This tutorial provides step-by-step directions on how to dual-boot Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) with Windows 7 on a computer with a single hard drive. LMDE is the branch of Linux Mint that is based on Debian, rather than on Ubuntu.
If attempting to dual-boot a distribution with Windows 7, it is highly recommended that you try as much as possible to keep them completely isolated. And if installation is on a single hard drive, that means letting the Windows 7 boot manager be responsible for dual-booting such that when you restart the computer, the Windows boot menu will look just like the one below.
Following the recommended method, LMDE’s bootloader, GRUB, will be installed in the boot partition of the LMDE installation. Setting up dual-booting in this manner ensures that neither OS will interfere with the other’s boot programs when it comes time to upgrade.
The directions provided in this tutorial presents specific instructions on how to make space for LMDE when installing Windows 7 anew, or when installing on a computer with an existing installation of Windows 7.
Let’s start with the case where LMDE is going to be installed on a disk with an existing installation of Windows 7. If you want to install Windows anew, just scroll down to that section.
Existing Installation of Windows 7: If your computer has an existing installation of Windows 7, and there is no unallocated space on the hard disk, then you need to free up space before LMDE can be installed. Because LMDE’s installer is still very crude, the safest method of freeing up space is from inside Windows 7. The images in this segment show how to proceed.
The first step is to boot into Windows 7, and type diskmgmt.msc or partitions in the menu’s search field. The Disk Management tool, shown below, will open. In the example used in this tutorial, there are just two disk partitions. The data partition, drive C, is what we can shrink to make space for LMDE. To have Windows shrink it, right click on drive C and select “Shrink Volume…”
The system will then present the best option for you. Unless you know what you are doing, stick with this option. Windows has already determined by how much it can shrink the partition without blowing itself up. In this example, drive C is about 100 GB, and Windows has freed up about half, or about 50 GB. That half will be used to install LMDE. Click on Shrink.
Here is the result of the surgery Windows 7 just performed. You can see that there are now three partitions, where there used to be just two. The freed up space is shown as the “unallocated” partition. Exit the Disk Management tool, insert an LMDE installation DVD in the optical drive and reboot the computer. Scroll down to the section on Installing LMDE Alongside Windows 7 to continue with the second stage of this tutorial.
New Installation of Windows 7: Boot the computer from the Windows 7 installation CD and click to the disk partitioning step. If the hard drive is not partitioned, that is, if it is a new disk, the image below represents what you will see. If there are existing partitions on the disk and you want to overwrite their contents, select each one and click on Delete. Note: The Delete button is visible only after you click on Drive options (advanced).
Now, you will have to determine how much space to use for Windows 7, and how much for LMDE. This segment of the tutorial was carried out in a virtual environment with about 100 GB of disk space, and I chose to use half for Windows 7 and the other half for LMDE.
Here is the same step after changing the disk size to my specification. Click on Apply.
By default, the Windows 7 installer will create two partitions as shown. Partition 2 is the main Windows 7 partition, and that is what has to be selected before clicking Next. The free space where LMDE will be installed is shown as Unallocated Space. Click Next.
After Windows 7 installation is completed, boot the computer from the LMDE installation DVD
Whether you installed Windows 7 anew or just freed up space from an existing installation of Windows 7, you are now ready to install LMDE alongside Windows 7.
Installing LMDE Alongside Windows 7: After installing Windows 7, or after freeing up space on a disk with an existing installation of Windows 7, boot the computer from the LMDE installation DVD. Click until you get to the disk partitioning step. Unlike the Linux Mint installer, LMDE’s installer does not have an automatic disk partitioning option; disk partitioning must be done manually. Click on the Edit Partitions button to start.
GParted is the application used for disk partitioning. Select the unallocated space and click on the create new partition button.
Note: When installing LMDE or any other Linux distribution, it is recommended that four partitions be created for the following file system directories:
* /boot – This should always be the first partition created on the Linux side of the installation. It is where boot-related files will be located.
* Swap – Unformated space used by the system as virtual memory
* / – The root directory. This is where almost every thing needed to run the system will be installed. Unless a separate partition is created for them, the other major file system directories, like /usr, /opt, /tmp, /var and /usr, will be located under /.
* /home – Your home directory will be located here. When you are logged in to the system, files and folders that you create will be, by default, in your home folder under /home.
This is what the new partition creation window looks like. Notice that by default, GParted will want to create this partition as a primary partition. Because the system allows us to create a maximum of four primary partitions and because we intend to create four partitions just for LMDE, it becomes necessary to create this as an extended partition. An extended partition makes it possible to create many more partitions under it than the traditional maximum of four. The thing to remember is that the partitions created under the extended partition are known as logical partitions.
Numbering of logical partitions starts at 5, and as we will see further down, the first logical partition will always be /dev/sda5, even when the extended partition it is created under is /dev/sda3.
To create the extended partition, the only change you need to make here is to select “Extended Partition” from the “Create as” dropdown menu. Add.
Select the unallocated space under the newly created extended partition, and click on the new partition button to start creating logical partitions.
Our first partition, which will be /dev/sda5, will be mounted as /boot, and is where boot-related programs will be installed. On a new installation of LMDE, only about 15 MB of the space allocated to this partition is used. Note that as the kernel is upgraded, the space used here will grow. So if you intend to use this installation for a long time, try to allocate as much as you can afford to. 500 MB is now the norm. For file system, you may select ext2 or a journaling file system except btrfs. Add
The second partition will be used for swap, which is the space that will be used as virtual memory. Most distributions, depending on available disk space, tend to allocate about 2 GB to it, which is the size allocated in this example. Add.
The third partition will be mounted at /, the root file system. This is where almost everything will be installed. How much space should you then allocate to it? For guidance, a new installation of LMDE takes up less than 3 GB of disk space. Therefore, anything more than 3 GB should be enough. If you have disk space to spare, be generous and allocate 6 GB to 10 GB. Add
The last partition, which should be allocated all the available disk space, will be mounted at /home. Add.
fter all the partitions have been created, click on the arrow as shown to apply the changes.
Then exit from GParted.
Back on the main installation window, click on the Refresh button to see the new partitions. For each LMDE partition, double click on it or right click and select Edit from the context menu. The task is to set the mount point and file system.
This is the “Edit Partition” window. For the boot partition, be sure to select /boot as the mount point. For the file system, you may select ext2, as in this example, or ext3 or ext4. For the root and home partitions, /dev/sda7 and /dev/sda8, the mount points must be / and /home respectively, and the file system can be any available journaling file system except btrfs. Keep in mind that Ext4 is the default on virtually all Linux distributions. Do not format the swap partition, just mount it as swap.
If you are satisfied that the mount points and file systems types have been selected, click Forward to continue with the rest of the installation.
By default, the installer installs GRUB, the boot loader, on the Master Boot Record of the hard disk. Because of the recommendation made at the start of this article, we want to install GRUB in the boot partition of the LMDE installation. In the scheme used in this tutorial, the boot partition is /dev/sda5, the first logical partition. Select it from the dropdown menu and click Forward.
After installation of LMDE is completed, the system will reboot into Windows 7, and that is because Windows is not aware that it now shares the hard drive with another OS. The final task then is to add an entry for LMDE in Windows’ boot menu. The easiest method of doing that is to use EasyBCD, a proprietary but free application from NeoSmart Technologies. So, download EasyBCD, install and launch it. Click on the Add New Entry tab, then click on the Linux/BSD tab. From the Type dropdown menu, select “GRUB 2″ (LMDE uses GRUB 2 as its boot loader). Click “Add Entry” button, then on the Edit Boot Menu tab.
By default, Windows 7 will be booted first, but you may change that to LMDE. If you make any changes here, click on Save Settings before exiting EasyBCD.
And if you select LMDE, you will get this. If for any reason you change your mind, you can still boot into Windows from here by selecting the Windows 7 entry.
Source: Here
If attempting to dual-boot a distribution with Windows 7, it is highly recommended that you try as much as possible to keep them completely isolated. And if installation is on a single hard drive, that means letting the Windows 7 boot manager be responsible for dual-booting such that when you restart the computer, the Windows boot menu will look just like the one below.
Following the recommended method, LMDE’s bootloader, GRUB, will be installed in the boot partition of the LMDE installation. Setting up dual-booting in this manner ensures that neither OS will interfere with the other’s boot programs when it comes time to upgrade.
The directions provided in this tutorial presents specific instructions on how to make space for LMDE when installing Windows 7 anew, or when installing on a computer with an existing installation of Windows 7.
Let’s start with the case where LMDE is going to be installed on a disk with an existing installation of Windows 7. If you want to install Windows anew, just scroll down to that section.
Existing Installation of Windows 7: If your computer has an existing installation of Windows 7, and there is no unallocated space on the hard disk, then you need to free up space before LMDE can be installed. Because LMDE’s installer is still very crude, the safest method of freeing up space is from inside Windows 7. The images in this segment show how to proceed.
The first step is to boot into Windows 7, and type diskmgmt.msc or partitions in the menu’s search field. The Disk Management tool, shown below, will open. In the example used in this tutorial, there are just two disk partitions. The data partition, drive C, is what we can shrink to make space for LMDE. To have Windows shrink it, right click on drive C and select “Shrink Volume…”
The system will then present the best option for you. Unless you know what you are doing, stick with this option. Windows has already determined by how much it can shrink the partition without blowing itself up. In this example, drive C is about 100 GB, and Windows has freed up about half, or about 50 GB. That half will be used to install LMDE. Click on Shrink.
Here is the result of the surgery Windows 7 just performed. You can see that there are now three partitions, where there used to be just two. The freed up space is shown as the “unallocated” partition. Exit the Disk Management tool, insert an LMDE installation DVD in the optical drive and reboot the computer. Scroll down to the section on Installing LMDE Alongside Windows 7 to continue with the second stage of this tutorial.
New Installation of Windows 7: Boot the computer from the Windows 7 installation CD and click to the disk partitioning step. If the hard drive is not partitioned, that is, if it is a new disk, the image below represents what you will see. If there are existing partitions on the disk and you want to overwrite their contents, select each one and click on Delete. Note: The Delete button is visible only after you click on Drive options (advanced).
Now, you will have to determine how much space to use for Windows 7, and how much for LMDE. This segment of the tutorial was carried out in a virtual environment with about 100 GB of disk space, and I chose to use half for Windows 7 and the other half for LMDE.
Here is the same step after changing the disk size to my specification. Click on Apply.
By default, the Windows 7 installer will create two partitions as shown. Partition 2 is the main Windows 7 partition, and that is what has to be selected before clicking Next. The free space where LMDE will be installed is shown as Unallocated Space. Click Next.
After Windows 7 installation is completed, boot the computer from the LMDE installation DVD
Whether you installed Windows 7 anew or just freed up space from an existing installation of Windows 7, you are now ready to install LMDE alongside Windows 7.
Installing LMDE Alongside Windows 7: After installing Windows 7, or after freeing up space on a disk with an existing installation of Windows 7, boot the computer from the LMDE installation DVD. Click until you get to the disk partitioning step. Unlike the Linux Mint installer, LMDE’s installer does not have an automatic disk partitioning option; disk partitioning must be done manually. Click on the Edit Partitions button to start.
GParted is the application used for disk partitioning. Select the unallocated space and click on the create new partition button.
Note: When installing LMDE or any other Linux distribution, it is recommended that four partitions be created for the following file system directories:
* /boot – This should always be the first partition created on the Linux side of the installation. It is where boot-related files will be located.
* Swap – Unformated space used by the system as virtual memory
* / – The root directory. This is where almost every thing needed to run the system will be installed. Unless a separate partition is created for them, the other major file system directories, like /usr, /opt, /tmp, /var and /usr, will be located under /.
* /home – Your home directory will be located here. When you are logged in to the system, files and folders that you create will be, by default, in your home folder under /home.
This is what the new partition creation window looks like. Notice that by default, GParted will want to create this partition as a primary partition. Because the system allows us to create a maximum of four primary partitions and because we intend to create four partitions just for LMDE, it becomes necessary to create this as an extended partition. An extended partition makes it possible to create many more partitions under it than the traditional maximum of four. The thing to remember is that the partitions created under the extended partition are known as logical partitions.
Numbering of logical partitions starts at 5, and as we will see further down, the first logical partition will always be /dev/sda5, even when the extended partition it is created under is /dev/sda3.
To create the extended partition, the only change you need to make here is to select “Extended Partition” from the “Create as” dropdown menu. Add.
Select the unallocated space under the newly created extended partition, and click on the new partition button to start creating logical partitions.
Our first partition, which will be /dev/sda5, will be mounted as /boot, and is where boot-related programs will be installed. On a new installation of LMDE, only about 15 MB of the space allocated to this partition is used. Note that as the kernel is upgraded, the space used here will grow. So if you intend to use this installation for a long time, try to allocate as much as you can afford to. 500 MB is now the norm. For file system, you may select ext2 or a journaling file system except btrfs. Add
The second partition will be used for swap, which is the space that will be used as virtual memory. Most distributions, depending on available disk space, tend to allocate about 2 GB to it, which is the size allocated in this example. Add.
The third partition will be mounted at /, the root file system. This is where almost everything will be installed. How much space should you then allocate to it? For guidance, a new installation of LMDE takes up less than 3 GB of disk space. Therefore, anything more than 3 GB should be enough. If you have disk space to spare, be generous and allocate 6 GB to 10 GB. Add
The last partition, which should be allocated all the available disk space, will be mounted at /home. Add.
fter all the partitions have been created, click on the arrow as shown to apply the changes.
Then exit from GParted.
Back on the main installation window, click on the Refresh button to see the new partitions. For each LMDE partition, double click on it or right click and select Edit from the context menu. The task is to set the mount point and file system.
This is the “Edit Partition” window. For the boot partition, be sure to select /boot as the mount point. For the file system, you may select ext2, as in this example, or ext3 or ext4. For the root and home partitions, /dev/sda7 and /dev/sda8, the mount points must be / and /home respectively, and the file system can be any available journaling file system except btrfs. Keep in mind that Ext4 is the default on virtually all Linux distributions. Do not format the swap partition, just mount it as swap.
If you are satisfied that the mount points and file systems types have been selected, click Forward to continue with the rest of the installation.
By default, the installer installs GRUB, the boot loader, on the Master Boot Record of the hard disk. Because of the recommendation made at the start of this article, we want to install GRUB in the boot partition of the LMDE installation. In the scheme used in this tutorial, the boot partition is /dev/sda5, the first logical partition. Select it from the dropdown menu and click Forward.
After installation of LMDE is completed, the system will reboot into Windows 7, and that is because Windows is not aware that it now shares the hard drive with another OS. The final task then is to add an entry for LMDE in Windows’ boot menu. The easiest method of doing that is to use EasyBCD, a proprietary but free application from NeoSmart Technologies. So, download EasyBCD, install and launch it. Click on the Add New Entry tab, then click on the Linux/BSD tab. From the Type dropdown menu, select “GRUB 2″ (LMDE uses GRUB 2 as its boot loader). Click “Add Entry” button, then on the Edit Boot Menu tab.
By default, Windows 7 will be booted first, but you may change that to LMDE. If you make any changes here, click on Save Settings before exiting EasyBCD.
And if you select LMDE, you will get this. If for any reason you change your mind, you can still boot into Windows from here by selecting the Windows 7 entry.
Source: Here
Get full forum access here! || Follow us || Rules || 1 fee, download them all!
Giin70 Said:"im busier than a 3 legged cat on a frozen pond scratching for a place to poop..."
He also Said:"Maybe we can ship yall off to mamby pamby land to look to self confidence, ya jackwagon."
Then"your about as useless as tits on a boar
And:"headspace and keyboard timing issue on end user end"
Always have a back up plan for your back up plan.
My Pc Specs: My Rig!
Giin70 Said:"im busier than a 3 legged cat on a frozen pond scratching for a place to poop..."
He also Said:"Maybe we can ship yall off to mamby pamby land to look to self confidence, ya jackwagon."
Then"your about as useless as tits on a boar
And:"headspace and keyboard timing issue on end user end"
Always have a back up plan for your back up plan.
My Pc Specs: My Rig!
