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I really need a help. I have an SSD in which I have Win8 and I also have an HDD in which I want to install Ubuntu.
I reduced the size of my HDD of 40gb from Ubuntu and now I'm in the installation procedure. I don't know how to do:

  1. I want to create /, /home and swap partitions without losing any data (I know it's recommended a backup but I have no time), so what I need to choose?

  2. It ask me "select device to install bootloader", which I need to choose: SSD in which I have Win8 or HDD in which I 'm installing Ubuntu?

David Foerster
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midonji
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  • If you've got that little space for Ubuntu, I wouldn't recommend breaking up your installation into /, and /home, and /swap. If you can edit your question to include screenshots of gparted views of sda AND sdb, I can make a better recommendation for you. Cheers, Al – heynnema Oct 09 '16 at 14:42
  • You should have backups anyway, so backup or do not blame LInux if issue. While you can install without issues or loss of data, that is not ever guaranteed. But use Windows to shrink Windows NTFS, reboot so it can run chkdsk and make sure fast start up or its always on hibernation is off. What brand/model system, What video card/chip? Each may have unique requirements, or not. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI and: Also shows Windows 10 screens or similar to Windows 8 http://askubuntu.com/questions/221835/installing-ubuntu-on-a-pre-installed-windows-10-with-uefi – oldfred Oct 09 '16 at 15:32

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If you want to install Ubuntu in the free space on the HDD, you should first create a new swap partition in the free space you made on the HDD - Most people recommend making the swap the same size as your RAM.

Then, create a new ext4 partition in the rest of the free space, and use that for /. (If you want a separate /home partition for user data, you need to create two ext4 partitions - one for / and one for /home - you probably don't need that unless you want to install multiple linux distributions).

For the bootloader - you should choose the device from which your computer is booting, most likeley the SSD (You can check this under "boot priority" in the BIOS / Set-up).

Note that it's a good idea to always have a backup anyway, even just in case of possible hardware failure. If you want to be entirely sure, you can unplug or remove the SSD while installing, so nothing goes wrong even if you make a mistake, and then run update-grub or grub-install (or by using a tool like Boot-repair) from ubuntu to set up the dual boot menu after installing and re-adding the ssd.

Jonas Czech
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  • how's the user going to install GRUB bootloader on /dev/sda if they unplug their SSD? Cheers, Al – heynnema Oct 09 '16 at 14:38
  • @heynnema, By running update-grub from Ubuntu after installing - I've clarified the answer. – Jonas Czech Oct 10 '16 at 08:58
  • Still won't work. If you remove the SSD, and install on the HDD, the GRUB boot loader will get installed on the HDD (thinking it's /dev/sda). When you reconnect the SSD, it won't have the required GRUB boot loader to be able to boot Ubuntu (and run update-grub or grub-install). Cheers, Al – heynnema Oct 10 '16 at 12:48
  • The solution to that is to change the boot order in the BIOS so that it tries the HDD first, or to use grub-install to install to the correct device, as mentioned in the answer, @heynnema – Jonas Czech Oct 10 '16 at 14:42
  • then the poor user would need to figure out that the complicated sudo grub-install --boot-directory=DIR /target_device command would need to be used. Best to do a backup and leave the SSD connected. Cheers, Al – heynnema Oct 10 '16 at 14:48