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So, inside my C: drive are Windows files and also inside it are an Android OS called “Android x86”. I dual-boot these two OS using a boot loader called Grub that came with Android x86. The Android x86 OS files are located inside my C: drive and in the same partition of Windows. If you look in a file explorer in the C: drive are the Windows 10 files and also a folder named android-8.1-rc1 which is where Android is located.

I have 2 questions:

  1. Can I install Ubuntu inside the same partition Windows is installed without wiping the partition or drive, like I could do when installing Android x86?

  2. Can I multi-boot Windows, Android, and Ubuntu using the Grub boot loader that came with Android x86? Like is there some command I have to type in to add Ubuntu to the list of OS to select when booting?

David Foerster
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Zethex
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  • You're in a Linux forum - the terminology is a little different. It's not your "C: drive" here - it's the "Windows (C:) partition on your hard drive". Since Windows uses "drive" to (confusingly) refer to both physical drives and partitions, your terminology must be clear to Linux folks or you won't get useful answers. – user535733 Sep 25 '18 at 11:46

2 Answers2

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You probably can but i would first make a copy of your c drive first somewhere else so if it messes up, you can just restore it. Simply run the installation but when it gives you a choice of what drive to pick, choose the one where windows is installed but do NOT wipe it. Also make a separate boot partition at the start of the drive(200mb) with the ext4 filesystem. Let the installation continue and when grub is selected for installation, choose the ext4 partition. I wouldn't try installing grub to the windows drive because it might overwrite the windows boot files.

  • nice answer. I doubt if the GRUB is installed in sda1 which is newly created.. and while selecting device for bootloader should be sda1 or sda?? Will grub controls android and windows or what would be the scenario? – PRATAP Sep 25 '18 at 07:37
  • Grub was already installed, it is located in different partition I think. Do you know what I would have to do to add Ubuntu to the grub menu? I'm going to try and install ubuntu soon, hope it goes smoothly. – Zethex Sep 25 '18 at 07:57
  • @Silentstorm windows is ntfs and ubuntu needs ext4.. Is that possible? – PRATAP Sep 25 '18 at 08:27
  • Yeah. As long as you keep the ntfs read/write stuff installed in ubuntu, you should be good to go. Ext4 is designed for unix though so it is recommended you install to a partition thats ext4. –  Oct 01 '18 at 06:18
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Yes, you can install Ubuntu alongside Windows and Android, although I recommend that you set up and install it into a separate partition instead of nesting it inside the file system that hosts Windows. You can find detailed instructions among the answers to How do I install Ubuntu alongside a pre-installed Windows with UEFI? The fact there is another operating system besides Windows doesn’t matter here. If you can’t boot Windows or Android after the Ubuntu installation it should be relatively easy to fix the boot loader once Ubuntu is installed (see below) – much easier than to find a way that works on the first attempt. (You should still back up your data though, regardless of the specific situation.)

As for your second question about the multi-boot configuration of all three operating systems:

  • Ubuntu’s default boot loader is also Grub, the same as the Android installation according to you. That’s going to make things a lot easier.
  • It’s not trivial though and depends a lot on the details of the resulting system configuration. I’d normally ask you to add more info to your question but in your case that will be subject to change during the Ubuntu installation. It would also likely make your question too broad for the Q & A model of Stack Exchange.
  • Therefore please open a new follow-up question after the Ubuntu installation with details of the then current system configuration. You’re welcome to send me a notification in the comment section of this answer to draw my attention to it.
David Foerster
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