1

Just as a preface I have read the following question,

Install on Second Hard Drive with startup boot option?

which is similar however my question is slightly more specific so I don't feel this is a duplicate.

I have 3 hard drives - a 256GB SSD with Windows 10 installed on it, a 512GB SSD with various files I use from Windows on it and a 2TB mechanical. The 512GB SSD will be my target drive to install Ubuntu on.

This drive already has data on it in a ~360GB partition, with ~120GB of space unallocated. Can I simply install Ubuntu in this 120GB unallocated space without touching the data on the 360GB partition*?

From various sources it seems this is not an option as I'll likely need to delete any current partitions and create a new partition table on this drive. So, with that in mind, would that still allow me to create a partition on Windows on this drive using space not reserved for Ubuntu or any of its partitions?

* If this is an option then would this still allow me to create an EFI partition on which to install the bootloader such that I can set the boot priority of this drive to the top allowing me to choose OS to load upon start-up as can usually be done?

Community
  • 1
sjrowlinson
  • 113
  • It sounds pretty simple-- you should be able to allocate one or more partitions from the unallocated space without affecting the existing partition. Which sources suggest otherwise? – aap Dec 23 '16 at 14:53
  • @aap This link states "If you have existing partitions on the target hard drive, delete them." - but I guess that's not a general rule. – sjrowlinson Dec 23 '16 at 14:56
  • Indeed, seems that was just what he chose for his example. Even if you had no free space, the installer could resize an existing partition and PROBABLY not hurt anything. With free space already available you should be good to go without changing anything on the second drive. – aap Dec 23 '16 at 15:01

2 Answers2

2

  1. Let us assume that you bought the computer with Windows installed in UEFI mode.

  2. Let us also assume that you want to install Ubuntu for this particular computer (not a portable system, that can work in any computer). If this is not correct, please tell me, and I will change the answer.

  3. I also assume that you mean unallocated space (outside any partition). Or do you mean free space within the data partition?

-o-

Installing in UEFI mode will let you select partitions (the standard is one root partition '/' and one swap partition) whereever you want and there is unallocated space or prepared partitions for Ubuntu. But it will select the already existing EFI partition (in your case in the Windows drive).

So it is no problem to install in the unallocated space alongside your data partition in the second SSD.

But if you want to play safe, you should back up all really important files to some other drives, because partitioning and installing operating systems is risky, and it is easy to make a mistake.

Boot from the Ubuntu install drive and use gparted to create a root partition and a swap partition for Ubuntu. If the drive has an MSDOS partition table (not GPT), you might start by creating an extended partition of all the free space, and create Ubuntu's partitions inside it.

Start the installer, and at the partitioning window, select Something else alias manual partitioning, and select the partitions that you prepared with gparted. The bootloader will automatically go into the existing EFI partition.

-o-

This might work directly or you might have to fix the UEFI boot depending on the computer. Some UEFI systems to not comply with the standard for UEFI, and it creates problems with dual booting. If there are problems with booting, please specify the computer brand name and model. If there are problems later on, for example with the graphics, please specify the graphics chip/card (also brand name and model).

-o-

See these links and links from them for booting in UEFI mode.

booting with UEFI

UEFI Installing - Tips

sudodus
  • 46,324
  • 5
  • 88
  • 152
  • For the first 2 points - indeed I built this machine and installed Windows 10 on the 256GB SSD, and it does have a UEFI BIOS. As for point 3, yes I have roughly 120GB of unallocated space (not inside any partition) on the 512GB SSD. – sjrowlinson Dec 23 '16 at 14:46
  • Good. Do you know how much swap you want? (Only if you want to boot from this second drive in UEFI mode, you need an EFI partition on the drive. Otherwise you don't need it.) – sudodus Dec 23 '16 at 14:50
  • I'm not sure but this guide suggests around 1-4GB for the swap partition. Also, I should add that I'll be installing from a USB with Ubuntu 16.04 loaded on it - but I don't think that should make a difference. – sjrowlinson Dec 23 '16 at 14:53
  • 1 or 2 GB swap is good unless you want to hibernate. Then you need at least the same size as the RAM (in Gibibyes), say 5 GB if 4 GiB RAM. -- Install from Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS, the first point release. It is much better than the original 16.04 LTS. – sudodus Dec 23 '16 at 14:57
0

You should only need one EFI partition. If it doesn't exist then yes, you can place it on the unallocated space and set boot priorities as you wish.

You can partition the 120G free space up using lvm to install ubuntu on. You don't need to delete your partitions unless you are using standard partitioning and you didn't set the fourth partition to an extended partition that took up the rest of the drive.

Windows will not recognize the linux partitions and say it is unknown. At least it did last time I checked, but that was awhile ago.

Kyle H
  • 1,044
  • 6
  • 7