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I bought a completely new drive (Kingston A2000 ssd) and I want to install Ubuntu on it. Is it recommended to remove my current drives before installation?

I currently have 1 ssd for windows and a solid-state drive for games and movies. I am thinking about this because I don't want to screw up the installation and accidentally install ubuntu on my windows drive.

The new ssd has just been installed and I haven't allocated anything through window's disk management.

Furthermore, I am installing ubuntu on this drive to learn how to build android from source. Any recommended tutorials for the recommended partition allocation sizes would also be nice.

Thanks :D

Hilkjh
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  • Do you need to, in my opinion no. I don't, but nearly always use 'something-else' (or Manual Partitioning) so I can specify exactly what I want, but I'm also installing an OS a number of times per week. If I remove drives, I've had to correct issues on drive re-insertion before, but this possibly is machine/BIOS/UEFI specific (ie. hardware specific). Either way ensure you have backups, – guiverc Dec 27 '19 at 07:30
  • If this is the first time you install Ubuntu, to be cautious, you can physically disconnect the other drives so that you are absolutely sure you won't messed up and accidentally ruined your data in Windows. Once you are comfortable with the installation process, just leave your Windows drives there, and be careful in choosing which drive and partition Ubuntu will be installed to. – Anthony Wong Dec 27 '19 at 10:10
  • Many newer systems have UEFI settings for drives. Mine has a setting called 'disabled', so I can logically turn a drive off. But some UEFI forget UEFI boot entries or reset them most seem to find Windows, but not anything else. Be sure to have good backups. And best to partition in advance and use something else install option. UEFI/gpt partitioning in Advance, new versions do not need swap partition: http://askubuntu.com/questions/743095/how-to-prepare-a-disk-on-an-efi-based-pc-for-ubuntu & https://askubuntu.com/questions/343268/how-to-use-manual-partitioning-during-installation – oldfred Dec 27 '19 at 20:23
  • I always disconnect the old drives when I want the new drive to be the boot drive Then after installation I reattach the old drives and remove the boot flag. For some reason it just makes life simpler for me. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Dec 27 '19 at 23:36

1 Answers1

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It is not necessary to physically disconnect other drives.

However, some folks find it desirable to do so in some circumstances like dual/multi-boot or protected data partitions.

The Ubuntu installer will offer to install on the storage hardware that it discovers...and it CANNOT use the Windows labels for the partitions and drives that it discovers. So some folks might get confused about which drive/partition is which.

Occasionally, this means that users mistakenly overwrite valuable data or another Operating System. Anything overwritten is generally lost forever, of course.

Best practice is to copy the characteristics (name, size, format) of the partition(s). Snapping a picture on your phone is one handy way. In the Ubuntu installer, match those characteristics so you can be SURE exactly which drive/partition is which, and you have VERIFIED the correct drive/partition to select for installing Ubuntu.

Extra protection, good risk management, and double-checking are wise when mucking about with partitions and installation.

user535733
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  • Thanks. I've successfully installed it.

    I followed these two guides if anyone else is wondering.

    https://askubuntu.com/questions/1130372/dual-booting-win-10-and-ubuntu-18-04-on-two-separate-physical-ssds/1130381#1130381

    https://askubuntu.com/questions/726972/dual-boot-windows-10-and-linux-ubuntu-on-separate-hard-drives

     – Hilkjh Dec 27 '19 at 22:53