Technical Computer Q about Windows vs Ubuntu..

I only use ubuntu when I need to fix something (lost passwords, virus, etc.)

Stick with Windows 7.

windows 9.5

[link to linustechtips.com (secure)]

I use linux mint 18.3 cin and windows 10. On 2 separate computers. No dual boot nonsense.

Thanks, just studying it. I don't like the Windows 10 layout at all, got really used to Windows 7.
Got Windows 10 on my Nokia mobile phone, which does my head in, hate it, so looking to get an Android run phone, or even an old fashioned mobile phone to just make calls & text on. I don't need a smart phone! only got for google maps, which I don't need now, seeing I've no car anymore.

Never heard of Windows 9.5..
Many.. Thank-you's for the link & advice.
Wish you a great Sunday..!

Sadly my laptop packed in. Too busy saving up for a car to even think of getting a laptop. With a car I can earn cash, seeing as I'm still.. getting calls from customers every day to move them or their stuff, but no van anymore. Just had 2 calls today..! Can't wait.. to get a car soon!

Will look into this Linux mint 18.3
I was good at computers, even building them from scratch, programming, but got left behind after Windows '98. Not allowed to work in any electronics/computer due to red-green partial colour blindness. Not bothered anyway. Just wanna nice computer.

Yes, am happy with Windows 7. Really need to get a spare computer to experiment with.

[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

Study up on partitioning your HDD into a windows partition and a Linux partition. Do a clean install of windows on one partition, then install your flavor of linux (ubuntu, mint, etc) into the 2nd partition. The linux installer will make this an easy task. It will also create a boot menu screen for you where when you start your computer, it will allow you to select which OS you want to run.

Same thing goes if you have multiple HDD installed in your computer. Always install Windows first on one drive, and Linux second on your other drive. Same thing will happen when you boot, the Linux installer will create a boot menu for you.

Even better, just install Linux on a USB drive (you can even install several distros on the same drive) and when you want to run a Linux OS, just plug in the USB drive and press the right key for your manufacturer to get into a boot menu, then select the USB as the start drive.

It's easy...try YUMI USB boot creator. Good Luck!

Thanks for your very helpful advice. I had thought about using a usb drive. I've got Win7 on the new 1 Tbyte, so can use another 500 gbyte HDD to see how that works out maybe. My BIOS has 'floppy' not that I have a floppy...though got a memory stick module in place of the floppy, as well as 2 front usb sockets. Got CD-ROM, then sockets for the 2 HDD drives. It installed quite fast this time round, with 8 gig of RAM.
Will pop into my BIOS for a quick visit, to see if I can boot from the usb first. I'll look into this YUMI USB boot creator.
CEX, where I bought the new HDD, have a DVD-Ram recorder, with Blue-Ray playback for £28, so seriously thinking of getting that next week.

Cheers mate.. thanks..!

Good info. ^^^ Installing Windows first will make the linux installer recognize windows partition and will prompt you to either erase it or create the menu "bootloader" you are seeking.

Some tips:
1) Unetbootin is what I like to use on Windows to create a bootable USB device for installing linux.

Depending on what you want the computer to do I like:
Ubuntu Server - good for bare bones.
Mint - refreshing usable distro.
Standard Ubuntu - great as well.
Lubuntu - lightweight desktop environment for older computers.

The more you use linux and become familiar with it the more you'll never need windows. Don't forget about Wine - the windows emulator for running win executables under linux.

Have a backup of your important stuff and don't hold back experimenting more. You'll learn a tremendous amount real fast and be able to fix it even faster.

Oh - check out Clonezilla sometime... open source cloning of drives, partitions with support for multiple operating systems.

You can theoretically install Windows on one HDD and Linux on another, but you would have to manually edit Grub and the boot options. Possible, but not necessary in my opinion.

Personally, I would just do a standard dual boot on one of the HDDs, and format the other two as NTFS. Both Windows 7 and Ubuntu would recognize and utilize the other two drives as storage space, so those two drives would be available to you regardless of which OS you booted into.

Your other option, if your laptop is powerful enough to handle it, is to do a straight Ubuntu install, then run Windows 7 as a virtual machine from one of the other hard drives. Not as efficient as the first option I gave you, but it does have some advantages, if you have the resources available to run two operating systems simultaneously.

I'm still using Mint 18.1 Serena. I don't recommend dual boot either, if you enable the Intel Microcode in Linux you may kill your Windows partition depending on the DLLs from third parties.

If you really want to play with Linux just get a computer and put the Noob "Mint" on it. You can always play games on Windows whenever you want on a separate computer.

Yes, you can do it. You need to install your Windows 7 first to your C: Drive.

Second, use a Boot CD of Ubuntu or a Utility Linux Boot Live CD to Partition your second disk for a Linux install. Most utility Boot CD's will have a Hard Disk Partition Manager called "GParted" (GNOME Partition Editor). This is a very powerful free partition editor as good or better than the commercial offerings. How you partition your disk is up to you, you can find guides online. Technically I think you can get by with just one big partition that takes up the whole disk, but it isn't optimum for Linux. Your second disk should be partitioned per a basic install guide.

[link to gparted.org (secure)]

Third, do the actual install of Ubuntu or Mint or whichever 'Distro' you prefer. I prefer Mint myself. During this install the installer will ask you if you want to setup a Dual Boot. If you say yes, it will install a Boot-Loader like "GRUB" to the Boot Sector of your C: Drive and then Linux onto another drive of your choosing (D: for example). Now when you boot you will see a menu and you will be able to select which Drive/OS you want to boot into. You can configure GRUB to remember your most recent choice so it will keeping booting in to your preferred OS by default after 30 sec menu time expires. You can also configure the menu wait time etc. I even customized the GRUB background graphics so the menu looks a bit cooler.

[link to www.gnu.org (secure)]

Windows 10 is absolute garbage and no one with a brian should be supporting that disgusting BS. Too much wrong with it to get into here. Short list would be, ADware, Spyware, Tracker, TrojanWare, Malware, Keylogger, Forced Updates, Forced Driver Install, moving to Subscription Model, and ALL data phoned home to M$py Inc. And much more...

Thanks for your advice. I like the Ubuntu layout & also like all the extra features, inc: audio, video etc..& there are lots of things I don't even understand or know what they do yet.
I didn't partition the new 1 Tbyte drive, tho' have successfully partitioned a drive in the past with an O/S on it. I'm sort of scared of it going wrong at boot up, even though it's partitioned, it's still on 1 drive that can go wrong. I've had hard drives bug out on me before & not work again. The next HDD up was a 2 Tbyte at £25, & they had a 3 Tbye for £55. The Solid State Drives are very expensive though, £200 for a 1 Tbyte solid state.
Any opinions on Solid States? Are they any faster or secure?
I've dropped HDD's on the floor to find they wouldn't work again. When I get a new laptop, I'd prefer a Solid State, as when I slammed on the breaks when driving.. the laptop went flying into the footwell off the seat.
Any bust HDD's, I just take apart to get the neodymium magnets out for power supply projects.
Back up..oh yeahh.. do that.. as I did lose a lot of good videos one time, tho' most are on utube anyway.
Was also wondering if Ubuntu is more private than Windows, but then again, anything online is not private. I got nothing to hide anyway, so nothing to fear. If I got sommat to say, I'll just say it.. though being more sensible & nicer these days.

Cheers for your help..!

This morning when I had the 2 HDD's running, I went to reboot, & a blue screen came up.. which scared me! thinking 'uhh ohh.' & also got the world 'grub' which I had not seen before.
This is why I posted this question here to make sure my stuff didn't end up going down a blue hole..
My laptop broke last year after slamming on the breaks..! Laptop came back on, but was never the same again, then it died..!

Yes, deffo go for a partition & yes.. have used that before on my laptop before it broke on me. Just got my desktop for now.
Will check out those sites. I didn't know about Grub till this morning when it came up, tho' didn't know what it meant. Was a black screen, then went blue. I panic at blue screens!

I've got FuckWIN10, which I got off here some years ago. This was after my PC tried to upgrade to Windows 10 by itself, but I stopped it in time! I've disabled Automatic updates, though been getting messages asking do I want to install Windows10.

So, should I install FuckWIN10 again then?
My Nokia mobile phone has Windows10 & I hate it!
Going to sell or exchange my mobile for a simpler phone, but first need to check out any offers from Virginphones first, as they're offering some great deals lately. Gone from paying £65 monthly down to £13 monthly for 5000 mins, 2,500 txts & 8 Gig of Data. They're offering a new Samsung deal at the moment, which I need to check out. Found here here in London, that the rich & famous don't use smartphones at all, just the ordinary simple text/phone. I don't need or want a stupid smart phone.

Cheers for your advice..!