HP laptop w/ w8 -> W7/ubuntu dual boot unhappy

Post #368,530 by crazy 12/25/12 10:36:44 PM Reply	HP laptop w/ w8 -> W7/ubuntu dual boot unhappy Mjr bought M this laptop for X-mas: http://www.walmart.c...g-System/21634588 M has a linux netbook, but she needs a real Windows box running MS Office for school. We all agreed that W8 was bad, so the boy installed w7 and then handed it to me for the ubuntu dual boot setup. I then explained to the boy the difference between partitions and logical drives and he really didn't leave me anything. I couldn't resize, w7 installed on the w8 partition structure left some confusing shit in the partition table. I blew it all away, installed ubuntu, leaving 200GB unallocated. Win7 said it cold not handle the GUID partition layout. fuck. Rebooted linux CD, used fdisk to blow away the partition table, allocated it by hand. Rebooted win7 CD, it found the free chunk and installed happily. Rebooted the ubuntu CD, it found the win7 installation and offered to install next to it, and setup for dual boot. Finished, rebooted, found the win7 partitions were totally wiped out and ubuntu took the entire disk anyway. Rebooted win7 CD, started the install again, told it to take 200GB, leaving 100GB. Windows is the primary reason for this box. Any suggestion before I give up on it and leave it just windows and leave her the netbook for random surfing?
Post #368,531 by Another Scott 12/25/12 10:59:20 PM Reply	Is a virtual machine for Ubuntu an option? I was under the impression that Secure Boot with Win8 was a non-negotiable "feature". But since you can put 7 on it, I guess not. I've got a Win7 laptop for work that runs Ubuntu in a VirtualBox virtual machine just fine. (I've got a XP VM for it as well.) It's not ideal, but it would get things running in a fairly quick fashion. Another option is a USB thumb drive install of Ubuntu, if you can't easily put a different HD in it (e.g. replace the DVD drive with one). Good luck. Cheers, Scott.
Post #368,535 by static 12/26/12 1:39:25 AM Reply	Manually setup the partitions in Ubuntu. Don't let it pick a layout. Instead go into the Advanced Setup or Advanced Partitions options or whatever it's called this month. The setup will honour everything you do in there. Even the latest 12.04. This is how you make it leave Windows completely alone. Wade. Just Add Story http://justaddstory.wordpress.com/
Post #368,538 by crazy 12/26/12 7:02:47 AM Reply	Ehh, I'll test it but not feeling too good about the win. I'll probably end-up with a usb bootable stick for her web surfing. The non-negotiable secure boot is for the new MS hardware designs so they can subsidize it without worrying about giving it away to people who install Linux on it.
Post #368,542 by boxley 12/26/12 9:08:14 AM Reply	boot linux, run windows in a virtual Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 57 years. meep
Post #368,543 by static 12/26/12 9:21:08 AM Reply	Forgot to mention: Install Windows first. Then Linux, but like I said - manually specifying the partitions. That way Windows install doesn't have any opportunity to stomp on Linux. (That said, I'm pretty sure you can make Windows Install play nice with the partitioning alongside an existing install of Linux. The kicker is that it's MBR menu doesn't easily support other OSes, so you'd have to reboot to a Linux installer just to setup GRUB properly. So you may as well install Linux second.) Wade. Just Add Story http://justaddstory.wordpress.com/
Post #368,567 by scoenye 12/26/12 6:40:33 PM Reply	Other reason W7 needs a separate boot partition and (AFAIR) it needs to be at the beginning of the disk. If you put Linux on first, chances are W7 will be unhappy with whatever chunk you left it.
Post #368,568 by static 12/26/12 6:44:25 PM Reply	That's interesting about the boot partition! I replaced Windows 7 on this laptop with Mint. I was wondering what that other partition was for... Wade. Just Add Story http://justaddstory.wordpress.com/

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