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In recent articles in this series, we have explored some of the features of Linux using a live-USB, and have taken a more in-depth look by installing Linux on a virtual machine (VM) on a Windows 10 host. Both of these methods allowed us to try Linux without really affecting the operations of our Windows machine. The live-USB didn’t change Windows at all, while the VM was created on a program (VirtualBox) installed on the Windows computer, just like any other application. This time, we are going to actually install Linux on our computer’s hard disk. However, we will use separate partitions for Windows and Linux, and be able to dual-boot between the two operating systems. So, the only real change for the Windows system will be a little less available disk space.
But, first things first. Before making such a radical change to our working system, we should make a full disk image backup. A previous article (Rescuezilla For Backups; Full Circle Magazine; No. 190; pp. 21-22) described a software package appropriate for this task. Store the backup image on an external USB drive so that it is completely separate from the system disk. Then, should anything go wrong with the installation of Linux or, should you decide that dual-booting isn’t for you after all, the disk image can be restored and your entire system very quickly and easily restored to the point in time when the image was made.
We already have the necessary tools and experience to install Linux on the hard drive, and just need to adopt a small modification to the previous installation process. We will use the bootable USB drive that we used to try out Linux in live-USB mode. However, this time, when the Linux desktop loads, we will double-click on the Install Linux Mint icon in order to start the process of installing Linux to the hard disk.
The installation process continues exactly as it did when we installed Linux on the virtual machine that we had created with VirtualBox. However, when we reach the point where we need to select the disk drive on which Linux is to be installed, this time we don’t want to use the entire system disk. Rather, we want to accept the default option of Install Linux Mint alongside Windows Boot Manager. This selection will have the installer take some of the free disk space from Windows, create a separate partition, and install the Linux OS and the included apps on this new partition.
For most users, the system disk will be quite large and, even with Windows, all of the installed applications, and the user’s data files, there will still be lots of free disk space available. The Linux installer will normally partition the disk completely automatically with no further action being required by the end user. For example, on my laptop, with a 250 GB drive, Windows was using about 150 GB, and the Linux installer carved off about 60 GB of which 11 GB was used by the OS and the apps bundled with the distro, leaving the balance as free space.
When the installation is complete, selecting the option to Restart Now causes the computer to reboot and, because we opted to install Linux alongside Windows, we now see the GRUB (Grand Unified Bootloader) boot menu that allows us to select the operating system that we wish to use.
By default, the entry for Linux Mint 21 Cinnamon will be selected and the GRUB menu will be displayed for 10 seconds before Mint is automatically booted. Scrolling down the menu to the Windows Boot Manager stops the countdown, and pressing Enter results in the machine booting into Windows 10. Note also that, if we really do wish to boot into Mint, we can simply press Enter initially. This overrides the countdown process and boots into Linux immediately.
Now, we have the best of both worlds. We have a fully-functional Linux installation running directly on the system’s hardware. and have also retained the option to boot into our Windows system should we so wish.
This completes the current series of ways to try out Linux without compromising a Windows installation. I hope that it has given anyone who is considering switching away from Windows 10 in 2025 (or before!) all the tools required to try using Linux well ahead of the end-of-life deadline.