0

Acer w/ AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core 3800+ 2.00 GHz, 4 gig RAM, 32 bit Windows 7, originally built for Windows Vista. Added an NVIDIA graphics card.

1 TB barracuda hard drive partitioned into 3, 1 partition [201GB] set aside for Ubuntu, Win 7 on one and files on the third.

I want to put Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on the empty partition to work alongside Windows. Am also concerned, as I read that Ubuntu 64bit may not see the existing Windows installation – especially if it is a 32 bit program.

Can anyone tell me the safest and most effective means of installation ?

K7AAY
  • 17,202
user240172
  • 1
  • 1
    (1) You will be able to see the NTFS partitions used by Windows, open, change, and delete files using Ubuntu apps. (2) You can use a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Ubuntu; the break point is typically 2GB, so I'd go 64-bit for better performance. (3) It's recommended to create two new partitions; an ext3 partition for Ubuntu programs and data, and a swap partition of 4GB. – K7AAY Jan 26 '14 at 22:14
  • 1
    @K7AAY — why ext3 and not ext4? ext4 is faster especially with file system checks. – Paddy Landau Jan 28 '14 at 17:25
  • User240172, please repost your second question so it may be answered separately. And, I stand corrected. The default version is ext4 with 12.04 LTS and it is indeed superior. – K7AAY Jan 28 '14 at 20:16

1 Answers1

0

Thanks to Kevin Wyamn who answered this at Installing Ubuntu 12.04 along Windows XP and Windows 7

You can install Ubuntu alongside Windows 7 just fine. Assuming you're trying to go the easiest route, boot from your Ubuntu LIVE DVD/USB and select "Install Ubuntu".

In the very early steps it will ask you what you want to do:

  • Install Ubuntu Alongside [existing Operating System/s]. This will replace Windows MBR bootloader with GRUB/GRUB2 bootloader. USE THIS

  • Replace [existing Operating System/s] with Ubuntu (this will format your entire drive and install Ubuntu). Like above, this will include the GRUB/GRUB2 bootloader.

  • Something Else (this is for if you have created a partition explicitly for Ubuntu with the appropriate file format [ext4] and want to install Ubuntu here). This is a bit trickier though because the installer will expect the drive to be bootable.

You'll be presented with a menu [GRUB/GRUB2] during the boot process (as long as there is more than one Operating System present) that will allow you to choose which operating system you want to start up from.

Community
  • 1
K7AAY
  • 17,202