Partitioned hard drive, installed Mint/Cinnamon from USB, and I want to dual boot without the USB

[N0MS4ME]

I expected to be able to just select either windows, or Linux Mint at boot up. But it appears that grub has taken over. In order to get into Linux Mint, I need to have the USB stick in the port. I press the power button and press contr/alt/delete, then I press F12. This brings me to the screen to select Linux (only from the USB) or I can choose winblows.

This is a real PITA, I had Linux on a laptop previously and did not have all of the unnecessary steps and did not need the USB to boot.

I am not that proficient with Linux, so providing commands, or tech talk won't help me much. However, I am open to hear whatever you are willing to provide.

Thanks all!

 

[APTI]

first thing... do you need windows? if not then toss it out and problem solved.

if you do need windows, what do you need it for? you may just toss windows and install it in a VM in Linux. Not sure what mint has for VM if anything but I use QEMU aka Gnome Boxes. I am sure either can be installed on mint. The draw back on the VM is graphics. if you have graphic intensive programs such as 3d rendering or games or direct x then a VM will not work. Otherwise it will be perfect and gives you the ability to backup the entire windows install with a snapshot. If you have a problem or virus you can just restore the snapshot and in about 40 seconds problem solved.

If you are going to use linux then you must learn a little tech talk or you will not get much out of this forum. You do not have to be an expert but a basic understanding and willingness to learn is required. Some of us are fine teaching that when asked.

 

[osprey]

@N0MS4ME wrote:

it appears that grub has taken over. In order to get into Linux Mint, I need to have the USB stick in the port

Sounds like you need to install grub to the hard drive. Grub is usually the preferred bootloader on dual boot. Perhaps have a look here about how to go about it:

How to install or reinstall Grub - Linux Mint Forums

Installing grub to the hard drive will dispense with booting with the usb.

 

[bob466]

I don't dual-boot...never have as you could have Grub problems because windoze doesn't like Linux.

I have a win 7 VM and have never had problems...Mint Cinnamon runs well in Virtualbox and can adjust video memory to 256MB too. How well it runs all depends on your computer specs...good luck.

 

[N0MS4ME]

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the input. @osprey , I will give that a look as I don't want to be bound to using the stick.

A little about my system: Lenovo laptop with AMD RYZEN 5000 series 7, AMD RADEON graphics, and NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX.

I think I am learning that there could be distinct differences in how, or maybe even if one of the preferred Linux distros are fully compatible with a person's hardware. Although I admit with my current lack of Linux knowledge, my assumption could be wrong.

 

[N0MS4ME]

@APTI - unfortunately, I still need windoze because the software that I use in business is not compatible with Linux. Someday I'll be free of that awful OS.

 

[N0MS4ME]

@APTI and @bob466 - I studied the ins and outs of using a virtual box and I liked the idea. I followed the install instructions to the best of my ability but I kept getting an "aborted" message from the virtual box installer (oracle)

I'm sure the problem comes down to OE.

 

[APTI]

@APTI and @bob466 - I studied the ins and outs of using a virtual box and I liked the idea. I followed the install instructions to the best of my ability but I kept getting an "aborted" message from the virtual box installer (oracle)

I'm sure the problem comes down to OE.

you are trying to install a complex set up. See if you can just use QEMU which is the backbone of many virtual machines. and a graphical interface for it such as virtm or boxes. Get rid of oracle and keep it simple. oracle is tough to set up which is why I do not recommend it. boxes and Qemu come preinstalled on Fedora. Ready to go all you need is an ISO of the system to install. Happy to help with it just ask the questions. Your windows software will run fine in it as long as not using 3d graphics or directx

 

[Brickwizard]

I expected to be able to just select either windows, or Linux Mint at boot up. But it appears that grub has taken over. In order to get into Linux Mint, I need to have the USB stick in the port. I press the power button and press contr/alt/delete, then I press F12. This brings me to the screen to select Linux (only from the USB) or I can choose winblows.

OK so if you have wind 8.1/10/11 have you disabled both windows quick-start [fast boot] and windows Secureboot

is this a laptop up to 12 yrs old, if so whilst powered up save any work make sure both above are disabled, disconnect all power and other cables then press and hold the power button down for 60 seconds, release and switch on again, this time you may get your grub

 

[N0MS4ME]

you are trying to install a complex set up. See if you can just use QEMU which is the backbone of many virtual machines. and a graphical interface for it such as virtm or boxes. Get rid of oracle and keep it simple. oracle is tough to set up which is why I do not recommend it. boxes and Qemu come preinstalled on Fedora. Ready to go all you need is an ISO of the system to install. Happy to help with it just ask the questions. Your windows software will run fine in it as long as not using 3d graphics or directx

@APTI, I'll try Fedora if the software and the VB are a tried and true easy install. I tried a couple of releases of QEMU and they all aborted.

Now, with already installing dual boot on my computer, I suppose I need to dump the dual boot before I go any further. So my question is how to eliminate dual boot, is it just a matter of going into the uninstall and deleting it?

Thanks!

 

[APTI]

@APTI, I'll try Fedora if the software and the VB are a tried and true easy install. I tried a couple of releases of QEMU and they all aborted.

Now, with already installing dual boot on my computer, I suppose I need to dump the dual boot before I go any further. So my question is how to eliminate dual boot, is it just a matter of going into the uninstall and deleting it?

Thanks!

if you install from the live usb you will get boxes and qemu installed by default. Just run boxes and it will walk you through set up. I suggest have the ISO in hand and not bother with the download option.

As for VB it is NOT VB. it is very similar except easier to use and program. It is called Gambas3
It was a bit tough to get started only because I was used to VB which took all kinds of convoluted coding to do things that Gambas does very straight forward and easy. Take your head out of VB and the weird coding required, and trust Gambas has it and is easy.

Eliminating the dual boot is a matter of wipe the drive and install the OS you want.

 

[N0MS4ME]

Perseverance pays off. I abandoned the Linux Mint install, I was so frustrated by the attempt to install the software.

I gave Ubuntu 24.4 LTS a try in a side by side dual boot. I followed a YouTube video and the guy was so easy to follow, and Ubuntu works great for now.

Thanks to everyone that tried to help me previously.