Is it possible to dual boot with Win 8.1? Info inside

Space Monkey · 27 Jul 2014 at 16:20

Hi all,

I'm currently running Win 8.1, and would like to learn and play with Linux, so is it possible to have Win 8.1 on one hard drive, and Linux on a separate hard but still have a dual boot option? I'd rather not have them both on the same drive if possible because I'm likely to screw something up and break my Windows install?

Thanks for any info you can give me, and please bear in mind that I'm a complete Linux noob, so any info needs to be clear and easy to understand

dneill2006 · 27 Jul 2014 at 18:28

Disconnect Windows drive and install Linux on separate drive.

When done reconnect Windows drive and use the BIOS boot menu to select which drive to boot from.

CEUOTC · 27 Jul 2014 at 23:23

You can also use the GUI to select one drive (the one without windows 8.1).

You will also need to disable secure boot in bios.

However as stated by dneill2006, just leave the drive you wish to install linux connected and the rest physically disconnected.

On another note linux plays well on Nvidia cards, running Win 8.1 on a SSD and Zorin OS 9 on a 500GB SSHD drive.

i5 4670k + GTX 770.

My R9 290 runs like a dog on linux, fingers crossed in the future drive support will be better as the kernels get updated.

As a first time user l suggest Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Zorin OS 9 or linux lite 2.0

This article shows what cards run well.

AMD Radeon R9 290: Still Not Good For Linux Users.

There have been improvements with the R9 290, also this article is a few months old. However Phoronix is a great place for all linux hardware. Also look up Spatry cup of linux.

Space Monkey · 27 Jul 2014 at 23:31

Thanks for the info chaps

Also, thanks CEUOTC, not good news for me then, I've got an AMD 280X, shame as I really wanted to see if I could live with Linux. Is is bad on all AMD cards or just the lastest gen etc? and should I consider a move back to Nvidia?

I too am running an Intel i5 4670K with a 250GB SSD and 16GB of RAM but as mentioned also a 280X, is it worth still using?

Space Monkey · 27 Jul 2014 at 23:38

Actually, thinking about it, I may for now just want to buy a large traditional HDD (say 500-750GB?) as it is a lot cheaper than an SSD, so would it still run ok on that?

EDIT:

You can also use the GUI to select one drive (the one without windows 8.1).

How is this achieved? Thanks

CEUOTC · 28 Jul 2014 at 00:02

Wooo there. First off if you are only going to dabble not point in dumping a perfectly good gpu. I would suggest a large SSHD say 1tb, my 500gb SSHD hybrid drive flies. The support for AMD is always improving. However l opted to build a dedicated linux rig so was able to pick and chose my components.

SATA - HYBRID

How to install Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on an empty hard disk This gives an excellent example on how to install on a separate hdd.

Rroff · 28 Jul 2014 at 00:05

If you just want to dabble and learn a bit about linux don't bother dual booting, use a VM instead.

Space Monkey · 28 Jul 2014 at 00:16

CEUOTC said:
Wooo there. First off if you are only going to dabble not point in dumping a perfectly good gpu. I would suggest a large SSHD say 1tb, my 500gb SSHD hybrid drive flies. The support for AMD is always improving. However l opted to build a dedicated linux rig so was able to pick and chose my components.

SATA - HYBRID

How to install Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on an empty hard disk This gives an excellent example on how to install on a separate hdd.

Thanks

If I install the Linux on a fresh drive, is it then impossible to have a GUI front end that allows me to choose which OS on boot up? or is that only possible if both are installed on the same drive?

Rroff said:
If you just want to dabble and learn a bit about linux don't bother dual booting, use a VM instead.

Thanks for the info Rroff

I'm guessing VM's will be another big learning curve on top of Linux, and I wouldn't know that if a problem occurred, if it was related to either/or so I may just play with Linux first then have a go a VMs

Rroff · 28 Jul 2014 at 00:22

Getting VMs up and running generally is fairly simple but yeah it can complicate things if a problem occurs.

CEUOTC · 28 Jul 2014 at 06:28

Space Monkey said:
If I install the Linux on a fresh drive, is it then impossible to have a GUI front end that allows me to choose which OS on boot up? or is that only possible if both are installed on the same drive?

If you install on a separate drive, and then select that drive as master in bios, the menu you "should" get is Grub, this allows you to select either the Linux OS or Windows OS.

Space Monkey · 28 Jul 2014 at 12:01

CEUOTC said:
If you install on a separate drive, and then select that drive as master in bios, the menu you "should" get is Grub, this allows you to select either the Linux OS or Windows OS.

Perfect thanks, and I'll pick up one of those hybrid drives, good price for the 1TB

Just thought, with regard to my GPU, am I likely to only see a difference against an Nvidia card when gaming on Linux or does it affect the general running, as if it's gaming only then for now at least I'll only be trying Football Manager 2014 via Steam so not really GPU hungry?

CEUOTC · 28 Jul 2014 at 21:28

In day to day terms you should not see any difference. However as l don't own a 280X l really cant comment.