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Tawny Bartlett
24,674 PointsDual booting Linux with Windows 8... has anyone does this, can anybody advise me?
Hi there,
I simply can't tolerate Windows 8 by itself anymore. I tried using virtual machines inside Windows 8 but it's too glitchy, so I'm desperate to dual boot Windows 8 with Ubuntu so it's easier to code. I can then use VBoxes in Ubuntu, where Windows upgrades don't mess everything up.
Has anybody done this? If so, can you advise me on any problems I might have? I want to keep Windows as I have a touch screen laptop, but I am desperate for linux for developing...
2 Answers
colingallagher
9,743 PointsIt's not too difficult when it comes to the install, assuming you have at least some experience with Linux. Check out this Guide for some perspective on the instructions. If you are comfortable partitioning your drive, this is the way to go. This video tutorial does a good job of breaking it down.
If you have not done anything like this before, I would recommend Wubi. It's a very simple process (like installing an application) but it will only work if you have a slightly older machine, which for you as a Windows 8 user might not be the case, source.
Cheers!
William Li
Courses Plus Student 26,868 PointsYes, I'm running Xubuntu & Windows 8 dual-boots, it works well.
The guide Colin Gallagher provided is pretty great, The most important things to remember is disable fast startup and safe boot first.
Notice: I don't think all UEFI in all PC brands would allow you to turn off safe boot, some of them don't.
I'm not a fan of Wubi, it's very easy install, I admit that, but at the same time, it offers me very little options on how Ubuntu is installed, plus it mess up my partition scheme, which I absolutely hate, I prefer using the Ubunut ISO's installer instead of Wubi as it gives me manual control on how to partition up the hard drive.
Tawny Bartlett
24,674 PointsThank you for the information, I'm glad you're using Ubuntu with Windows 8! My Sony VAIO, weirdly enough, has SIX partitions.... It has 3 recovery partitions, an EFI partition, an OEM partition and then Windows... eep.. Nervous!
William Li
Courses Plus Student 26,868 PointsTawny Bartlett Hi, you mentioned that your machine is very new? I don't quite get why a new machine would have lagging when running Ubuntu as a vm? you should have more than enough horsepower to run it smooth as butter.
Tawny Bartlett
24,674 PointsYeah, it is "sort of" new. It's about 1 1/2 years old, and it doesn't run as smoothly as I'd like. I recently had to reinstall Windows 8 from scratch as it totally died on me. I upgraded from 8 to 8.1 and then my virtual machines wouldn't open, it just seems to be a big hassle whenever the VMs go wrong or windows gets an update... I use a dual boot at Work with W7 and Ubuntu and love it. I just know Windows 8 can be a bit more of a pain...!
William Li
Courses Plus Student 26,868 Pointsem, just remember to backup your data before trying. Dual-boot with Windows 8 can have many unpredictable things go wrong, yeah, sometimes a failed install of Linux can mess up your Windows system as well, so backup first.
Tawny Bartlett
24,674 PointsI will! I'll do a bit more research into the Sony VAIO system before doing it too. :) Thanks for all your help, I'll post on here to let you guys know how it goes :D
Tawny Bartlett
24,674 PointsTawny Bartlett
24,674 PointsThank you for the information! The video is very useful. I've never used Wubi and will have a look at it, but yes my machine is very new so I would be cautious as to whether it would work properly... Fingers crossed I can do it!!!