0

I have been using Ubuntu for the past few years and I've finally caved and decided to try to dual-boot Windows 7 with Ubuntu 16.04. But, everything says to install Windows first then Ubuntu with it.

I don't want to wipe it and put on Windows the Ubuntu, as I do have some stuff on it. It's all easily replaceable, but I just want to take as little time as possible.

I don't know if it will help, but I have a second storage drive formatted as NTFS.

Zanna
  • 70,465
Jeffrey Kratka
  • 523
  • It is possible and should be rather safe to install Windows into your second storage drive with NTFS, particularly if you disconnect the drive with Ubuntu. The main problem, when installing Windows after Ubuntu is that Windows will hijack the bootloader (overwrite the grub bootloader), so that you will have to reinstall it, which is possible but an extra piece of work. The following link may help, Reinstalling GRUB 2. – sudodus Aug 09 '18 at 07:48
  • It is also important, if you want things to work in a smooth way, to boot both Ubuntu and Windows in the same boot mode (UEFI or BIOS. And if I remember correctly, Windows 7 should be installed in BIOS mode (alias CSM alias legacy mode). – sudodus Aug 09 '18 at 07:51
  • 1
    Can I just move my storage files onto my Ubuntu Drive and put Windows on the second one? The reason I have a storage drive is for some reason, Ubuntu messes up occasionally and it has to be reinstalled Is there a way to have like a storage partition that wont get affected if I reinstall Ubuntu? – Jeffrey Kratka Aug 09 '18 at 16:44
  • Yes, you can have a data partition on 'any' drive. I have such a partition since several years. In the beginning I used the NTFS file system in my data partition because I dual booted Ubuntu and Windows. Now I use Lubuntu (and no Windows) in my main computer, so I use the ext4 file system in my data partition, which makes it faster and not vulnerable to fragmentation. -- Please consider that it is safer to have a separate drive, where you keep your backup, and backup everything, that you cannot afford to lose. – sudodus Aug 10 '18 at 05:05

1 Answers1

1

Installing Windows on an Ubuntu system will delete or corrupt GRUB bootloader. If installing Windows successfully removes GRUB; Windows bootloader can't boot Ubuntu so only Windows will be accessible then. But if installing Windows just deletes/corrupts GRUB files, GRUB will boot into recovery mode and you won't be able to access Ubuntu or Windows.

However if you really have to install Windows on an Ubuntu system- first prepare a Ubuntu live CD/DVD/USB flash drive, install WIndows. Then follow this is a tutorial to reinstall/repair GRUB so that you can access both OS.

HattinGokbori87
  • 1,665