Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

What's the best installation method for me?

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
    #1

    What's the best installation method for me?

    I have an acer aspire netbook, just installed windows 7 ultimate 32 bit on a 35GB partition. I made a 15gb partition after that space for Linux and left the remaining 250gb for storage.

    I want to put Kubunu on the 15GB partition and get a dual boot option every time I boot up. Would it be better to use Wubi or a USB drive to isntall for these results?

    I've decided not to bother with a swap partition as I have 2 GB DDR3 ram and if that isn't enough I can make a swap file.
    Also I believe Kubuntu comes with a netbook version it is not seperate like Ubuntu/remix, so I will be able to use the full version or the plasma version after a regular installation.
    Tags: None
    • Top
    • Bottom
    #2
    Re: What's the best installation method for me?

    Well, if your looking for a GRUB boot menu with access to both Kubuntu and Windows7, then installing with a USB/CD would be the best. I'm not sure why you partitioned off 250gigs to the side, since I don't think either operating system will be able to detect the unpartitioned space. But the Kubuntu installer will give you the option on how to size your partition to the size you want.

    I do suggest a swap the same size as your RAM though, because the swap partition does a great deal of help, both in the background and the foreground. I've noticed by both using and not using swap.

    And yes, there is a netbook version of kubuntu that comes installed. What happens is, since Kubuntu uses the Plasma-desktop, it has an option for both desktop and netbook computers, and you can switch between the two of them as you see fit. When you install, and want to change between them, you click on the KickOff bar[the little blue square that has a gear with a 'K' in it] if your using the desktop version, and if your using the netbook version, your startup will be the "search and Launch." You then click on 'system settings' and click on 'plasma desktop settings' I believe is what its called, and you can then choose between the desktop/netbook options.
    Computer Lie #1: You&#39;ll never use all that disk space.<br />FATAL SYSTEM ERROR: Press F13 to continue...<br />The box said, &quot;Requires Windows 7 Home Edition or better&quot; ..so I installed Linux<br />My software never has bugs. It just develops random features.<br />Bad command. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaay...
    • Top
    • Bottom

    Comment

      #3
      Re: What's the best installation method for me?

      I partitioned 250 gigs off to use as shared space between the 2 OS. I don't see why they wouldn't detect it.

      The problem I have with the Grub boot menu is that if for whatever reason i ever format my linux partition, the computer will not boot straight to windows anymore. Am I correct in saying this? My netbook did not come with a windows recovery CD
      • Top
      • Bottom

      Comment

        #4
        Re: What's the best installation method for me?

        Oh, what your describing is when GRUB boots to the Linux installation. That is not hard to fix, we just need to edit some files to change the boot order from Linux to Windows.

        This is a quote from one of my much previous posts about partitioning, and I think it serves a good purpose on how to explain to boot straight to Windows:

        Originally posted by oshunluvr
        As far as multi-booting, grub-pc should and will likely detect all your bootable partitions as long as they follow a format that grub-pc understands....To change the default on boot, you need to edit /etc/default/grub. The first line is

        GRUB_DEFAULT=0

        change it to reflect the line number you want to default to in your boot menu. Remember that it's geek counting so you start with Zero, not 1.

        In the default setup, the grub-pc boot menu will likely have two stanzas per kernel for your main install, two stanzas for memtest, then two each for each additional linux install, one for any windows installs, and finally anything you put in 40_custom. This is important to note, because if you add additional kernels (from updates) to a linux install, the boot menu will increase in size by two. If you remove a kernel it will decrease in size by two. Both instances changing the number of lines in your boot menu, thus possibly causing it to default to a different line. There's a way to "fix" this if need be.

        I know this sounds complex, but it's really not. I can't address exactly what will happen in your case without more exact information on what you intend to do.
        That should hopefully answer your question concerning the Windows booting. For example, using geek counting, if your Windows shows up on in the /grub file as the third line, then you change the default to "GRUB_DEFAULT=3" You might need to check the 40_custom file to make sure that Windows is indeed specific "number". /etc/grub.d/40_custom is where you can locate the file.

        But concerning the extra space, from all my past experience with duel-booting Windows and Linux, having unused partition space results in it being empty. I've never had an OS detect the space before, so if I want to migrate files, I can mount the Windows partition from Linux and transfer files over, but if I want to move the files from Windows to Linux, I need to put them on an external HD just like if I had two separate computers.

        You might also want to look at this link for further GRUB help if you need it: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1195275
        Computer Lie #1: You&#39;ll never use all that disk space.<br />FATAL SYSTEM ERROR: Press F13 to continue...<br />The box said, &quot;Requires Windows 7 Home Edition or better&quot; ..so I installed Linux<br />My software never has bugs. It just develops random features.<br />Bad command. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaay...
        • Top
        • Bottom

        Comment

          #5
          Re: What's the best installation method for me?

          So at the moment I have windows 7 only. If I install kubuntu, I can alter the boot order in grub.

          however if I get rid of kubuntu, I will also be removing grub, so will the computer still be able to boot from the original windows boot files?
          • Top
          • Bottom

          Comment

            #6
            Re: What's the best installation method for me?

            Originally posted by bongorider
            So at the moment I have windows 7 only. If I install kubuntu, I can alter the boot order in grub.

            however if I get rid of kubuntu, I will also be removing grub, so will the computer still be able to boot from the original windows boot files?
            The answer here is - no. You will need to restore your master boot record to boot to win7 (not difficult, but not automatic either).

            Doesn't windows offer a boot loader that will work for you?

            Please Read Me
            • Top
            • Bottom

            Comment

              #7
              Re: What's the best installation method for me?

              Yes, a friend of mine did that - uninstalled his LinuxMint and wondered why the computer wouldn't boot any more.

              But re SWAP - this is very important if you want to use hibernation. No swap, no hibernation!
              Once your problem is solved please mark the topic of the first post as SOLVED so others know and can benefit from your experience! / FAQ
              • Top
              • Bottom

              Comment

                #8
                Re: What's the best installation method for me?

                I will bear that in mind RE swap. But it seems easier to me to make a swap file rather than make yet another partition.

                I think the easiest thing to do is to install kubuntu using the USB method as illustrated here
                http://seogadget.co.uk/the-ubuntu-in...stall-from-USB
                From what I understand this method doesn't destroy your existing partition table so I can simply install it onto the 15GB free space I made originally.

                I have windows 7 image on a bootable USB stick so despite not having a recovery cd (or a CD drive in which to put it) I should be ok if I ever want to remove linux.

                • Top
                • Bottom

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: What's the best installation method for me?

                  Like toad says, no swap no hibernation. I have no idea if a file can be used for that purpose since I've never looked into that. However, I just want to point out that a swap partition is a special format and not at all like a file.
                  • Top
                  • Bottom

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: What's the best installation method for me?

                    Yeah I can't say I've ever put my computer in hibernation so I wont miss this feature,
                    • Top
                    • Bottom

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: What's the best installation method for me?

                      Yeah, I never head of a swap file either (sound like some win98 creature) but a quick google and there it was... The article I read was five years old, but I don't see why things should have changed for something as base as that.
                      Once your problem is solved please mark the topic of the first post as SOLVED so others know and can benefit from your experience! / FAQ
                      • Top
                      • Bottom

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Re: What's the best installation method for me?

                        I didn't realise it was an uncommon thing. I'm kind of learning about linux just by muddling through at the moment. I don't have the attention span to read any kind of manuals but I'm quite prepared to repeatedly mess around with installations until I get it right
                        • Top
                        • Bottom

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Re: What's the best installation method for me?

                          Way to go! A virtual environment will prevent hair loss, though.
                          Once your problem is solved please mark the topic of the first post as SOLVED so others know and can benefit from your experience! / FAQ
                          • Top
                          • Bottom

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Re: What's the best installation method for me?

                            Originally posted by bongorider
                            My netbook did not come with a windows recovery CD
                            Many computers are sold these days without recovery dusks, but they have a program to create your recovery disks. I highly recommend you do this.
                            • Top
                            • Bottom

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Re: What's the best installation method for me?

                              If you decide to try a swap file rather than swap partition https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwapFaq

                              IMO since this is a laptop you should have a swap and it should be the size of your RAM.

                              Please Read Me
                              • Top
                              • Bottom

                              Comment

                              Previous template Next
                              Working...
                              X