Dual booting Linux and Windows 7

@Brickwizard
Thank you for sharing, didn't know that.
I see you're hardware guy because I'm not, sadly I don't know of any commands or methods to check whether this is the case with the OP.
Maybe he\she should post make and model of their laptop...

Brickwizard said:
are you in the UK... if so you may also remember a range of computers made and sold by tiny computers from north-west England, you never knew what components they had in them until they went wrong [which was often] and you stripped one down, in the trade we referred to them not as TINY but as TOUGH ITS NOW YOURS
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Didn't know as well, no I'm not in the UK, I thought my English is bad enough for people to figure out lol :p

But it happened to me to install 32bit windows on 64 bit CPU by mistake, since I was still kind of noob I though my CPU is 32 bit while in fact it was 64 bit heh.
 


CaffeineAddict said:
I don't know of any commands or methods to check whether this is the case
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Years since Used windows [I still have to repair the family members ones who wont change ], but with windows the command I use is with elevated authority [from this its only a few minutes to go through the workshop sheets for the full spec]

wmic baseboard get Manufacturer, Model, Name, PartNumber, serialnumber
 
Brickwizard said:
if you want it plain and simple, follow my how do I install guide [link below this will work for 90% of machines] you may have to run a few short terminal codes to install some legacy drivers, its not hard if you follow instructions, I still suggest you use Mint LMDE as per my link earlier, most of the apps you will need are included, and the Cinnamon DE is designed for point and click for ease of use.
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OK. Thanks .... john
 
CaffeineAddict said:
It works mostly because
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It's my original w 7 disk which I created a VM so I could run it in Virtualbox 9 years ago and has been imported into every clean install of Mint ever since.
m100.gif


It's never been updated or is connected to the net...works just like it did back in the day...the only difference is it now has 6GB of Ram and it's a file not a drive.
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bob466 said:
It's my original w 7 disk which I created a VM so I could run it in Virtualbox 9 years ago and has been imported into every clean install of Mint ever since.
m100.gif


It's never been updated or is connected to the net...works just like it did back in the day...the only difference is it now has 6GB of Ram and it's a file not a drive.
m1212.gif
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Interesting!
 
CaffeineAddict said:
@Brickwizard
Thank you for sharing, didn't know that.
I see you're hardware guy because I'm not, sadly I don't know of any commands or methods to check whether this is the case with the OP.
Maybe he\she should post make and model of their laptop...


Didn't know as well, no I'm not in the UK, I thought my English is bad enough for people to figure out lol :p

But it happened to me to install 32bit windows on 64 bit CPU by mistake, since I was still kind of noob I though my CPU is 32 bit while in fact it was 64 bit heh.
Click to expand...

CaffeineAddict said:
@Brickwizard
Thank you for sharing, didn't know that.
I see you're hardware guy because I'm not, sadly I don't know of any commands or methods to check whether this is the case with the OP.
Maybe he\she should post make and model of their laptop...


Didn't know as well, no I'm not in the UK, I thought my English is bad enough for people to figure out lol :p

But it happened to me to install 32bit windows on 64 bit CPU by mistake, since I was still kind of noob I though my CPU is 32 bit while in fact it was 64 bit heh.
Click to expand...
My laptop is an Aspire 5734Z; but I have another, which is has a 64 bit processsor. It's a Dell Latitude E5410 with 5 gigs of ram, probably as old as the Acer, but may be more suitable for the Linux installation. It has Windows Vista installed on it, so you know how old it is.
.... john
 
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shinnen said:
My laptop is an Aspire 5734Z; but I have another, which is has a 64 bit processsor. It's a Dell Latitude E5410, probably as old as the Acer, but may be more suitable for the Linux installation. It has Windows Vista installed on it, so you know how old it is.
.... john
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Have you yet decided what to install?
If I would be in your place I would lose patience and would be all shaking to have Linux installed ASAP :D
 
shinnen said:
so you know how old it is.
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John, Without a few more numbers [full model and serial number] I can only give you a guide of late 2010 to mid 2011 and yes it is an excellent candidate for Linux

word of warning the dell will have a Broadcom wireless for which you will need to install the Broadcom B43fwcutter from your distribution repository, this will install the correct drivers for your Wi-Fi card, to do this you will need alternative internet connection [hard-wire to router or teatherd mobile]
 
The simplest method is to install Linux and Win?? on a separate SSDs/Disks.
So each OS encompasses the entire SSD and do not intersect with that partition nonsense. Many computers today come with at least 2 SSD slots, the PCIe 2280 format. (The chewing gum stick sized SSD). The 2.5" also works well.

Dell 7770 for example has 4 PCIe interfaces for SSD.

A gaming machine like Alienware has 4 SSDs, 2 2280 and 2 2230.
 
etcetera said:
The simplest method is to install Linux and Win?? on a separate SSDs/Disks.
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Please read the thread before commenting, the OP has an acer 32 bit from around 2008 and a Dell from around 2010 both only have one caddy
 
I concur with Brickwizard. The Windows Control Panel will report the OS itself as 32-bit, but that will almost certainly be a 64-bit CPU/mobo combo.....these have been commercially available since late 2003/2004.

64-bit hardware will certainly open up your possibilities. As for which distro, I refuse to get drawn into this one, and will most definitely not recommend my own. I will recommend you try out a bunch as 'Live' sessions from a USB stick (download the ISOs and use something like Balena Etcher to 'burn' the ISOs to the stick).

This lets YOU see if you like the OS, and lets the OS see if it's happy with your hardware..!!

Mint is mentioned by many as a good choice, since it has wide-spread support on many forums across t'Internet. Try it by all means, but don't limit yourself to the first one you try.....at least take a look at a few others before deciding what to use.


Mike. ;)
 
etcetera said:
The simplest method is to install Linux and Win?? on a separate SSDs/Disks.
So each OS encompasses the entire SSD and do not intersect with that partition nonsense. Many computers today come with at least 2 SSD slots, the PCIe 2280 format. (The chewing gum stick sized SSD). The 2.5" also works well.

Dell 7770 for example has 4 PCIe interfaces for SSD.

A gaming machine like Alienware has 4 SSDs, 2 2280 and 2 2230.
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Whilst I'll agree with the practice of using separate drives wherever possible, you'll find not many here are running brand-new hardware. It's not the Linux 'way', and anyway, brand-new hardware often has several months-worth of issues until the reverse-engineering at kernel.org manages to catch up. (Blame manufacturers for that; with few exceptions, most simply point-blank REFUSE to "share" specs with the Linux kernel team, often as a result of under-the-table pressure from M$ themselves. Say what you will; despite all this "We love Linux" crap, a leopard doesn't change its spots.....unless IT's the one standing to gain from the resulting fur coat!)

No, brand-new hardware is very much a Windoze thing.....unless you're like me, and bought a brand-new Windows desktop with the express intention of nuking Windoze before it's ever activated in order to install Linux instead. In this case, the hardware was at least 18 months old.....not brand-spanking new, straight off the foundry assembly line. (I'm not made of money!!)


Mike. o_O
 
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etcetera said:
The simplest method is to install Linux and Win?? on a separate SSDs/Disks.
So each OS encompasses the entire SSD and do not intersect with that partition nonsense. Many computers today come with at least 2 SSD slots, the PCIe 2280 format. (The chewing gum stick sized SSD). The 2.5" also works well.

Dell 7770 for example has 4 PCIe interfaces for SSD.

A gaming machine like Alienware has 4 SSDs, 2 2280 and 2 2230.
Click to expand...
Yes, it seems that separate drives is the general concensus. I have them, and have no problem with swapping drives, physically, into the same slot. So that's probably what I'm going to do.
.... john
 
I forgot to mention my w7 VM is in my Tower (16GB of Ram) not my Laptop as my Laptop has only 4GB of Ram.

As for new hardware...my Tower's Motherboard was 10 years old and Legacy...unfortunately it failed last year. It now has a new Motherboard...CPU and Ram all UEFI.

My 5 year old 500GB SSD with my w 7 VM works just fine...with a VM it's a file not a Drive and m$ can't access your computer.
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Hi again,
I checked out the specs on the Acer 5734Z. It say "Intel 64 Technology". So, I'm assuming it's 64 bit, contrary to the computer's 'computer properties' page which say 32 bit. I loaded Linux Cinnamon 21.3 into it, in compatability mode, and it runs fine, so whom ever said it was probably 64 is right.
..... john
 
shinnen said:
I loaded Linux Cinnamon 21.3 into it, in compatability mode, and it runs fine, so whom ever said it was probably 64 is right.
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I thought it possibly was. It'd be possible, but rare, if it wasn't.

And now you get to take advantage of a full 64 bit system!
 
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