Installing Mint for Dual Boot

[RichardKR]

Is there any advice you guys/gals can give me sensible set of steps/warnings to set up a dual boot. I'll be adding Mint 10 to my existing XP.I'd like to accomplish a few things with the install. I'm installing Mint on my C: drive. I would like not to cause a re-lettering of the rest of the drives by Windows XP. I believe that if I grab what I need from the C drive and format it for ext4 while installing Mint, Windows won't recognize that partition as a drive and will keep the lettering I have now. My C drive is backed up (complete image with True Image) and it is 500 GB WD Black whatever with only 21 GB used. I'm installing Linux Mint 10.1. How big of a partition should I create?2. Can I use my existing NTFS D drive for data?3. I have 4GB of RAM - should I install the 64bit or 32bit version? (Using the full 4gb isn't as important as smooooooooth functioning)4. Should I partition with Live before install and do I need to bother with a /Home partition?5. Am I a moron for doing this? My XP install has been error free for about 4 years and still does great. But... End of Life is looming on the horizon and I don't relish the idea of Windows7. My wife has it on her new machine and it's fine, but I feel it's kinda creepy, know what I mean? It's like it's keeping secrets from me and wants to defy me no matter what I want to do. I think I'd rather get us both on Linux before long. I always feel it's watching for me to download a music clip so it can call the FBI and have me locked up. That kind of creepy.6. I have played with VMWare before and if I can get XP running in a virtual machine, that's where it will go. I have some apps that need Windows, period. I may be able to replace them over time, but not right now. Any recommendations on installing VMWare, it's been a few years for me. To start with which one to download? Is it in the repositories?Ha! Just thought of a great line... Linux has repositories, Windows has Suppositories. sorry, I sometimes lose control.Any help with these points would be received gratefully and I will name my first born after you, if he agrees.Also, if you think of anything else that might help me avoid a nightmare, feel free to jump in with it. Thanks folks.

[ChipDoc]

Is there any advice you guys/gals can give me sensible set of steps/warnings to set up a dual boot. I'll be adding Mint 10 to my existing XP.

Well of course there is! But first I'd like to welcome you to Scot's and BATL. Mine won't be the only advice you receive. We tend to be a fairly chattery bunch and we'll help you all we can.

I'd like to accomplish a few things with the install. I'm installing Mint on my C: drive. I would like not to cause a re-lettering of the rest of the drives by Windows XP. I believe that if I grab what I need from the C drive and format it for ext4 while installing Mint, Windows won't recognize that partition as a drive and will keep the lettering I have now. My C drive is backed up (complete image with True Image) and it is 500 GB WD Black whatever with only 21 GB used. I'm installing Linux Mint 10.

It won't cause a re-lettering of anything. Mint uses a different naming scheme and XP won't see Mint at all.

1. How big of a partition should I create?

20 gigs would most likely be fine. 50 gigs will be overkill

2. Can I use my existing NTFS D drive for data?

Yep, it'll work just fine.

3. I have 4GB of RAM - should I install the 64bit or 32bit version? (Using the full 4gb isn't as important as smooooooooth functioning)

Unless your machine could be described as "ancient" I'd recommend the 64bit.

4. Should I partition with Live before install and do I need to bother with a /Home partition?

Nope. Just pop the Mint LiveCD in and let it take care of things for you. It'll make the /Home partition for you auto-magically.

[ChipDoc]

5. Am I a moron for doing this? My XP install has been error free for about 4 years and still does great. But... End of Life is looming on the horizon and I don't relish the idea of Windows7. My wife has it on her new machine and it's fine, but I feel it's kinda creepy, know what I mean? It's like it's keeping secrets from me and wants to defy me no matter what I want to do. I think I'd rather get us both on Linux before long. I always feel it's watching for me to download a music clip so it can call the FBI and have me locked up. That kind of creepy.

Nope. In fact, you may discover that you like it so much that you simply never use Windows again. My Vista was running fine - at least that's what I thought until I installed Ultimate Edition 2.8 - did that in September and by October I was done with Windows altoghther. And while I happen to prefer UE2.8, don't take that to mean that Mint isn't also an excellent distro. It's just a matter of taste.

6. I have played with VMWare before and if I can get XP running in a virtual machine, that's where it will go. I have some apps that need Windows, period. I may be able to replace them over time, but not right now. Any recommendations on installing VMWare, it's been a few years for me. To start with which one to download? Is it in the repositories?

You'll have more than a couple of choices in running XP in a Virtual environment. I personally like VirtualBox but once again, that's just a personal preference. And it'll run XP just fine. Or you can simply boot to the XP side of the machine when you need something over there. Your choice.

if you think of anything else that might help me avoid a nightmare, feel free to jump in with it.

Defragment and back up your XP before you start! Clonezilla works well.But most of all, should you run into any problems, just holler! Set up a fresh thread for each issue and you'll get more informed opinions and quick answers than you would have believed possible. We are, after all, a fairly chattery bunch. Welcome!

[amenditman]

Wow, great, well-thought out post. Welcome to BATL, we are here to help you explore and learn Linux.I'm really impressed, I usually make these kinds of posts after I tried to install and it went crazy wrong because I didn't research in advance.1 - depends on how many programs you will install, but generally 20 GB will suffice, (way less is possible) especially if you use a seperate partition for storage of your files.2 - Yes, NTFS and Linux work together.3 - 64 bit will use all your RAM, every once in a while you will find a software package which isn't available in a pre-packaged 64 bit.4 - Use the partitioner on the LiveCD, GParted, it is the best Linux has to offer. For super safety you could use the Windows partitioner to shrink your C, but I have never had a problem with using GParted.5 - Definitely non-moronic. Exploring Linux will open up computing to you in a way Windows will never allow. No creepy, and lots of cool stuff.6 - Windows in VMWare is a great plan once your fully comfortable with your Linux install, and all other users are up to speed also. I use primarily VirtualBox for my needs so I can't help with choices of what version to use.Name your first born after a big name FOSS hero, not me.

Edited January 11, 2011 by amenditman

[RichardKR]

Nope. In fact, you may discover that you like it so much that you simply never use Windows again. My Vista was running fine - at least that's what I thought until I installed Ultimate Edition 2.8 - did that in September and by October I was done with Windows altoghther. And while I happen to prefer UE2.8, don't take that to mean that Mint isn't also an excellent distro. It's just a matter of taste.You'll have more than a couple of choices in running XP in a Virtual environment. I personally like VirtualBox but once again, that's just a personal preference. And it'll run XP just fine. Or you can simply boot to the XP side of the machine when you need something over there. Your choice.Defragment and back up your XP before you start! Clonezilla works well.But most of all, should you run into any problems, just holler! Set up a fresh thread for each issue and you'll get more informed opinions and quick answers than you would have believed possible. We are, after all, a fairly chattery bunch. Welcome!

Thanks so very much for that reply. It pretty much confirms what I thought. I will take your advice and use VirtualBox instead. I've used it before with no problems.

[RichardKR]

Thanks very much for the quick response. I will take your and ChipDoc's advice and use VirtualBox. Also, defragging is something I had forgot about, will get on that in the morning. Thanks again.

[securitybreach]

Welcome to the forums Richard.Nice responses everyone!!

[Rons]

I told you this was the place to come for expert Linux answers.

[RichardKR]

I told you this was the place to come for expert Linux answers.

Hi Ron, just knew you would show up. Keeping me honest, eh?Very nice forum. Thanks for the advice.

[amenditman]

Very nice forum. Thanks for the advice.

I'm kind of newer here, not as new as ChipDoc, but newer.This is the best forum.Everyone brings their own thing and keeps it under control. Some of the most patient mods anywhere.

[Frank Golden]

I'm kind of newer here, not as new as ChipDoc, but newer.This is the best forum.Everyone brings their own thing and keeps it under control. Some of the most patient mods anywhere.

A great source of info for dual booting Ubuntu (Mint is a variant of Ubuntu) with Windows is this.http://members.iinet.net/~herman546/index.htmlThat was my source of info in 2005 when I first experienced Linux.The installer will not automatically create a /home partition it will create a /home directory however.A /home partition isn't absolutely needed.The above tutorial can help you decide what you want to do.Good luck and backup your data before attempting a resize of XP and a defrag is helpful.Though rare a resize can be risky and when\if it goes bad your usually screwed unless you backed up your data.

[RichardKR]

A great source of info for dual booting Ubuntu (Mint is a variant of Ubuntu) with Windows is this.http://members.iinet.net/~herman546/index.htmlThat was my source of info in 2005 when I first experienced Linux.The installer will not automatically create a /home partition it will create a /home directory however.A /home partition isn't absolutely needed.The above tutorial can help you decide what you want to do.Good luck and backup your data before attempting a resize of XP and a defrag is helpful.Though rare a resize can be risky and when\if it goes bad your usually screwed unless you backed up your data.

Thanks Frank. I am going there right now. I appreciate your response.I make regular images of my drives with Acronis Drive Image. Worked very well so far.Hey! I've even restored with one of them! That's a rare event in my computer life. A backup/image that actually works.

[Frank Golden]

Thanks Frank. I am going there right now. I appreciate your response.I make regular images of my drives with Acronis Drive Image. Worked very well so far.Hey! I've even restored with one of them! That's a rare event in my computer life. A backup/image that actually works.

I use the free Clonezilla and always perform a restore immediately after creating an image almost always while still in Clonezilla.This ensures that the image will work when needed.I have never in hundreds of restores had a failure.Since you do image backups there is no need for a separate /home partition.Just store your data on your proposed NTFS partition.With a builtin /home directory when you image your install that directory will be part of the image.

[sunrat]

Welcome, Richard!I have to ask, what programs do you need to run in Windows? While many programs do run well in VirtualBox, anything that requires good 3D graphics capability probably will not, particularly games that need DirectX. If that's the case you would be far better off shrinking your Windows partition and keeping it, and install Mint as a dual-boot. Defrag Windows first, then use GParted to shrink the partition. It's a good idea to make a backup image of Windows at this stage. Then just install Mint in the remaining space. I would make a 20GB partition to install Mint on, 2GB swap, and format the rest for data storage. Mint should automatically make a boot loader so you can choose between Win and Mint, if it asks where choose MBR.A dual-boot install would be easier than installing Mint and having to reinstall Windows in a virtual machine.

[securitybreach]

Welcome, Richard!I have to ask, what programs do you need to run in Windows? While many programs do run well in VirtualBox, anything that requires good 3D graphics capability probably will not, particularly games that need DirectX. If that's the case you would be far better off shrinking your Windows partition and keeping it, and install Mint as a dual-boot. Defrag Windows first, then use GParted to shrink the partition. It's a good idea to make a backup image of Windows at this stage. Then just install Mint in the remaining space. I would make a 20GB partition to install Mint on, 2GB swap, and format the rest for data storage. Mint should automatically make a boot loader so you can choose between Win and Mint, if it asks where choose MBR.A dual-boot install would be easier than installing Mint and having to reinstall Windows in a virtual machine.

I completely agree!! There are some things you can do with Windows using VirtualBox but there are some limitations. For instance, VirtualBox uses generic virtual-hardware so anything that is hardware specific, graphics intensive or 64 bit will not function as well as it does in a real installation. That said, it is useful to to run quiet a bit of application and to troubleshoot but there are Linux alternatives for most any application that you require.

[lewmur]

Ha! Just thought of a great line... Linux has repositories, Windows has Suppositories. sorry, I sometimes lose control.Any help with these points would be received gratefully and I will name my first born after you, if he agrees.Also, if you think of anything else that might help me avoid a nightmare, feel free to jump in with it. Thanks folks.

I recommend to any first time Linux user that instead of dual booting you install VirtualBox in XP and use virtual sessions to test and learn Linux. No chance of messing up your XP boot or drive assignments. No partitioning to worry about. In fact, almost no hardware problems to worry about. What's more, you can have both XP and Linux running simultaneously. Even cut/paste from one to the other.

[securitybreach]

I recommend to any first time Linux user that instead of dual booting you install VirtualBox in XP and use virtual sessions to test and learn Linux. No chance of messing up your XP boot or drive assignments. No partitioning to worry about. In fact, almost no hardware problems to worry about. What's more, you can have both XP and Linux running simultaneously. Even cut/paste from one to the other.

Good advice

[ichase]

Welcome to BATL Richard. As a new Linux user myself I can say with out haste that you have come to the right place. The guys and gals here do an awesome job of explaining things "Barney Style" so that you can be up and running in no time.You may or may not have mentioned it, but if this is a laptop and you run into issues getting your wireless to work in Mint, I have finally after a lot of exhausting effort, found how to get it working fairly quickly. I completely agree with Chip in the fact that once you start getting confortable with Linux, you may find that you won't be booting into W1nD0z3 very much. ;)First and formost....Have fun!!!All the best,Ian

[RichardKR]

Welcome, Richard!I have to ask, what programs do you need to run in Windows? While many programs do run well in VirtualBox, anything that requires good 3D graphics capability probably will not, particularly games that need DirectX.

Thanks for the advice. I never run games. Could not care less about 3D. I play solitaire or 1 old board game once in a while.What I am going to need is MS Office because of some weird stuff I have it set up to do. MS Publisher / Word / Access / Excel are what I mostly use. I look to reduce that dependence by about this years end. Also, I have played with the FOSS sound editors and none of them can compare in speed and usability to the old Cool Edit 2 that I use. Also, I use AnyDVD and it won't run in Linux. There really is nothing else like it. I move my DVD's to Divx and put them on a network 1.5 TB drive for a media player in the living room. I have another 1.5 TB that is a clone of the first for backup. Esword is my program of choice for bible study. I know it very well and it has everything I want without bloat.Off the top of my head that's the main reason for keeping XP for awhile.

[RichardKR]

I recommend to any first time Linux user that instead of dual booting you install VirtualBox in XP and use virtual sessions to test and learn Linux. No chance of messing up your XP boot or drive assignments. No partitioning to worry about. In fact, almost no hardware problems to worry about. What's more, you can have both XP and Linux running simultaneously. Even cut/paste from one to the other.

I'm not a first time Linux user. Actually I trashed an old Toshiba laptop installing and playing with Linux and every distro I could find. I just never could get a satisfactory install for long term use because of the old hardware and Linux still growing. This was 2008. However, this is going on my - A moment of silence here for the angelic chorus - Desktop. My all purpose monster, never closed, always updated, computer. It is a giant tower that warms my feet in the winter. What I want to do is give Linux a good spot on my computer, and move over to it as quickly as I can. I have some apps that must be replaced, but that won't be done quickly, at least I don't think it will. The only way to be sure, is to use Linux for hours at a time - doing what I normally do.

Welcome to BATL Richard. As a new Linux user myself I can say with out haste that you have come to the right place. The guys and gals here do an awesome job of explaining things "Barney Style" so that you can be up and running in no time.You may or may not have mentioned it, but if this is a laptop and you run into issues getting your wireless to work in Mint, I have finally after a lot of exhausting effort, found how to get it working fairly quickly. I completely agree with Chip in the fact that once you start getting confortable with Linux, you may find that you won't be booting into W1nD0z3 very much. ;)First and formost....Have fun!!!All the best,Ian

Thanks Ian. I'm excited about playing real "Computer" again.

[RichardKR]

Welcome, Richard!I have to ask, what programs do you need to run in Windows? While many programs do run well in VirtualBox, anything that requires good 3D graphics capability probably will not, particularly games that need DirectX. If that's the case you would be far better off shrinking your Windows partition and keeping it, and install Mint as a dual-boot. Defrag Windows first, then use GParted to shrink the partition. It's a good idea to make a backup image of Windows at this stage. Then just install Mint in the remaining space. I would make a 20GB partition to install Mint on, 2GB swap, and format the rest for data storage. Mint should automatically make a boot loader so you can choose between Win and Mint, if it asks where choose MBR.A dual-boot install would be easier than installing Mint and having to reinstall Windows in a virtual machine.

I know this sounds weird, but I plan on dual boot and then I hope to be able to narrow down what windows apps I need and put XP in a guest OS on Mint. Then blow off the XP partition and just use the necessary apps from within Mint/XP virtual machine. For awhile I'll have one Mint and two XP's installed. This is so geeky that I may faint. Don't you love this stuff?Thanks for the response.

[rolanaj]

Welcome to the forum RichardKR!!I dual booted Linux and Windows for years and just within the last few months I removed Windows and made my whole system Linux. I do have a laptop with Windows 7 on it but I'm at the moment trying to decide which version of Linux I want to put on it. I'll probably dual boot it for awhile at least because I actually kind of like Windows 7.

[RichardKR]

Welcome to the forum RichardKR!!I dual booted Linux and Windows for years and just within the last few months I removed Windows and made my whole system Linux. I do have a laptop with Windows 7 on it but I'm at the moment trying to decide which version of Linux I want to put on it. I'll probably dual boot it for awhile at least because I actually kind of like Windows 7.

I know how you feel. After all, everything works, why mess with success. The creeping feeling I have is that lurking in the future is something I don't want, and I think Linux will allow me to avoid that. I keep feeling that behind the desktop things I wouldn't approve of are taking place without my knowledge. Not so much in XP, but in Vista, Win7 and OS-X. I'm probably just paranoid, but even paranoid folks are right once in a while. I never had this feeling using Windows 2000 or earlier.Thanks for the response.

[abarbarian]

Thanks Frank. I am going there right now. I appreciate your response.I make regular images of my drives with Acronis Drive Image. Worked very well so far.Hey! I've even restored with one of them! That's a rare event in my computer life. A backup/image that actually works.

Acronis works great for GNU/Linux and Windows backups. You should be able to make a backup of your MBR with it along with your Windows backup. You have made a CD of the Acronis program haven't you ? Dual booting is a snip if you partition your drive first with Parted Magic as it saves a lot of confusion and is quick.Came across this,"Hi ole220170 the last time I tried running AnyDVD in wine it wasn’t working. Yes it will install and the program will run but it couldn’t access the DVD drives even when all the .dll files were installed. If you want to back up your DVD’s you can use Ripit4me and DVDshrink they both work well in wine and are free. Using those two programs you shouldn’t have any problems even with the latest DVD."http://club.myce.com/f34/anydvd-linux-wine...working-203689/or here,http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=705756Ms Office should work nearly 99% with Wine. :"> Edited January 11, 2011 by abarbarian

[RichardKR]

Acronis works great for GNU/Linux and Windows backups. You should be able to make a backup of your MBR with it along with your Windows backup. You have made a CD of the Acronis program haven't you ? Dual booting is a snip if you partition your drive first with Parted Magic as it saves a lot of confusion and is quick.Came across this,"Hi ole220170 the last time I tried running AnyDVD in wine it wasn’t working. Yes it will install and the program will run but it couldn’t access the DVD drives even when all the .dll files were installed. If you want to back up your DVD’s you can use Ripit4me and DVDshrink they both work well in wine and are free. Using those two programs you shouldn’t have any problems even with the latest DVD."http://club.myce.com/f34/anydvd-linux-wine...working-203689/or here,http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=705756Ms Office should work nearly 99% with Wine. :">

Good news indeed. I will try those programs. Thanks very much

[zlim]

I used Acronis to image my netbook (4GB ssd drive running Xandros/Debian) to a 4GB external USB drive.I haven't needed to restore the netbook. I have needed to restore on windows computers and it has saved my bacon a few times. Since I understand and use Acronis a lot, I felt comfortable using something that was familiar to me.Bruno was helping me with dd on my netbook but we just never got it to do what it was supposed to.

[sunrat]

...What I am going to need is MS Office because of some weird stuff I have it set up to do. MS Publisher / Word / Access / Excel are what I mostly use. I look to reduce that dependence by about this years end. Also, I have played with the FOSS sound editors and none of them can compare in speed and usability to the old Cool Edit 2 that I use. Also, I use AnyDVD and it won't run in Linux....Off the top of my head that's the main reason for keeping XP for awhile.

As it sounds like you have it set up how you want it, it would be best to keep your current XP installation. I used Cool Edit for a while when I first started computers. Didn't Adobe buy it and change it's name to Audition? I ended up using Steinberg Wavelab (expensive but awesome), but now mainly use Audacity in Linux, or the outstanding Ardour for bigger or multitrack projects.There are also DVD ripper/converters with good reputations in Linux, although I haven't done any ripping myself. DVD::Rip comes particularly well recommended - How to rip a DVD to DivX/XviD/H264 using DVD::Rip.

[RichardKR]

As it sounds like you have it set up how you want it, it would be best to keep your current XP installation. I used Cool Edit for a while when I first started computers. Didn't Adobe buy it and change it's name to Audition? I ended up using Steinberg Wavelab (expensive but awesome), but now mainly use Audacity in Linux, or the outstanding Ardour for bigger or multitrack projects.There are also DVD ripper/converters with good reputations in Linux, although I haven't done any ripping myself. DVD::Rip comes particularly well recommended - How to rip a DVD to DivX/XviD/H264 using DVD::Rip.

Thanks for the advice. I believe Sony bought Cool Edit around 2000-2001 and it became Sound Forge. Don't know who bought it then.I like it for the speed. I can apply a complex filter to a huge sound file and I don't have to "Go to Lunch" while it finishes. Most of all I'm familiar with it. That's the most important thing with applications, isn't it? You get good with a piece of software and it becomes a very useful tool.

[RichardKR]

I used Acronis to image my netbook (4GB ssd drive running Xandros/Debian) to a 4GB external USB drive.I haven't needed to restore the netbook. I have needed to restore on windows computers and it has saved my bacon a few times. Since I understand and use Acronis a lot, I felt comfortable using something that was familiar to me.Bruno was helping me with dd on my netbook but we just never got it to do what it was supposed to.

I too, like Acronis since I'm very familiar with it and trust it.I wish I could have met Bruno, he sounds like a rare man. I've read many tributes to him.Thanks for the response.

[sunrat]

I believe Sony bought Cool Edit around 2000-2001 and it became Sound Forge.

I had to research this.Sony bought Sound Forge from Sonic Foundry in 2003. Current version is Sony Sound Forge Pro 10.Adobe bought Cool Edit Pro v2.1 from Syntrillium Software in 2003, then changed it's name to Audition. Current version is Adobe Audition 3 but Adobe Audition 4 was released as a public Beta for Mac on 9 November 2010.