What type of installation should I do? (Dual Boot / Live CD / Fresh Install / Virtual Installation)

Rob

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One of the things that makes Linux special is that it can play nice with other operating systems. You can run Linux alongside of other operating systems quite easily. The most popular installation process for installing Linux is to install a Fresh Installation of Linux with no other operating system in place. This allows the computer to dedicated 100% of its resources to running Linux. However, it is quite easy to install Linux as a one of a series of operating systems that a computer has available to it.

Here are the most popular ways to install/run Linux on your computer

Dual Booting - If you want to keep an existing operating system, and install Linux as well, you will have what is known as a "dual-boot" system. That means that you have a PC that can use two different operating systems, and during the boot process you will need to decide which one you would like to boot into.

Author's Note: Dual Booting between Windows and Linux is becoming somewhat less popular due to the rise of Virtual Machines. If you like the idea of running two operating systems, then you may want to consider running Linux as a VM inside of another operating system instead.

Live CD/DVD Booting Linux
If you are just looking to try Linux out to see if you like it, but don't want to commit to wiping out your main operating system, you may want to consider trying Linux from a \"Live CD/DVD\". Many Linux installations provide the option of downloading and running Linux as a \"Live CD\", which means that Linux runs as a completely bootable operating system from the CD/DVD. The files are loaded into your computer's memory, rather than being run for a hard disk drive. In layman's terms, this means that you can run Linux from a CD/DVD, and then when you reboot your PC, and remove the CD/DVD, it will boot back into its old operating system without any difference to your PC. This gives you an easy way to try out several distributions of Linux until you find the one that you like!

Using a "Live CD/DVD" is also a popular method of rescuing files from a corrupted operating system, more on this later...

Linux as a VM inside another Operating System
If you like your current (non-linux) desktop operating system, but would like an easy way to access a Linux desktop or run your favorite open source software, you may want to consider running Linux as a VM inside another operating system. There are a number of ways to do this, but one simple one would be to download and install a Virtual Server application, and then install your Linux distribution under that host software. This topic is covered in the more advanced tutorials on this website I think that I should pause here and say that everything that you can do with your other operating system, you can do with Linux. That means word processing, databases, spreadsheets, Internet browsers, e-mail, photo touch-ups, MP3, CD Players, cameras and then there are a lot of things that Linux has to offer on top of all that that other operating systems don't.



Fresh Install of Linux
This method is by far the most popular installation method available. In this approach, you take the plunge and format your computer's hard drive and install Linux from a CD/DVD. Linux then runs as your computers only operating system.
 


Lest we forget we can also run Live Linux Distros from thumb drives. Just saying I use Rufus to burn an Linux
ISO to flash/thumb drive and it works fine.
Just change your boot order to USB storage device 1st.
I do like messing around with virtualization, cool stuff.
 
It'll be fine and really suitable to me, since I'm new to Linux. Could you tell me any more about that procedure? What do I need to do: is it kind of an installation on the USB device? and does it work with any Linux distribution, for instance with Suse? How would it be performed the bootstrap choose thorough inserting or not the pen-drive in the USB port?
 
It'll be fine and really suitable to me, since I'm new to Linux. Could you tell me any more about that procedure? What do I need to do: is it kind of an installation on the USB device? and does it work with any Linux distribution, for instance with Suse? How would it be performed the bootstrap choose thorough inserting or not the pen-drive in the USB port?

Hey @gatorb and @ShipWreck-1... welcome! Please note that posts to threads are dated, and you guys are replying to a thread that is now over 4 years old. Sometimes that can be like an eternity in computers! While old threads still can hold much useful information, it is far better to start new threads with current questions or problems.

So, @ShipWreck-1, please open up a new thread in the Getting Started forum. Give it a title, such as, "Installing Linux on a pen drive" and then give us a description of what kind of computer you have, which Linux you want to use (openSUSE?) and anything else that may be relevant. This is the best way to proceed and get the attention that you need to discuss your situation and goals.

Cheers
 
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUGGESTIONS !! I'll follow that. It's all due to inexperience, may be in the rush I din't write that I'm new at Linux and all this environment.

The best
 
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUGGESTIONS !! I'll follow that. It's all due to inexperience, may be in the rush I din't write that I'm new at Linux and all this environment.

The best

No worries. We're glad to have you join us, and we look forward to helping you get started with Linux.

Cheers
 
I'm trying starting a new thread, but I keep on getting error messages which I can't manage at all, it seem that that page doesn't work, but I don't get to understand what I'm going wrong!
 
I'm checking... I have a little trouble too. See if this works for you:

Go to the Getting Started page (follow link above)
Click the big blue "Post New Thread" button on the right side, near the top
Give the thread a Title

Then... if you don't have an box to enter in your question immediately below the Title (the problem I was having).... reload the page, and the entry box should appear.

Good luck!
 
Thank you, I got to try and it is working now. I'll get back later having more time, thank you again.

The best,
 
i had once such problem. i had Debian on laptop installed and i decided to install Windows alongside it for my family use. Windows delete everything and after i installed Windows first and after Debian. Wndows is monster to other OS's :))
 
Hi Guys
I'm new to all that and would like to run Mine as dual set up on my Macbook Pro. Is that possible ?
 
Hi Guys
I'm new to all that and would like to run Mine as dual set up on my Macbook Pro. Is that possible ?

Hi @Wolfgang Zech, and welcome to the site! I am not familiar with Apple products, but I replied to a post about a week ago here that has a couple of links that may be helpful to you. If that doesn't get you started, please open up a new thread of your own to pursue your goal of putting Linux on your Macbook Pro. A couple of the forums that would be appropriate are General Linux and Getting Started. It is preferred that you open your own thread as your issues and/or problems may be different from the other forum user.

Good luck!

Cheers
 
My proposed installation doesn't appear to be shown - I'd like to remove my windows 10 ssd and replace it with a fresh ssd and format that for Linux. End result is I can eject one ssd and pop another in the drive bay and choose which operating system my PC loads.
Is this as easy as it sounds or are there any tricks that I might need?
Many Thanks
 
My proposed installation doesn't appear to be shown - I'd like to remove my windows 10 ssd and replace it with a fresh ssd and format that for Linux. End result is I can eject one ssd and pop another in the drive bay and choose which operating system my PC loads.
Is this as easy as it sounds or are there any tricks that I might need?
Many Thanks

Hi @DavidC51, and welcome to the site. That is an excellent method for using Linux, and it totally eliminates any risk of damaging your Windows OS and data on that drive. While your Windows is up and running, you need to download the Linux .iso that you want and create a bootable DVD or USB with it... you may need special software to do this. When you have the bootable media ready, remove the Windows SSD, insert the empty SSD and boot on the DVD/USB and do a full install to the empty drive.

I'm skipping over some details that you should also learn about... like "verifying" the Linux .iso file that you download before burning it to DVD or USB. Verifying also needs a special program in Windows, but this step ensures that the .iso file is complete and uncorrupted. You don't want to install an operating system from a corrupted copy, right?

Details about creating a bootable Linux DVD/USB and how to install Linux on to a hard drive are discussed in many threads on this site and can also be Googled and found all over the web. You are also welcome to open a new thread in one of the forums here (Getting Started is a good choice) if you need any further discussion or assistance. Good luck!

Cheers
 
Hi, please help, is it a good idea to run Linux with Microsoft Hyper-V ? cause I'm having difficulties run it there. Thank you.
 
One of the deciding factors is "How much RAM have you got?" With virtualisation, you are effectively running two OSs. About half of the RAM is used by Windows and about half by Linux. If you haven't got enough you might have problems.

With dual booting you are deciding to run one OS at a time. So, all the RAM gets either used by Windows, or used by Linux.

cause I'm having difficulties run it there.
What are your difficulties?
 
Nowadays, Kali linux and knoppix linux are offering linux in microSD card with persistent, so need to install.
 
download Linux Mint a file, use Rufus use a USB for Linux mint then shut down the power off plug USB in the laptop then turn the power on .. boot USB and say not found a file on your USB ...?
 


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