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I have recently decided that I would like to switch to Ubuntu from Windows 10. I only have a few questions to ask and they are very important in deciding if I will switch or not. I also feel like I should mention this is being done on a 4-5 year old gaming laptop.

  1. Hardware: So I want to completely switch to Linux, no duel boot. The only thing I am afraid of is if I will be able to use my current hardware. Here is what I currently have to give you an idea. -Intel i7-7700HQ 2.80Ghz -Geforce GTX 1050 2gb (not the Ti, and I don't know if I have the 3 GB one but they are so rare I doubt I do, but please let me know if it matters on Linux) -12Gb of ram -A 128gb SSD and a 900gb HDD. That's what I think is most important.. also someone once said that Bluetooth and WiFi drivers might not work so I'm curious if that was true or not. I don't know what they are though.

  2. Storage: As I mentioned above, I have two drives on my laptop. A C: and a D:. I heard that it doesn't use two drives like that but instead just creates a "file" system. I'm afraid that I will switch and only have 128gb of storage. I like to play a few games and have already confirmed they work on linux so I don't want to end up with no storage left for anything else. So, to summarize this question, what will happen to my two drives and, to add to that, my 12Gb of ram (because I don't ever see this much when hearing about linux).

  3. "Can I go back?": I really see the benefits of switching to linux. And believe me, I want to. But I'm afraid I wont understand something (because I'm still learning about it) or something wont work. So, without duel booting, is it possible to go back to Windows 10? will I have to pay 120$ for an activation key?

Thanks for reading and any help you give.

mashpotatoman
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1 Answers1

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I'll answer all your questions below although typically there should only be one question per question.

  1. Hardware: So I want to completely switch to linux, no dual boot. The only thing I am afraid of is if I will be able to use my current hardware.

Your hardware is fine. However I would keep windows, shrink the partition down and install Ubuntu alongside Windows.

  1. Storage: As I mentioned above, I have two drives on my laptop. A C: and a D:.

Ubuntu supports multiple drives.

  1. "Can I go back?".

Follow the advise in 1. and install Ubuntu alongside Windows. Then it's not a question of "going back" because "you never left".

WinEunuuchs2Unix
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  • Thanks, this is really helpful! I'm sorry I didn't know I was only supposed to ask one (makes sense now) since I'm new. Probably should have looked over the rules lol. – mashpotatoman Jan 24 '21 at 21:25
  • Your Win 10 license is tied to your hardware now, so you will be able to re install Win 10 again. Would suggest making a Win 10 installation USB in Windows before going to Ubuntu. Ubuntu installation USB has a 'try Ubuntu' option to test out hardware and see if you like it before installing. – crip659 Jan 24 '21 at 21:53
  • What if something goes wrong during the install, like I don't do it right and destroy my computer. This computer is my work, if I lose it I'm screwed. So, what is the right way to do it, is there a video I can watch, because the ones I've seen skip over the BIOS stuff. – mashpotatoman Jan 24 '21 at 22:57
  • @mashpotatoman The best way to ensure that you don't lose data is to do a backup. Don't worry about "destroy my computer", installing an OS doesn't wreck hardware. The worst thing that could happen is that the computer gets unbootable, and/or you lose your data. Fix the latter with a good backup. Problems installing an OS are always fixable (if hardware is OK of course). – schrodingerscatcuriosity Jan 24 '21 at 23:06
  • @mashpotatoman About installing you can follow the official guide. – schrodingerscatcuriosity Jan 24 '21 at 23:09
  • @mashpotatoman First create a Live USB boot and try Ubuntu for a few hours without installing. Then if you're happy, shrink the size of Windows by 20 to 50 GB and install Ubuntu in the new empty space. It helps to google Ubuntu + your hardware environment (all details) before installing dual boot to prepare for any likely pitfalls ahead of time. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Jan 24 '21 at 23:16
  • @schrodigerscatcuriosity "the computer gets unbootable" if the computer were to get unbootable, what would i do? my warranty for this laptop is expired btw. – mashpotatoman Jan 24 '21 at 23:20
  • @mashpotatoman sorry, I've should say the OS get unbootable, meaning you wouldn't be able to enter ubuntu or windows. Doesn't mean that the computer won't start normally. As I said earlier, OS's installation don't harm the harware. – schrodingerscatcuriosity Jan 24 '21 at 23:23
  • @schrodigerscatcuriosity ok, so, to boot and install ubuntu would a cheap 16gb sandisk flash drive be enough. – mashpotatoman Jan 24 '21 at 23:26
  • The computer will always boot from a pendrive, from which you can perform new installations, access your drives, etc. You should start by booting an ubuntu live system from a pendrive, so you get comfortable with the process, have a peak at ubuntu.... – schrodingerscatcuriosity Jan 24 '21 at 23:28
  • @mashpotatoman more than enough, I use a 4gb pendrive... – schrodingerscatcuriosity Jan 24 '21 at 23:29
  • @schrodigerscatcuriosity ok thank you for the help and I appreciate your patience, I'm really trying to get as much information on this as possible before doing anything. If by chance both of the OS's become unbootable. What would be the best course of action. – mashpotatoman Jan 24 '21 at 23:32
  • @mashpotatoman That has to be handled case by case I'm afraid, it all depends on what caused the problem in the first place. You have a safer alternative to get familiar: install virtualbox and run a virtual machine, where you can install ubuntu without messing with a real installation. You can even try a dual boot installation, installing first windows and then ubuntu. This way nothing happens to your actual computer installation. Virtualbox has a little learning curve, but you can find a zillion videos about it, and you'll learn to use a valuable tool. – schrodingerscatcuriosity Jan 24 '21 at 23:40
  • @schrodigerscatcuriosity I have actually used virtualbox but got extremely frustrated with it. It was extremely slow, animations were literally jittery, buttons responded slowly. I did everything to try to make it run better, gave it more ram, cpu cores (within my limit). But nothing worked, its probably because I installed on my HDD instead of my SSD but thats because my SSD is super low on space and plan on freeing up some space before the actual install. Other than that, it was a really nice OS and was disappointed to have it run so badly. – mashpotatoman Jan 24 '21 at 23:44
  • @schrodigerscatcuriosity would it be possible for you to tell me a few common errors that could cause OS corruption/failure so that I could research them? – mashpotatoman Jan 25 '21 at 00:01
  • @mashpotatoman It's too broad a topic, many things could happen. I didn't mean that it is going to happen, I've done dozens of installings with no problems at all. Remember that if you have a specific problem you can always come back here and make a new question :) – schrodingerscatcuriosity Jan 25 '21 at 21:21