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I have two hard drives on my computer; one with windows 7 which I want to keep, and one empty formatted with ntfs which I want to install Ubuntu. What file system do I put on the empty ntfs system and how do I set the partitioning/boot menu on Ubuntu to install and use both systems?

Pilot6
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Mike Potts
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1 Answers1

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You do not need to format a disk previous to install Ubuntu. The install process will format if for you.

The easiest way for a newbie is to disconnect your Windows drive, then boot from Ubuntu Live USB and install it on the only disk using default options.

After Ubuntu is installed, connect the Windows disk, make sure that first boot device is the disk, where Ubuntu is located. Boot to Ubuntu and run there in terminal

sudo update-grub

Windows will be found and you will have grub menu on boot asking which OS to load.

There are lots of ways doing it otherwise, but IMHO this the safest and easiest way for a newbie.

Pilot6
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  • I prefer to have each drive totally bootable without other drive. You can do that with Something Else install option which is a bit more advanced as you have to manually create / (root) as ext4 format and swap as minimum. But that screen has a combo box on where to install grub boot loader. And then choose Ubuntu drive. Then change BIOS to boot Ubuntu drive. That keeps Windows boot loader on Windows drive. Disconnecting Windows drive and do normal install is easier if willing to do that. Then set BIOS to boot Ubuntu drive and run sudo update-grub to find Windows and add it to grub menu. – oldfred Jul 28 '15 at 18:56
  • I understand this answer :) – A.B. Jul 28 '15 at 20:11
  • @oldfred They be independently bootable, no problem. "Something else" is another way, a good one, but a dangerous too. – Pilot6 Jul 28 '15 at 20:15
  • I do not consider Something Else dangerous,but is more complex. Actually until 15.04 it was the only safe way to reinstall. But it does require some understanding of partitions. There are many threads & sites with detailed screen shot & instructions for Something Else. And some new users do not know how or want to open up a chassis to disconnect a drive. – oldfred Jul 28 '15 at 21:04