Dual booting Win8 and Ubuntu

[Aolish]

So, not sure why I've taken so long to use a Linux distro. I mean the idea behind dual booting has a lot of benefits, including just being able to learn something new and being able to surf virus free (well almost) while running a linux os.

To make a post short and simple. I would like to install Ubuntu on a separate SSD (120 GB) while I have my Win8 SSD (250 GB) and HDD with steam games (750 GB) the way they are. For some reason I have never liked partitioning SSDs/HDDs into many different sections. It just isn't my cup of tea. I like to have whole SSDs/HDDs dedicated to whatever they do. It just sounds more clean and clutter free than having everything into separate segments.

I've read some pretty scary ways where a person can very easily mess up there Windows install or corrupt there MBR or install the bootloader in the wrong SDA etc, making for a huge mess of things.

A couple of questions I would like to ask are:

1. Where does the GRUB bootloader or custom bootloader normally go, also will it be easier to use the default Windows bootloader?
2. Will anything in the bios have to be changed in order to achieve this?
3. I think I have a basic understanding of how the SDA options work, but how exactly do the device/SDA,B etc relate towards each other? I've seen many screenshots of SDA, SDA1, SDB2 and so forth, is the SDA or B just the drive itself and the SDA, B with *numbers* JUST sections (partitions) of that drive itself?
4. Would it be easier to just unplug the SATA SSD that has the Windows install while I try and install Ubuntu and GRUB bootloader?

Thanks for any help anyone can give!

 

[lxskllr]

Since you're using a separate drive, the easiest way is to unplug the existing drives, install Ubuntu, then plug the old drives back in. You'd then use the boot selection screen or BIOS to select the drive you want to boot to. That keeps the O/Ss fully autonomous, so one can be used to rescue the other in case of problems. Additionally, most people don't use two O/Ss 50:50. One will get a lot more use than the other, so the minor hassle of going to BIOS to change the boot drive is offset by doing absolutely nothing when you boot to your default drive.

 

[Aolish]

Since you're using a separate drive, the easiest way is to unplug the existing drives, install Ubuntu, then plug the old drives back in.

This is a great idea and a nice way to avoid problems, but I do have a concern. By doing it with everything plugged in, lets say my Windows install is in SDA and I'm going to install my Ubuntu install into SDB and my SDC would be my new storage. If I unplug all my SATAs and leave the new storage in, what if Ubuntu setup will see my new storage as SDA or SDB? Then when I plug my SATA drives back in won't the SDA that was assign to the Windows install be taken up by my Ubuntu install or with other drives? Will that cause any conflicts or other problems?

You'd then use the boot selection screen or BIOS to select the drive

I'd probably use the bootloader more since that last summer sale for steam was insane. lol

 

[lxskllr]

Then if when I plug my SATA drives back in the original SDA that was assign to the Windows install is than taken up by my Ubuntu install or with other drives? Will that cause any conflicts or other problems?

Those assignments are flexible, and it's bad practice anyway to rely on them. When you need to ensure a drive is what you think it is across multiple boots, it's better to use UUID, and that's the way it'll be setup for you by the installer.

 

[GeekDrew]

This is a great idea and a nice way to avoid problems, but I do have a concern. By doing it with everything plugged in, lets say my Windows install is in SDA and I'm going to install my Ubuntu install into SDB and my SDC would be my new storage. If I unplug all my SATAs and leave the new storage in, what if Ubuntu setup will see my new storage as SDA or SDB? Then when I plug my SATA drives back in won't the SDA that was assign to the Windows install be taken up by my Ubuntu install or with other drives? Will that cause any conflicts or other problems?

I asked this question of many people, a few months ago. I got a whole lot of "idunno". So... I tried it (with Xubuntu), and everything has been just fine -- the linux install kept the disk at its original assignment, and the inserted disks were assigned after it in line.

 

[Aolish]

thanks geek, i guess i'll try that idea out. But I'm guessing everyone will have a unique exp since everyone's setup is so different. I guess i won't find out till i try.

 

[FitzGerald]

This is how I had Windows XP and Ubuntu setup, and I just recently (~ 1 week ago) upgraded my Windows HDD and upgraded XP to Windows 8 (using my $40 upgrade bought months ago). I unplugged the Ubuntu Hard Drive and installed/upgraded Windows 8. I then plugged in Ubuntu HDD and the Windows 8 HDD at the same time and had to change settings in the BIOS for the Ubuntu HDD to boot first. For some reason even though I set the Ubuntu HDD as Primary boot I think the Windows 8 HDD leapfrogged it and the first time I booted into Windows 8. This did not mess up anything (fortunately). After this I simply disabled having a 2nd boot device. After I was in Ubuntu, I did "sudo update-grub" which updated the initial grub menu in Ubuntu for the Windows 8 loader instead of Windows XP.

I did something similar when I installed the Ubuntu drive and Windows XP. I think this method is better because the two OS's aren't fighting over the Master Boot Record on the hard drive (been while since I was familiar). Each hard drive has its own MBR for that specific OS.

My reply assumes SSDs act the same was as HDDs, since I don't own an SSD. If I had more time I would confirm what I said above about Windows leapfrogging Ubuntu in the boot order, but I'm time crunched now.

 

[jaydee]

Why not just do a VM to start out?

 

[zoiks]

Those assignments are flexible, and it's bad practice anyway to rely on them. When you need to ensure a drive is what you think it is across multiple boots, it's better to use UUID, and that's the way it'll be setup for you by the installer.

Either that or use drive labels (if you have them).

 

[Aolish]

So I decided to bump an old thread back up as I have a small issue.

Okay guys, so I went ahead and installed Ubuntu onto the second SSD, however I did it a bit different and resulted in an outcome that I'm not satisfied with tho everything is running just fine.

The problem is I decided and went ahead and installed Ubuntu within Windows. I double clicked the executable inside the USB drive and started up the installer from there. So obviously I was met with a different GUI instead of the typical GUI we see when booting off the USB stick. I chose to install Ubuntu right onto the second SSD and pretty much everything else automated from there. Even the bootloader installed automatically without ANY INTERVENTION!

The problem is now when I start the computer instead of booting straight into the boot loader (after POST) it just goes straight to booting Windows, after that thats when I get the choice of OS to boot from instead of getting it after POST. Because of that the entire PC has to shutdown, reboot and then Ubuntu loads.

Is there anyway of getting the bootloader to load after POST and before Windows boots or is the only way to do that is to do it the old fashion way by installing Ubuntu before Windows loads? Thanks for any help!

EDIT: Just a small question. If I decide that I no longer want Ubuntu in my computer anymore, how do I go about in uninstalling it? Do I just simply format the second SSD that stores Ubuntu? Thanks again!

 

[lxskllr]

Sounds like you used wubi? Is Ubuntu in Windows add/remove software?

 

[Aolish]

Ah, is that it? So just use that and it'll remove bootloader and Ubuntu? I guess the only way to install grub is to install the OS the other way. =[

 

[lxskllr]

Ah, is that it? So just use that and it'll remove bootloader and Ubuntu? I guess the only way to install grub is to install the OS the other way. =[

Sounds like it. wubi is fine for trying an O/S out when you aren't sure it's something you want to commit to. The downside is it can be a little delicate, and isn't as robust as a full native install. If you want to really commit to Ubuntu, and integrate it into your daily computing, it would probably be better to reinstall using a typical method. If you're still just playing, wubi is a fine way to do it. Low risk, and easy to get rid of when you're finished.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Since you're using a separate drive, the easiest way is to unplug the existing drives, install Ubuntu, then plug the old drives back in. You'd then use the boot selection screen or BIOS to select the drive you want to boot to. That keeps the O/Ss fully autonomous, so one can be used to rescue the other in case of problems. Additionally, most people don't use two O/Ss 50:50. One will get a lot more use than the other, so the minor hassle of going to BIOS to change the boot drive is offset by doing absolutely nothing when you boot to your default drive.

Yeah that's the best bet imo. Honestly I find it's not even worth messing with trying to dual boot windows and Linux together. Windows XP was fine but everything after that is very picky and easy to break. It IS possible, just lot of work.

Also when I did this, Linux actually ended up finding the windows drive and auto adding it to the grub menu anyway. I'm not sure at what point that happened, I just noticed it one time and I did not even have to use the bios to boot anymore.

 

[powerhouse65]

Depending on your hardware (i7 3770 non-K and Radeon 7850 look promising), you could install a Xen hypervisor (or alternatively KVM, but it's a bit more challenging) and run your Windows in a Virtual Machine with "VGA passthrough" for native graphics acceleration. It definitely beats dual-booting. If you are interested, check out my how-to here: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=112013.

Before venturing into anything, BACKUP your system on an external drive (they are cheap nowadays).