11/11/2023 0 Comments Dual boot linux liteIs using EasyBCD the only way of installing Linux distros alongside the Windows 7 on the same HDD without modifying or replacing the MBR?Īs I understand it, I would need to start by installing one of the Linux distros, including its GRUB2, on a new empty partition (primary or logical?) on my HDD. So what options - or routes - do I have to set up the arrangements in the way I have indicated? This, too, seems to make a difference to what-grubs-go-where and how they talk to each other. In simple terms, in a multibooot setup, if Grub2 is the "lead" or only bootloader it can "see" and work with other Grub2s, and with Grub Legacy if updated after each OS is installed but Legacy cannot detect or connect to Grub2. Viii) I also know that PCLinuxOS still uses Grub (Legacy) while Zorin, Lite and Mint use Grub2. So I assume this may make a difference to what-grubs-go-where if I seek to have more than one Linux OS in a multiboot setup Vii) I know from forum posts that the Linux Lite Grub2 doesn't play nicely with other Linux Grubs (because it has been modified to make dual booting with Windows easier). That partition is at the end of the HDD - if that is relevant. Vi) the Samsung laptop has a "Recovery" partition which I understand is linked with the Samsung OEM backup and recovery software. V) as mentioned, I want to keep the Windows MBR, not replace it with GRUB But if I want a single Data partition with folders which both Linux and Windows can read, this might require the partition to be formatted to ntfs? I understand that a Data partition shared by all Linux OSs is possible. Iv) if possible and not too complicated, I'd like to have a single "Data" partition for all my documents, pics etc - at least shared by the Linux distros, if not by the Windows OS as well. My shortlist is Linux Mint, Linux Lite, and PCLinuxOS Iii) a bit more ambitious, to have two or three more Linux distros installed - ie a multiboot setup. Zorin is one of the options on my shortlist Ii) to install at least one Linux distro as an alternative, dual-boot, OS on the hard drive. But I'd prefer to keep the Windows installation complete and separate rather than having to rebuild or reinstate the Windows MBR if (however unlikely!)I ever revert to Windows only I know most stock dual-boots suggest installing the Linux GRUB bootloader instead. I) to keep Win7, ideally with its MBR intact. dev/sda4 ntfs SAMSUNG_REC 19.65 GiB 19.63 used diag dev/sda5 ntfs 476.88 GiB (currently empty) dev/sda2 ntfs 202.00 GiB 63 GiB used (contains Windows7 OS) I have looked at the HDD using GParted, and the current configuration is this: Not quite sure which partitions are seen as being on which of the two drives that now notionally exist on this single hard disk. When learning about partitioning, I shrank the Windows partition and created a new empty partition - so the disk now shows up now as having two 'drives' - of 512GB and 217GB. It is running Windows 7 as originally supplied. The laptop I want to install on is a Samsung RF511, Intel i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, 750GB HDD. But I have some questions relating to the particular way I'd like to set up my dual, or multi-boot arrangements.įirst, the basics. Both recommend the use of EasyBCD as a way of dual-booting a Linux OS with Windows 7 while leaving the Windows bootloader in the MBR unscathed. I have seen swarfendorf's excellent sticky guide to dual booting Zorin with Windows 7, and also the youtube video by Matthew Moore. To keep the forum in good order I am posting some questions on that topic into this new post. In a separate thread I started ages ago about disappearing max/min/close buttons, the discussion went a little off-topic into the subject of dual-booting.
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