Checking my hard-drive partition scheme before installing K15.1 as dual-boot

[logan01]

LOL, well, logan01, kudos to you for being such a willing Guinea pig. Thanks for the link; I'll be sure to read through your thread.

You bet. Hope you get it one way or the other.

[Qqmike]

I find this odd as I thought Windows 10 required EFI, but whatever.

Yeah, me, too. Tried to google this and it depends on exactly what model/year your Dell was produced. Looking at your screenshot of partitions, there is no evidence of a special "System Partition" (an EFI System Partition, ESP), which would be required for a UEFI installation. Hmmm. Well, carry on, best of luck, and keep us posted.

[oshunluvr]

Just a guess: Maybe Dell has a special windows version so their older machines work with Win10?

[2muchcoffeeman]

Logan01,

Okay, I'm up to page 10 of your saga, and it's time for a break to let all that info seep in. One question occurs: since the boot environment of my win10 system is BIOS, not UEFI (see the image in this post), it would appear that my journey from a win10-only system to a system that dual-boots into either Win10 or Kubuntu will be a bit shorter than yours. Why? Because I will not need to encounter the task of creating an ESP -- or, alternatively, go through the pain of forcing the Kubuntu installer to find, recognize and use the ESP that Windows supposedly would have already created for purposes of running Win10. BIOS, it appears to me, provides a less-complicated path to Kubuntu installation. But, now would be an excellent time to know if that's actually true!

A few years ago, I installed Ubutntu 12.04 alongside an XP system on a pretty pedestrian laptop. The hardest part was creating the installation USB stick -- my big task at that point was learning what .iso files were all about. As I recall, the partitioning was a painless process; I did not use GParted (I guess I must have let the Ubuntu installation utility handle the task); and my now-hazy recollection is that the whole process was surprisingly smooth, simple, and error-free. I find it somewhat surprising to learn, several releases later, that partitioning requires such extensive and detailed attention. I mean, I understand it's important -- and it's the subject of my OP, after all -- but I'm surprised to find that figuring out, and configuring, partitions is such a weedy endeavor.

[Qqmike]

@ 2muchcoffeeman, I think this mostly has to do with complications thrown into the mix by Windows. A Kubuntu-only system 'should' be a walk in the park, regardless of how you choose to do it (BIOS+MBR or UEFI+GPT).

Installing Kubuntu -- Using the "Manual" Installation Type, with your own partitioning
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...688#post377688

Building a Kubuntu live USB flash drive installer using dd
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...712#post378712

or from bare metal, a new build,

https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post368216

[2muchcoffeeman]

I would love to run a Kubuntu-only system, but my work requires much interface with SharePoint and its integration with Office apps, so I must retain a Windows OS on the machine as well. Thank you for the links.

[2muchcoffeeman]

Closing this thread and starting a new one, here, because the basic objective has changed.

Thank you.