Linux and Windows are operating systems that are radically different from each other. But the process of their joint installation is not so complicated.

• If you're partial to the Linux operating system and want to get started with it, but perhaps don't want to miss out on Windows already installed.
• If you are afraid of any sort of failure and have a fallback on hand.
• Or you just don't want to lose your favorite photos, games and programs.

Then we will tell you about such a great option as installing Linux and Windows on the same computer!

This article will talk about installing Linux on Windows 10.

Why exactly in the tenth version? It's simple, because this is the newest version of this operating system. But don't worry, this guide will work for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 versions as well.

General view of the object of the article

There are two ways to install: without splitting the disk and by dividing the categories into parts.

The first way to do this is faster, but the second is much more efficient, because while you are installing one partition, the others will not be involved.

First, we will briefly talk about installing the entire operating system.

Option number 1. Installing Linux on Windows 10

Windows 10 version 1607 introduced a new Ubuntu Bash shell. It allows you to run bash scripts on the OS, run and install Linux programs. And in version 1709, three installation softwares are already available.

With the release of version 1709, the installation of Linux for Windows has been greatly modified.

Instructions for step-by-step installation in new versions:

1. Go to Control Panel - Programs and Features - Turn Windows features on or off, turn on the Windows Subsystem for Linux

2. After installing and rebooting the device, download one of the applications.

3. Run the downloaded software and set up a username and password.

4. To enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux component, use the command:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

Installation instructions:

1. Run the OS settings - Update and security - For developers. Turn on developer mode.

2. Open Control Panel - Programs and Features - Turn Windows features on or off and select the Windows Subsystem for Linux column.

3. After the installation, in the OS search, write "bash", run this version and install.

4. After installation, start the shell.

Examples of using Ubuntu Shell on Windows

Bash Linux programs on Windows 10 can be installed, destroyed, and modified with apt-get from the Ubuntu repository.

Also, you can install Git in Bash and use it as usual, because its interface is no different from Ubuntu.

bash scripts

You can create and run bash scripts in Windows 10 using the Nano storage editor.

Attention!

This instruction will only be relevant for versions of Windows 10 1607 and 1709. If you have a different version, go to the second installation method.

Option number 2

To install the two operating systems described above together, you will need to create additional disk partitions, the minimum number of which should be three.

If Windows can be installed on one partition, then it is not customary to do this with Linux, but this option is not excluded.

It's just that this system is very flexible and therefore its installation is allowed in several places where the system itself, its settings and parameters, and the user files themselves will be placed.

During reinstallation, this will play into your hands, because while you are installing the system partition, the remaining two will be untouched.

These partitions can be conventionally referred to as the system home partition and the swap partition. Let's consider each of them in more detail:

• The most minimal requests for free space to set the system size range between 7 and 20 GB. But this is the bare minimum, which is necessary only for the installation itself and some auxiliary applications. It will be more thoughtful if you free up another 15-20 gigabytes for installing the programs and applications you need. Usually 35-45 GB are allocated for such a partition.
• The swap point is used when the system needs more RAM.

Data that is not used or rarely used is sent to this section. In terms of capacity, it should occupy exactly half of the volume of the operational device. But when using hibernation or power saving mode, this partition must be the same as the system partition.

• The home partition contains only files and programs for your personal purpose: these are all the same images, documents, games, music, programs, etc. Everyone sets the volume of this disk individually, based on personal preferences.

Preparing the Windows disk

Prior to the process of installing these two operating systems in a shared environment, be sure to back up the entire existing structure, or selectively, only the necessary documents, in the event that some space will be separated from the media.

No, nothing will be erased, these are just precautions in case of some kind of error, system problems, inattention and a number of other factors.

But it would be best if you still create a copy of not only your necessary files, but the entire operating system if you want to interact with system media.

To do this, open the item in the control panel that corresponds to the procedure.

If you copy another drive, D, E, etc., then it will be enough to create a copy of only the necessary files.

After the backup process is completed, we can proceed, in fact, to the Linux installation process itself.

To do this, we will use the Windows add-on - Disk Management. Click on the shortcut "My computer" and select a column "Control" .

After opening this menu, we search for and select the item.

We will be shown those disk volumes that are on the computer: system and regular (in this case, it is one).

For example, we will take drive D, but for the system, all actions are similar. So how do you manage disk size?

To begin, by right-clicking on the selected drive, click the button "Shrink Volume" .

After opening a small additional window, in the column "Size of compressible space" Specify the size of the volume you will be creating.

Advice:

before you do that, see how much real free disk space you have and if you're investing with your calculations. After all, you will not be able to tear off a non-existent piece from the pie. If there is not enough space, it must be freed up, and only then proceed to compression.

So, after applying the size of the compressible space, we confirm our choice and press "Squeeze" .

Then the unallocated space will be displayed on the screen, with which we will work further and create the necessary partitions.

The pre-installation phase is now complete and you now have free space to install Linux with Windows 10.

We will not perform disk partitioning on this system, but will do it using Linux tools.

Disk preparation in Linux

Here we will talk about the second alternative way to segment a disk without using Windows. This is not the completion of the Linux installation guide for Windows 10.

If you have a reason or just don't want to do it the standard way, then you have the option to do this action using any Linux program with the Gparted disk management utility installed earlier.

As an example, let's take the well-known Ubuntu.

Launch from the Ubuntu media and search for Dash and type "Gparted"(fig.19).

Go to it and you will see a special window for the process of controlling and coordinating media in Linux.

It is very important to note that things work differently on Linux than on Windows.

Here, the partitions on the media and the media themselves are called differently, more precisely, they are simply the paths for finding documents in the dev virtual file system.

You will soon get used to it and deal with it. And at this point in time, let's just say that the name of a separate partition will begin with "/dev/sd", and then there will be a letter that characterizes the name of the media, and a number that indicates the partition number (for example, sda1, sdb2, etc.) .

In addition to the name of the partition of the media, in the application we will see the dimensions, the file complex and the amount of free space on the media, with the help of which we will understand where the system is located.

In this model, the path dev/sdb1 is a kind of drive C in Windows, and dev/sdb2, respectively, media D.

So, we reduce the size of the dev/sdb2 partition to 10 GB in order to install Linux on Windows 10 on the space that has been freed up. To do this, select a partition, right-click on it and go to the Resize / Move item.

In the window that pops up after this operation, in the New size column, we enter the size we need, and this is also done using the slider.

After the previous execution condition of the instruction is met, we click on Resize/Move. Figure 23 shows that no special modifications are visible yet, but the free space, as we wanted, has been formed.

The procedure for modifying the volume of the file complex takes the appointed time.

When the operation is completed, you can look and make sure that there are noticeable decreases in the dev/sdb2 category and free space has appeared.

To do the same with the system area, make similar settings.

You can decrease the size of the area and add free zones afterwards, but don't do it, as shown in fig. 27:

In view of this kind of action, you can damage the Windows bootloader, and although its recovery will not be difficult, it will take you a lot of time, which, we are sure, is useless to you.

It is best to create partitions in Linux using a special application during the installation process.

Installing Linux with Windows 10

Here we will discuss some facets of disk partitioning using the Ubuntu software as an example, but the situation will be similar for others.

In order to better understand and understand how to install the system, we will consider the manual installation option.

At this stage, we create the previously agreed partitions from the space that we freed up. With the intention of choosing a mount point for the system partition, we address the path /, for the swap area we do not set the mount path, and for the home we denote it as /home.

In order to successfully install Linux from Windows, carefully follow the instructions of the software with which you are working.

Installing Linux with Windows 10 UEFI

UEFI- This is a modern technique that has come to replace the old and outdated BIOS, which is used on all current laptops.

Initially, you can notice that this is the use of a new GPT partition table, which has come to replace the old MBR and create a separate partition for operating system loaders.

If you have doubts that UEFI will make installing Linux with Windows 10 on a laptop more problematic, then put these doubts aside, because there is nothing tricky about it.

If you already have Windows installed, then it is more likely that this technology is already present and it is only recommended to select it for installing the bootloader during media partitioning. It is small in size (about 30 megabytes) and is designated by the fat32 file system.

When installing Linux with Windows 10, we address this partition and its mount point: /boot/EFI. All software that works with the Grub2 bootloader supports UEFI installation.

That's all the secrets of installing in UEFI, now you have the right to install this operating system not only on a computer, but also on a laptop, the main thing is to follow the installation instructions.

Completing the installation

Perhaps you still have one more question, move Windows?

You don't need to worry about this, because on the eve of each computer boot, the Grub bootloader will automatically find the Windows bootloader and ask you which operating system you would like to work on.

That is, it turns out that the dual boot of Windows 10 and Linux will be performed automatically.

But! If there were any malfunctions in the computer and the bootloader could not determine itself, then you can configure everything yourself and if everything is done correctly, then you will certainly get access to Windows after installing Linux.

Possible problems after installing Ubuntu

In this section, we will look at non-problems that are likely and not excluded after installing Ubuntu.

If Ubuntu boots immediately on startup or after a restart and does not give you the right to select an operating system, then Windows boot was not detected.

Then, in a special terminal for scanning partitions (in the Windows boot record search engines), we enter the “sudo update-grub” command, after which everything will boot.

If the situation is reversed and Windows boots up without the ability to select Ubuntu, then we log in and launch the Ubuntu LiveCD terminal to download the Boot Repair utility, after which we enter the commands shown in Fig. 33:

After starting, select the first item "Recommended repair".

And the application will ask you to enter 4 commands in the command window to fix the errors and complete the process of installing new settings.

conclusions

In this article, we discussed the issue of installing Linux on Windows 10 , through which you received answers to a number of such questions:

How to make a breakdown, choose the right areas and brought up the issue of installation on a laptop with UEFI.

Finally, we emphasize that in order to conveniently and successfully work with Windows 10 and Linux together, you will need to stop Windows FastBoot, for the sake of the availability of starting the Windows system partition in Linux.

As a result of the installation, you have two independent operating systems and any changes in any of them will not affect the second.

And yet, when reinstalling the operating system, remember that one of the disks needs to be disconnected.

Many users cannot accept some of the limitations of gaming that the Linux OS imposes, despite the fact that lately the development of the gaming component in Linux has received increased attention. However, many users want to dual boot, but this becomes quite a challenge with the release of the new Microsoft OS.

It is known that Windows is not “friends” with Linux, in particular, it does not recognize Linux-formatted disks and partitions and does not provide a bootloader that would allow you to start a system with a Linux kernel, for example, Ubuntu. In addition, many computers now come with Windows 10 bootloader protection pre-installed.

The first thing to do before trying to install Ubuntu or another Linux distribution with Windows 10 is to open the computer's BIOS/UEFI menu and disable the Secure Boot option.

Windows 10 Disk Partitioning

Before installing Ubuntu, you need to partition your Windows 10 drive. At this point, there are two possible scenarios, but first you need to check if the system has a single Windows 10 partition or multiple partitions. If you have only one partition at your disposal, you will have to shrink it, but first make sure that there is enough free space on it.

In the second case, where there are two or more partitions, you need to decide which partition will be cleared to install Ubuntu. In both cases, right-click on the Start menu, select Disk Management. In the first case, select the drive (C:) and in the context menu of the right mouse button, select the Shrink Volume option.

Set the size of the new partition for Ubuntu, which depends on the original disk size and free space on it, as well as your choice. Please note that you need at least 10 gigabytes to install Ubuntu (20 gigabytes or more is recommended). After the compression is complete, close the Disk Management utility.

In the second case, select the partition you want to clean up, let's say (D:) and in the Disk Management application, right-click on the corresponding partition and select "Delete Volume", and you will have an unallocated partition, just like in the first case.

Disk Management

Shrink Volume

Downloading and Installing Ubuntu

The latest release of Ubuntu is available for download from our website, make sure you are downloading a 64-bit ISO image that needs to be burned to a 2 GB or larger USB stick.

Once the USB creation is complete, plug the Ubuntu USB flash drive into a free port on your computer, restart your computer, and bring up the boot menu to select the USB flash drive as the boot source. Do not select UEFI USB (in this case, Windows 10 is not recognized!) *. After that, install the latest version of Ubuntu.

The only difference is when you see the first installation screen, you need to select the option “Install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10” on it. After the installation is complete, restart your computer. Choose between Ubuntu and Windows 10 using the Ubuntu bootloader (available pressing Esc).

* Update: No need to disable Secure Boot or not select UEFI USB when installing Ubuntu. On a specific test machine, without applying these measures, UEFI did not recognize the Windows 10 partition on the hard drive, everything can work on your computer without these operations.

Windows and Linux are used for different purposes. The user himself decides with which system it is more convenient for him to work. But why not choose both OS at once? After all, each of them has its own advantages. It is quite possible to load them on one machine. And for this, virtualization technologies are not even needed. The systems will be next to each other. And you can switch between them. Installing Linux from Windows will allow you to run both OSes even if you don't have a second computer.

Installing Linux from under Windows will allow you to work on both operating systems at the same time

To run both systems, there must be enough space on the PC. Different versions require different amounts of memory. On average, this is 7-20 gigabytes. But for stable operation, you need to allocate 30-40 GB for each OS.

It is best to put two hard drives. Otherwise, you will have to cut the disk space. Win and Linux must be on different logical drives. That is, one distribution is in the C:\ partition, the other is in D:\. At the same time, you need to leave space for storing personal data: documents, images, music, videos, games, programs, and more. If all this ends up on the system drive, problems may arise.

As a result, you should have at least three partitions: two for Linux and Windows, the rest for personal use. And better - two hard drives. The following utilities are suitable for partitioning disk space:

• Mini Tool Partition Wizard.
• Paragon Partition Manager.
• AOMEI Partition Assistant.

The OS changes boot entries in the MBR that control the startup order. If you reinstall Win, you will no longer get into Linux. That is why it is not recommended to use one local disk for these systems. If you place them in different sections, they will not interfere with each other.

Installation takes place in order: first Windows, then Linux. The Microsoft product erases important components of other operating systems and replaces them with their own.

Before installation, it is better to make a backup copy of the existing system. If problems arise, you can return the computer to normal. This copy must be saved to external media or to a local drive that does not have system files.

In Win, programs are suitable for this:

• Acronis True Image.
• Paragon Backup & Recovery 2013.

• Macrium Reflect Free.

Windows also has a built-in function:

1. Go to Control Panel.
2. Menu "Backup and Restore" (or "Data Backup"). It is in the System category.
3. Button "Set up backup".
4. Select a drive to place the copy. Or you can send it to the network. But for this you need a suitable online storage.
5. To restore the system, go to the same menu.

On Linux, you can use the "Back In Time" utility to back up. It is Ubuntu's Software Center. Ubuntu's built-in Deja Dub tool is also suitable.

To work with it:

1. Go to System - Backup (Options - Backups).
2. Open the "Storage" tab.
3. In "Folder" ("Folder"), specify the directory in which the copy of Linux will be stored. Do not place it next to the OS. Select a directory on another drive.
4. Instead of a folder, you can use network storage.
5. Go to the "Overview" section. There will be options to create backups and restore from them.

Installation in any case should start with Windows. If you have a computer with Linux, this system will have to be removed.

Save your personal files. It is not necessary to transfer them all to the drive. You can reserve only the data you need.

Partitioning a Disk with the MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard has a free version and a professional one. To use the application to cut a disk into sections, you do not need to buy it. This feature is also available in the Free package.

• Find on the Internet, download and install the program on your computer. It is on the developer's site partitionwizard.com.
• Run it.
• Local disks are displayed in the middle of the workspace. Click on the one you want to cut.
• In the list on the left, click on "Split" ("Move / Resize").

Click on "Split" ("Move / Resize")

• In the next window there will be items "Original size" ("Partition Size") - the one that will remain on the disk. And the "New size" is the one that the new volume will have. Allocate memory and click OK.

• You can change the name of the newly created section. To do this, click on "Set label" and type in a name. For example, "UbuntuDisk".
• If you are going to use the disk to boot a new OS, select it and select "Make Primary" from the list on the left.
• Click on the "Apply" button. She is on the top left. Next to it is a checkmark icon.
• Restart your computer. Wait for the system to cut partitions. In this case, you can not turn off the PC. Otherwise, you will lose all the data that was stored on the processed disk. You can see the changes after the restart.

Other programs for cutting sections have the same principle of operation. It won't be hard to figure it out.

Acronis True Image can function not only on Windows, but also on Linux. But this program is paid. Unlike Partition Wizard.

Windows installation

Let's say you decide to start from scratch and remove all old OSes. Now you have a "clean" PC on which no distribution is installed. Start Win from a disc or flash drive. To do this, change the boot order.

• Go to BIOS. It can be called up by pressing a certain key immediately after turning on the PC. It differs depending on the motherboard. F1, F2, F5, F7, DEL or Ctrl+Alt+Esc. Information about which button is needed will appear next to the "PRESS TO ENTER SETUP" line.
• In BIOS, all control is set to the keyboard. Navigate through the menu - using the arrows, enter - Enter. A small manual with instructions is in the BIOS menu on the right.
• Open the Boot tab.
• Subsection "Boot Device Priority".

• Put USB or CD-ROM first. Depends on which drive you are using to boot Windows.
• Press F10 to save your changes. The computer will restart.
• The message "Press any key to boot from CD" may appear. It means "Press any key to load data from CD".
• Reading information from the source will begin. Don't interrupt the process.
• The installation wizard will open. Just follow his instructions.
• You will need to select the partition into which the system will boot. You can also share it there if you haven't already done so. Select the volume and click on Disk Setup. After that, click on "Create" and set the size in megabytes.
• Save all changes and click on the "Next" button. Installation will begin. Do not interrupt it, do not turn off the power of the PC. The computer may restart several times.
• After that, you need to configure Win: select a password and name for the account, time zone, specify which update options to use.
• Go into the BIOS and change the boot order again so that the PC starts from the hard drive.

linux

Before booting Linux, you need to prepare the disk. This can be done in Win.

1. Right click on "My Computer".
2. Select Manage.
3. In the Storage category, click on Disk Management.
4. Right-click on the partition on which you plan to install the system. It cannot be loaded on the same disc as Windows.
5. Click on Shrink Volume.
6. In the "Compressible space" field, specify how much space should be allocated for the OS (in megabytes). This memory will be reserved for the system.
7. Click Compress. "Unallocated space" will appear in the disk ruler.
8. If you want to return the volume to its previous size, instead of Shrink, select the Expand command.

• Insert the operating system CD into the drive.
• Go into the BIOS and change the boot order so that the computer starts from the disk.

• When the installer opens, select the interface language.
• The Installation Type menu will offer installation options. Check the "Others" box.
• On the previously compressed volume, create partitions for the OS. For the root directory, simply specify "/" (forward slash). For the home directory - "/home". And for the swap partition, you do not need to enter anything.
• Follow the installation wizard's instructions.
• A little setup is required: creating an account, entering a PC name, and the like.
• During the installation, pictures will be shown that tell about the capabilities of the system.
• The installation will complete and a notification will appear on the screen prompting you to restart your computer.
• Go into the BIOS and change the boot order.

Now, when you turn on your PC, you can choose whether to use Linux or Windows.

Linux has a feature for multibooting operating systems. Ubuntu even provides for collaboration with Win.

1. Prepare the disk, allocate memory on it for the OS.
2. Run the installer. It will automatically detect if there are other systems on the PC.
3. The option "Install Linux alongside Windows" should appear. Select it.
4. Follow the installer's instructions.
5. Don't boot two OSes on the same partition.

Installation on two hard drives

The simplest and most effective option is to download to different hard drives. So the systems will work stably even without division of space.

1. You have a hard drive 1 and a hard drive 2.
2. Turn off hard drive-2, put Windows on hard drive-1.
3. Turn off hard drive-1, put Linux on hard drive-2.
4. Connect both hard drives.

Now you will be able to select the OS through the BIOS Boot menu. Just change the boot order to run from the desired HDD.

Installing completely different systems next to each other is not such a big deal. This does not require software virtualization. You will be able to take full advantage of operating systems. And work in the environment that is best suited for the tasks at hand.

In order for the installation of Linux and Windows on one computer to be successful, you need to allocate enough memory for each OS and upload them to different partitions.

Which of these systems do you think is better?

Windows users sometimes think of alternatives that suit them to the extent that they lack when using a commercial OS, but without removing it. This article will cover how to install Linux as a second operating system.

Why two systems

The current terms of use for Windows are far too proprietary. Not everyone likes this company policy. As a consequence, people have questions about using alternatives that don't have to sacrifice freedom for convenience.

Windows does not always satisfy the user's requirements in terms of software and he has to look for alternatives. Many people know about the existence of macOS, but the price of the system (including integration with Apple's proprietary hardware) is a key obstacle to acquiring it. Most Linux operating systems are free.

The main reason for using two systems is the wide coverage of activities. Although each OS has the ability to do any job, they provide different (including in terms of efficiency) tools. There are many programs that work on both systems (Skype, Steam, etc.). This is possible due to their open source code and is done to popularize Linux among Microsoft product users.

Benefits of Linux

There are many reasons why Linux is an order of magnitude higher than Windows. They relate to functionality, security, resource consumption, appearance, and so on. Unlike Windows and macOS, Linux allows the user to dispose of it as they please, without all kinds of coercion and restrictions.

These systems are installed on 95% of the servers of all structures, from ordinary sites to banks, because the most important advantage of Linux is security. Several factors influence this. The most important of these is the use of GNU tools.

Strictly speaking, Linux is the core of the system, and the shell is 90%+ of GNU applications and utilities, free software (or based on it). Therefore, a more "fair" (but not mandatory) distribution name is GNU/Linux, to separate the software from the Linux kernel. The advantages of Linux are based on this.

Malicious software that is created to damage the Windows OS or individual applications does not work on GNU/Linux. This is due to different file systems, user security policy, software management and OS architecture in general.

So, in Linux, you must enter a password every time you change system files, install or remove applications. This functionality cannot be disabled, but the password is requested once during one session of the program, which does not cause irritation.

Free software is a guarantee of OS security, because its code is available to any person and meets modern development requirements. Older versions of the Linux kernel are less reliable. This is used by virus developers, but for owners of new versions it is not a threat.

In the event that a virus for Linux gets into the system (which is rare in practice), only unprotected user files can be damaged, but not system files, since privileged rights must be obtained for this. But the virus does not know the password, which is stored in a highly encrypted file.

Thus, viruses for Linux are negligible. As a result, there is no need for an antivirus. But you should pay attention to programs that require a password so as not to harm the OS.

free

The main distributions of GNU/Linux are free and available for download from their official websites. This is due to the approach of developers to the life of people.

The American company Red Hat releases a paid system of the same name. It is designed for businesses. Payment provides round-the-clock support for the company in setting up and using the OS. They also have free products: Fedora, CentOS.

Stability

The Ext4 journaling file system is the most popular for disks. The peculiarity of its work is in logging, storing the state of applications and OS. In the event of an unexpected and abrupt shutdown / restart of the computer, Linux will restore performance due to these entries in the logs.

GNU/Linux distributions do not need to be reinstalled unnecessarily. Computers under their control may not be turned off for months, and this will not affect the speed and stability of work, unlike Windows.

Device support

Linux supports 95%+ of all devices connected via various interfaces (printers, scanners, modems, sound cards, etc.). Feature support - in the automatic installation of drivers; Simply connect your device to your computer.

Manual driver installation applies to Nvidia video cards, Wi-Fi modules and some types of processors on laptops. But they do not need to be searched on the Internet - in the settings of almost any distribution kit, an interface is available for selecting the driver you already need, you just need to click "Install".

Appearance

GNU/Linux has a wide range of desktop environments (Windows has one environment), which differ from each other not only in small details, but also in concept. Designs of windows, icons, animations are available for every taste and for the requirements of any hardware. By the way, many ideas for the appearance of Windows 10 were copied from Linux.

In addition to the built-in themes, third-party skins are also available, which are installed using the appropriate system tool or through an Internet search.

Terminal

In 2017, Microsoft decided to build support for the Linux terminal into Windows, recognizing its power compared to their own command line and even PowerShell.

The terminal is an effective tool for process automation and productivity acceleration. An important mechanism is available in it: the management of daemons (analogous to services in Windows), on the basis of which the OS runs.

Note! Proficiency in working with this element is not necessary for the average user.

Using the terminal, you can do the same work as with the mouse: installing and removing software, configuring and managing the network, and even browsing the web. Some of these processes can be automated using task schedulers (anacron or crontab daemons), which is especially useful when managing multiple computers.

Distribution selection

There are a lot of GNU/Linux systems. The authoritative distro popularity site Distrowatch only covers the top 100. But those that are installed for everyday work are about 20. Here we will consider the 3 most famous distribution kits suitable for home use.

Note! Choosing a Linux distribution is not easy, and getting confused in their number is not difficult. The article "" talks about this in more detail.

Linux Mint

The second most popular distribution from Ireland, the most common among the systems of the Debian family.

Downloaded programs for installation have a .deb extension (similar to .exe in Windows). These are builds of packages from source designed for easy use.

* - The indicator varies depending on the desktop environment used.

Important! With weaker computer characteristics, unstable operation is possible with its uneven load.

Elementary

The American distribution is one of the five most popular GNU/Linux operating systems. Based on Debian.

Feature Elementary - appearance, ideologically similar to macOS. Has a unique Pantheon desktop environment. Supports installation of applications via deb packages.

Manjaro

The most popular distribution of European origin in the last six months. Based and maintained by enthusiasts on the Arch OS, therefore, it includes all its working methods and principles of operation.

Manjaro's feature is a friendly interface with the power of Arch. The software is installed automatically from source codes.

This OS will be considered as an installation example.

Disc preparation

Before installation, you should decide on the location of the OS - on the same disk with Windows or a separate one. Usually, the second option is chosen if there is not enough free space on the C drive.

Via Windows

To allocate a disk partition, you should use a standard utility.

Note! The instruction is applicable for Windows 10. In other versions of the system, the location or appearance of the elements is different.

Note! You will not be able to specify a number greater than the maximum available volume.

After that, a new distributed partition will appear, indicated in black.

To burn an image to a flash drive:

Via Linux distribution

The GParted program does disk partitioning in GNU/Linux. If it is missing, you can install it through the App Center.

1. Start GParted.
   
   
2. Right-click on the required partition → "Resize / Move".
   
   
3. Specify the required amount of partition change or drag the disk size slider using LMB → "Resize/Move".
   
   
4. Click "Apply All Operations" to perform the actions.
   
   
5. Wait for the operation to complete.
   
   

To write GNU/Linux to a flash drive:

Installing a second system

To start the OS installation, you need to tell the computer to boot the USB flash drive, not the hard drive.

Important! This manual describes installing GNU/Linux in Legacy mode, not UEFI.

1. Restart your computer.
2. During the POST test (when the motherboard logo or text about testing hardware nodes appears), press the button to select the primary device to boot. Usually, this is F11 or F12 (depending on the BIOS model).
   

   Advice! The required button is indicated on the screen during the POST test.

3. Select USB drive with Linux → "Enter".
   You can also enter the BIOS and in the Boot section select "USB-HDD" as the first boot device.
   
   
4. After that, the flash drive will start with a welcome window → select "Boot Manjaro ..." → "Enter".
   
   
5. When the Live system is finished loading, run "Install ..." on the desktop.
   
   
6. In the welcome window of the installer, select "Russia (Russia)" from the list to change the language of further instructions → "Next".
   
   
7. Specify the time zone by clicking on the map to the desired location or by selecting "Region" and "Zone" from the list. Make sure that the correct system language and regional number and date format is set. Otherwise, use the buttons "Change ..." → "Next".
   
   
8. Select the English keyboard layout as the default by selecting "English (US)" on the left and "Default" on the right. After installation, you can add other layouts → "Next".
   
   
9. Make sure the required hard drive is listed in the Select Storage Device field. In the list of installation types, select "Manual partitioning" → "Next".
   
   
10. Select the partition intended for Linux → "Create".
    
    
11. Enter "Size" - 15000, specify "File system" - ext4, "Mount point - / → "OK". The root directory will be created.
    
    

    Advice! If your computer has 6 GB or more of RAM, proceed to step 14 after creating the root.

12. Select the remaining section → Create.
13. Specify "Size" equal to the amount of RAM in megabytes, "File system" - linuxswap, "Flags" - swap → "OK". A swap partition will be created, which is used when the RAM is full (similar to the swap file in Windows).
    
    
14. Create the remaining partition with the parameters: "File system" - ext4, "Mount point" - /home. The user's home directory will be created.
    
    

    Advice! Creating a separate mount point for the home directory allows you not to be afraid of OS failures or reinstalling it in the future, because it does not have to be formatted, but only connected.

15. In the "Install bootloader in" field, specify the installation location of the Windows bootloader (usually, its size is 200-400 MB) → "Next".
    
    
16. Create a new user by filling in all fields. A checkmark for "Use the same password" will make the created user a system administrator → "Next".
    

    Advice! When entering your name, the "login name" and "computer name" fields will be filled in automatically.

    
    
17. Read the summary information → "Next".
    
    
18. Confirm the installation.
    
    
19. Wait for the installation to complete.
    
    
20. Check the box "Reboot" → "Done".
    
    

How to choose an OS

Once installed, Linux will overwrite the GRUB bootloader that Windows was running. This means that now after the POST test, the choice of the bootable OS will be available.

To start Linux, select "Manjaro Linux" → "Enter". Windows starts in the same way. Items are selected using the arrow keys on the keyboard.

conclusions

GNU/Linux distributions are gaining popularity among home PC users. The advantages of these operating systems are security, stability and freeness relative to Windows.

To install Linux as a second operating system, you need to allocate a partition on the disk for it, burn the image from the OS to a USB flash drive, specify it in the boot device selection menu, run the installer and follow the instructions.

If you still decide to try Ubuntu, but you are afraid to part with Windows, or if there is no way - do not be discouraged: you can put several operating systems on one computer and choose between them when you start the computer. Read about the various options for solving this problem later in this article.

Option 1: Clean Install Windows and Ubuntu

If there is nothing on your computer yet, or if you decide to remove everything and install operating systems from scratch, then it is best to prepare your hard drive in advance, namely, partition it into logical drives in the appropriate way. There are many programs for this, one of which - GParted - is included with Ubuntu, so we will use it.

Boot from the Ubuntu disk, press ALT-F2 and run the following command:

Then partition the disk like this:

1. Partition for installing Windows (from 20 GB), WITHOUT file system;
2. A partition for your files (all the remaining space), WITHOUT a filesystem.

Pay attention that we left the partition for Windows and user files WITHOUT a file system, because we will use NTFS there - and formatting to this file system is best left to Windows, because. it's still her native FS.

After the hard disk is prepared, restart the computer this time from the Windows boot disk and install the system on the first partition. If you are installing Windows XP, then when asked about the file system, select "NTFS, quick format".

After installing Windows, go to "My Computer", there will be one unformatted partition for user files, format it to NTFS.

Then install Ubuntu. At the same time, when asked about the method of partitioning the hard disk, select the "MANUAL" item. When you see a picture with hard disk partitions, you need to specify the NTFS type and mount point in the settings of the first partition, for example, "/mnt/windows"; for a section with your files, for example "/mnt/archive"; for the partition for Ubuntu, select the mount point "/".

The mount point is the directory where the specified partition will be mounted. So, after installing Ubuntu, to access your Windows files (on Windows it will be the C: drive), go to the "/mnt/windows" folder (or the one you specified).

For the disk where Ubuntu is installed, you must specify the mount point "/" - this is the ROOT of the FILE SYSTEM, in other words, the top-level directory.

Option 2: Installing Ubuntu alongside Windows

If you already have Windows installed on your computer, you can easily install Ubuntu, keeping Windows in place and being able to choose between these systems when you start your computer. Only for this you will have to slightly "move" the partition where Windows is installed, or another partition on your hard drive.

Then select a partition that has enough free space. Click on the "Edit" button and change its size to at least 11 GB (11,264 MB). After free space appears on the hard drive, create 2 partitions on it:

1. Swap partition (SWAP) for Linux (1 GB);
2. Partition for installing Linux (EXT4, size from 10 GB for Ubuntu, I recommend 20 GB);

After that, install Ubuntu (read the detailed recommendations about mount points in the first part of the article above).

And besides! It is now possible to install Ubuntu directly on the same Windows partition! This can be done using a program that automatically starts from the Ubuntu disk if you insert it into the drive while in Windows. Another way out of the situation is also to install Ubuntu on a virtual machine using Oracle VirtualBox: you can create such a virtual machine, or vice versa! However, all of these methods will of course make Ubuntu run much slower than if it were installed on a separate partition of your computer, as described in this article.

Tell everyone

The English-language resource "OMG! Ubuntu" provides an answer to 4 frequently asked Google questions, starting with "Can Ubuntu" ("Can Ubuntu ..."). Due to linguistic features, it is a little more difficult to analyze the same topic in Runet, but in general, questions and answers to them are relevant for any region, so...