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I would like to install Ubuntu on a fresh SSD that is currently not encrypted.

My current system contains (among others) an SSD, fully encrypted using Truecrypt on which Windows 8 is installed.

How would I go about installing Ubuntu without messing up the Truecrypt bootloader?

I noticed there was a somewhat similar question here: Can Ubuntu be installed on Windows 7 drive that is encrypted with Truecrypt?

but it does not really answer the question on what to do when there already is a Truecrypt bootloader on the MBR.

Neither does the question How can I dual-boot a TrueCrypt-encrypted Windows 7 and Ubuntu 11.10 when both are installed separately on different physical drives?.

I want to avoid issues with bootloaders, I don't really care which bootloader comes first, as long as I can boot into both systems.

I'm hoping to be able to do this simply by making the right choices during installation.

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Sebastiaan van den Broek
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    Quick and dirty: I would suggest you unplug all (existing) drives and keep only the new SSD connected. Then install your OS of choice on it. After that you can re-connect your other drives. This will yield a system that can be booted by choosing manually from the BIOS boot menu (usually pressing F11 after power-up, but check your motherboard manual to be sure.) This way there is no need messing around with complex boot-loader configurations. In effect you will be bypassing the need to tweaking the existing configuration. – hmayag Sep 10 '13 at 21:55
  • Thanks, that sounds like a reasonable workaround, I could always go from there and move the Ubuntu bootloader once everything is installed. Though it is a bit tedious. I'm hoping maybe someone will know how to do it 'right' from the start. – Sebastiaan van den Broek Sep 11 '13 at 18:34
  • Installing on seperate drives is no problem. There is no need to move the Ubuntu bootloader although you might want to update grub after putting your Windows 8 drive back in (Assuming you followed hmayag advice) – Elder Geek Jun 17 '14 at 20:08
  • Is Windows 8 UEFI or BIOS. You just want to be sure to install Ubuntu in the same boot mode, but grub may not be able to chain to truecrypt boot loader in MBR of another drive anyway. – oldfred Jun 17 '14 at 21:14

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This is relatively simple. Following @hmayag advice will insure you don't accidentally overwrite the MBR on your Windows 8 drive. Install Ubuntu to your SSD and install grub to the MBR of the SSD. You will end up with 2 bootable systems after reinstalling your Windows 8 drive. (Both drives will have an active MBR) You can choose which to boot from through the BIOS, but I would set the boot order to the SSD as the first drive and reinstall grub2 as outlined here so that you can choose either system at boot time without adjusting boot order in the BIOS.

You can do this by making the right choices during installation as well and skip removing the Windows 8 drive but be absolutely certain that you install grub to the other drive (the "fresh SSD")

Elder Geek
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