Solved Hi! Newer to Linux!~ Surface Pro 8 Install Woes...

[Rocketing-warp9]

Hello All!

I am newer to the Linux ecosystem, and just wanted to say Hi! And ask a question about getting started.
I have used Linux before on some older Computers- Mostly 2007-2011 PCs lying around. I do not know to use the terminal well, but get around fine on the GUIs. (Mostly Plasma) Now I would like to go deeper and put it on my Main x64 PC. The Machine in question is a MS Surface Pro 8 that currently has Win11 trapped on it.
Burned a Flash disk with KDE Neon and gave it a go. Tried to install or even partition however- Nothing. I need to Keep Win11 for one drive Photos until i can get them off, so dual boot setup. The W11 partition has unmovable files that prevent me from shrinking the partition more than 4 Gigs. Disabled page file.sys, sysprotection, restarted, deleted restore points, and had Bitlocker disabled. The partition still will not shrink enough for me to get an Install on the drive. Not through Win, not through KDE's partitioner, and not through WinRE. Tried to then install Neon onto a spare flash drive I had laying around- errored out about 75% of the way and aborted. The unmovable files are stuck and I can't seem to get rid of them. Any assistance is welcome.

Thank you all in advance and I hope to became an active member here.
Mat-M.

 

[Brickwizard]

Welcome to the forums

Tutorial Thread 'Basic checks if Linux fails to install'

Nov 9, 2025

Why Linux fails to load/install direct to HDD, common reasons

1] Corrupt download [check SHA sum]
2] bad burn to installation medium [try again] [if you used Rufus then try Balena Etcher or Ventoy]
2A] if optical drive burn at slow speed [no more than x3]
3] Wind 8.2 and higher quick start/fast boot or secure boot not disabled [after disabling do a full power re-boot not a restart]
3A ] check that boot from USB/Optical drive is enabled in your BIOS?UEFI
4] defective pen-drive/DVD
5] hardware fault,
5A] If old style HDD run integrity check
5B]if SATA SSD check for hidden...

• Brickwizard
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Getting Started

• 

 

[CaffeineAddict]

The W11 partition has unmovable files that prevent me from shrinking the partition more than 4 Gigs. Disabled page file.sys, sysprotection, restarted, deleted restore points, and had Bitlocker disabled. The partition still will not shrink enough for me to get an Install on the drive. Not through Win, not through KDE's partitioner, and not through WinRE.

Hello and welcome to the forums!

Normally when dealing with HDD one would run disk defragmenter prior shrinking to maximize gain on free space.
However that's not possible with SSD.

You'll need to back up data and reformat the drive.

 

[tpkusr]

Burned a Flash disk with KDE Neon and gave it a go. Tried to install or even partition however- Nothing

Have you tried KDE Partition Manager from kde neon live USB.

 

[bob466]

Welcome to the Forum.

The first thing to do is disable secure boot...then try a more user friendly Distro like Linux Mint and install to the whole Drive.

 

[Condobloke]

G'day Rocketing-warp9, Welcome to Linux.org

The below appears to be the stumbling block.

I need to Keep Win11 for one drive Photos until i can get them off

Suggestion: Get them off. Downloaded to an external drive would be ideal.

I know zero about one drive, so your knowledge of how it works and doesn't work is crucial.

When you have them off, reformat the drive, and install Linux Mint 22.2 (the specs of your pc would be of interest here)

In the software manager on Linux Mint, there are two apps that may be of help. This would be after you have made the photos safe.

Just fyi ...the Software Manager give you access to over 58,000 apps..free.

Good luck. Make sure those photos are safe.

Edit to Add: https://linuxvox.com/blog/onedriver-linux/

 

[Rocketing-warp9]

Thank you all! I will nuke it as soon as Win 11 is done being Win 11, and give Mint a shot.

G'day Rocketing-warp9, Welcome to Linux.org

The below appears to be the stumbling block.

Suggestion: Get them off. Downloaded to an external drive would be ideal.

I know zero about one drive, so your knowledge of how it works and doesn't work is crucial.

When you have them off, reformat the drive, and install Linux Mint 22.2 (the specs of your pc would be of interest here)

The PC is a Surface Pro 8 with 256GB SSD, 11th gen Intel Core I7 G6 CPU and 16GB ram.

In the software manager on Linux Mint, there are two apps that may be of help. This would be after you have made the photos safe.
View attachment 29343

View attachment 29344

Just fyi ...the Software Manager give you access to over 58,000 apps..free.

Good luck. Make sure those photos are safe.

Edit to Add: https://linuxvox.com/blog/onedriver-linux

Thank you all for your help. Windows self-destructed while resetting.... Mint will have to wait a bit. Need to get the machine working with a downloadable version of mint..

 

[KGIII]

I am going to suggest using Google before going too much further.

As you only have one drive in there, and you want to dual-boot, that means you're going to need to 'shrink' your partition. Dp NOT do this with Linux tools. You're working on a Windows partition. Use tools meant specifically for Windows.

There are free partitioning tools out there for Windows. I don't know any of them, but I know they exist.

Only after you've shrunk the drive can you install Linux as its own thing. Remember not to shrink the partition as much as you can. You'll still need free space on that partition, or Windows will not function. You need free space for things like temporary files, so the partition can't be completely full. Folks seem to agree that you'll want to keep 10 to 20 GB free.

 

[Rocketing-warp9]

Thank you for your reply-

Windows got hung-up when I was reinstalling it, so I just decided to reinstall it later. Backup and pictures that I need are here, but a strange error keeps happening. Both On KDE and on Mint- both when installing Bootloader. Windows is already nuked.

 

[tpkusr]

Dp NOT do this with Linux tools. You're working on a Windows partition. Use tools meant specifically for Windows.

Will it create any problem if partition your HDD/SSD using gparted or (kde partition manager) from live usb? I have done this but I didn't face any problem.

 

[Rocketing-warp9]

Thank you for your reply-

Windows got hung-up when I was reinstalling it, so I just decided to reinstall it later. Backup and pictures that I need are here, but a strange error keeps happening. Both On KDE and on Mint- both when installing Bootloader. Windows is already nuked.

Another error occurred on the reinstall attempt. Sorry for the late response. Yes, it still failed even with KDE Partition manager.
Opened Gparted and this popped up. It seems to not like the SSD.. Error keeps coming up repeatedly. Already nuked W11 and will reinstall later.

 

[KGIII]

Windows is already nuked.

I'm not entirely sure where you are in the process.

If you have a USB flash drive that's ready to go, you can start the live distro. Once you're in the live environment, you can use a tool like ntfs-3g to mount your Windows drive. At that point, you should be able to navigate to where your pictures are stored. From there, you can (ideally) back them up to an external drive. (Which is something you should already have been doing, even before you thought about Linux. Backups are an essential part of happy computing.)

 

[Condobloke]

16GB ram.

That will run like a charm

Pay attention to @KGIII's post immediately above

more about your Linux install, when you sound the all clear with securing your pics

 

[Rocketing-warp9]

I'm not entirely sure where you are in the process.

If you have a USB flash drive that's ready to go, you can start the live distro. Once you're in the live environment, you can use a tool like ntfs-3g to mount your Windows drive. At that point, you should be able to navigate to where your pictures are stored. From there, you can (ideally) back them up to an external drive. (Which is something you should already have been doing, even before you thought about Linux. Backups are an essential part of happy computing.)

I am sorry about the confusion. I attempted to reset the machine to move the unmovable files that were on the machine that prevented the resizing of the partition-W11 just decided to not work. I have a backup on one drive and another MS pc to get them- so I just gave up on W11 and went right to Linux. Erased disk both on Neon and Mint- both fail at installing the bootloader. Curiously just seizes at same point- about 75% complete. Thank you all!

 

[KGIII]

Will it create any problem if partition your HDD/SSD using gparted or (kde partition manager) from live usb? I have done this but I didn't face any problem.

Oh, yes... Well, more accurately, it can create a problem.

If you have Windows on one drive and you want to shrink that partition to make room for Linux, using Linux tools can cause breakages. This often ends with data corruption. On top of that, it's even worse if they had 'fast boot' enabled when they shrunk the partition.

Here's a recent thread that is worth skimming:

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=442435

Now, you can do it more safely with ntfsresize, which is included with ntfs-3g. That's more safe but still not worth risking it. The risk of corruption is too great. Even something as small as a bad sector can result in massive data corruption and data loss.

It might work for you, but the risks are too high to suggest doing so. You can find stories of people who did this across the web and see how unhappy they were. You might win a game of Russian Roulette, but it's not worth the risks.

There are safer tools to use. Even thosemay break something, but the risks are much lower.

Also, OP should make sure their drive is healthy and has no bad sectors. They should also disable 'fast boot'. If it is a mechanical drive, they should also defrag the drive before moving forward.

As always, back up your data before making major changes. alongside your regular backups.

 

[KGIII]

so I just gave up on W11 and went right to Linux. Erased disk both on Neon and Mint- both fail at installing the bootloader.

Welcome aboard!

Curiously just seizes at same point- about 75% complete.

Hmm... It can take a while on some computers, though your computer is reasonably modern and should not do that. I do know that Surface Pro hardware can be a bit unusual. I think we have a few people here who have gone through this -- but I don't think any of them are 'regulars'.

I don't normally suggest this, but you can hit up the BIOS and disable 'Secure Boot'. I'd try that.

You can also try wiping any existing partitions before you try installig anything. Plus, during the installation process, many distros ask you if you want to update your software while you're installing and you can try that.

If the installer asks you about installing proprietary software, tell it to do so.

(There are many installers and installer configurations, so I'm not sure what options you're being given.)

 

[Condobloke]

hit up the BIOS and disable 'Secure Boot'. I'd try that.

I'll second that.

 

[tpkusr]

They should also disable 'fast boot'.

And disable secure boot too. Running chkdsk from windows after partition will minimize the risk of data corruption .

 

[Rocketing-warp9]

Thank you all! I realized that secure boot was still on (Ouch) and disabled it through EUFI. Mint still halts at: Plasma did the same. Good thoughts, though!
Also- strangely it does it even on external drives... Hmm..


Installer Crashed right after.

 

[Rocketing-warp9]

It is strange- 2 different distros, On 2 separate USB sticks giving the same error at similar point. Goodnight All!