the installation is finished, click on the "Restart Now" button to reboot your computer.
• During the boot process, you should see a menu giving you the option to choose between Ubuntu and Windows 10. Choose the desired operating system and then hit the "Enter" key to proceed.

8. Choose the partition where you want to install Ubuntu and allocate enough space for it.

• During the Ubuntu installation process, you will be prompted to choose the partition where you want to install Ubuntu.
• You will see a list of available partitions on your hard drive.
• Select the hard drive partition on which you wish to install Ubuntu.
• If the partition is not already empty, you will be given the option to erase it or to install Ubuntu alongside the existing operating system(s).
• Choose the option to erase the partition and install Ubuntu on it.
• Use the slider to allocate enough space for Ubuntu.
• Make sure you leave enough space for your existing operating system and any files you want to keep.
• Once you have allocated enough space for Ubuntu, click "Install Now" to begin the installation process.
• Wait for the installation process to complete.
• After the installation finishes, initiate the computer reboot by clicking the "Restart Now" button.
• During the boot process, you should see a menu giving you the option to choose between Ubuntu and your existing operating system.
• Select Ubuntu to boot into your newly installed operating system.

9. Complete the Ubuntu installation process by following the on-screen instructions.

• After you have selected the partition and allocated enough space for Ubuntu, the installation process will begin.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to configure Ubuntu settings such as language, time zone, and user account details.
• The installation process will take several minutes to complete, depending on the speed of your computer and the amount of data being installed.
• Upon completion of the installation process, you will receive a prompt asking you to restart your computer. Click on the "Restart Now" button to reboot your computer.
• When your computer starts up again, you should see a boot menu asking you to choose between Ubuntu and your existing operating system.
• Select Ubuntu to boot into your newly installed operating system.
• After booting into Ubuntu, you will be prompted to set up additional settings such as internet connection and software updates.
• Follow the setup process by following the instructions displayed on the screen.
• Once you have finished the setup process, you can begin using Ubuntu on your computer.

10. Restart your computer and select the operating system you want to use at startup.

• Save any unsaved work and close all open programs before restarting your computer.
• Click on the "Restart" button or choose the "Restart" option from the power menu to reboot your computer.
• When your computer starts up again, you should see a boot menu asking you to choose between Ubuntu and your existing operating system (such as Windows 10).
• Use the arrow keys to navigate to the operating system you want to use and press the "Enter" key to select it.
• Wait for the operating system to boot up and log in as usual.
• If you want to switch between the operating systems, you will need to restart your computer and repeat the process of selecting the desired operating system at startup.
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Answer 2

Obviously you’ll need a copy of Windows to install, and this should need to be burned onto a CD or written to a USB stick. Microsoft provides a download Technology Moon on its site, although you’ll still need a product key to activate it if you intend to use the operating system long term.

Fortunately the days of dealing with an 'ISO' file are over: when you download Windows 10 using Microsoft's Media Creation Tool, the process is automatic. That means you'll end up with a USB stick that your computer can boot from.

NOTE: As you’re installing an operating system we recommend you do a full backup of your data, as there's no guarantee something won't go wrong and you wouldn’t want to lose precious files.

Here are the basic steps before we get to the details:

1. Install a new hard drive, or create a new partition on the existing one using the Windows Disk Management Utility
2. Plug in the USB stick containing the new version of Windows, then reboot the PC.
3. Install Windows 10, being sure to select the Custom option.
4. Select the newly created partition or the other hard disk as the destination for Windows 10. Then click Next to install the operating system. Read more.

Answer 3

Follow the steps below to install Linux Mint in dual boot with Windows:

Step 1: Create a live USB or disk

Go to the Linux Mint website and download ISO file. This ISO file is the disk image that you can burn to a USB or DVD. 

Step 2: Make a new partition for Linux Mint

This is where you have to be cautious. If you have multiple partitions (not the recovery ones), you can either use one of them or create a new partition from an existing partition. Your existing data will be safe if you have enough free space. Typically, you install Linux in under 10 Gb, however, if disk space if not a concern, I advise using 30-40Gb at least. This way you can have more space at your disposal for downloading and keeping various files.

Step 3: Boot in to live USB

Plug the live USB or disk into the computer and restart the computer. While booting the computer press F10 or F12 function key (defers from computer to computer) to go to the boot menu. Now, choose the option to boot from USB or Removable Media.

Important Note: If your computer came with Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 and you upgraded your system to Windows 10, you may have to disable secure boot. The most modern system with Windows 10 should not need this step, especially with Linux Mint or Ubuntu.

Step 4: Start the installation

It takes some time to boot from the live USB or disk. Have some patience. Once it boots in to live disk, you’ll be provided to Try Linux Mint or Install Linux Mint. Even if you choose to try it, you can find the install option on the desktop:

In the next few screens, you’ll be asked to choose the language of the operating system. It will then do some checks on available space, battery, and Internet connection.

Step 5: Prepare the partition

This is the most important part of the whole installation. Where to install Linux Mint? As mentioned before, I prefer separate partitions for Windows and Linux. Windows is already installed here, we’ll prepare a new partition for Linux Mint. In the Installation Type window, choose Something Else:

Step 6: Create root, swap, and home

Since you already created a new partition in Windows, it’s time to install Linux Mint on it. Now, there are several ways to do it. But here, I’ll show you my favorite way and that is to have a Root, a Swap and a Home.

Create a root partition first. Choose the free space available and click on +.

Here, choose the size of the root (10 GB is enough but I chose to have 20 here), choose ext4 file system, and mount point as / (i.e. root):

Now, next is to create the swap partition. Now the question is what should be the swap size for Linux Mint installation?

The answer depends upon your RAM size, your needs, available disk space, and whether you would use hibernation or not. You can use the below suggestion:

• RAM less than 2 GB: Swap should be double the size of RAM
• RAM between 2 to 4 GB: Swap should be RAM size + 2 GB
• RAM between 6 GB to 8 GB: Swap should be the size of RAM
• RAM more than 8 GB: Swap should be half the size of RAM or less

 Don’t spend too much time thinking about the swap. It is helpful for systems with less memory. For a system with more than 8 GB of RAM and SSD, the less the swap, the better it is.

The next step is to create a Home. Try to allocate the maximum size to Home because this is where you’ll be downloading and keeping the files.

Once you have created Root, Swap and Home partitions, click on Install Now button.

Step 7: Follow the trivial instructions

Technically, you have crossed the main hurdle if you reached this point successfully. Now you will be taken through a number of screens to select options like keyboard layout, login credentials, etc. You don’t need to be a genius to figure out what to do here afterward. I have attached screenshots for reference purposes here.

Reference:
https://itsfoss.com/guide-install-linux-mint-16-dual-boot-windows/
https://wiredin777.wordpress.com/explore/linux/

Answer 4

Google and Microsoft ended Intel's plans for dual booting Windows, but you can install Windows 8.1 alongside Windows 7, have both Linux and Windows on the same computer, or install Windows or Linux alongside Mac OS X.