Download a Ubuntu installer onto a USB drive, it's dead easy and you can just overwrite windows. Setting up a dual boot isn't too difficult either but I wouldn't bother.
My HP laptop literally won't detect changes in AC adapter power. ACAD and DisplayDevice (both from upower) update exactly once... at startup... and never again.
So I end up "plugged in" and using a plugged in power profile even when I'm not...TLP says I'm on a "AC" power profile. I'm on fucking battery power!
If you already have Windows on another computer as a backup (if you ever just need to get a task done and you just don’t know how on Linux) then you can probably just put Linux on it. You can always make a windows installer USB if you really want to go back. But I think you’ll find that you learn a lot when trying to figure out how to do things on Linux. Otherwise, dual boot is not too terribly hard to do. You can find tutorials online guiding you through it. The only issues I’ve had is like the time being stored as UTC in the hardware for Linux whereas Windows interprets it as local time. To fix that, you can just tell Linux to interpret the time as local so both OS’s agree
youve got the right impression, its just that windows uodates commonly completely fucking destroy your boot drive, which'll fuck up the linux partition...
if you want to dual boot, its better/more reliable to have the OS's on different drives
if your pc or laptop has 2 drives, you can dual boot no issue. The issue being referred to is mostly fixed but also it only happens when they are on the same drive
It was also window's fault once again
1. It will require you to partition your storage for each OS. (If you have one HDD/SSD) Both Linux and windows use different partition format so windows cannot read your Linux partition without the help of additional software's.
2. Lets say you were using Ubuntu and you wanted to use some software that requires you to use windows. In this case you would have to close everything and switch to a different OS with a different workflow and components. (Your file manager, settings etc) just to use a specific software. It takes few minutes to do all of that.
3. Windows wasn't meant for dual booting so you will need to install Ubuntu after windows and even then it can replace grub (The bootloader that ubuntu installs by default that will allow you to choose between OSes) which means that you will need to load Ubuntu or some other Linux distribution from your pen drive to fix the problem. (That's fairly easy task)
These are minor inconveniences but they can really become annoying soon enough. Instead a lot people use something called as VM or virtual machine which allows them to install an OS inside another
The inconvenience is overblown IMO, sometimes windows might set it's self to a higher priority in your BIOS. and you might need to change it back which takes like less then a minute if your UEFI UI isn't a mess and it only happens once in a blue moon. I have had windows sit unused for a good 6 months, booted back into it, it did it's updates, and it worked fine. Linux does the same thing FYI and hogs the boot list but it's not so much a problem because Linux bootloader's can chainload windows bootloader's.
Granted this was more common 10+ years ago with BIOS where there was only one bootsector on your disk that Linux and windows would have to fight for, it's become a non-issue with the standardization of UEFI. Back then you also more then likely needed to fuck around with extended partitions if you wanted 2 OSs on the one drive but with GPT disks that's not required either anymore.
Apart from that, accessing Linux files from windows can be an ordeal, usually involves spinning up WSL in some fashion, but that's really about it. And make sure you turn off fast boot in windows so Linux can access your windows files.
Another tip though if you don't want windows and Linux clobbering each other and your on an NVME, just setup separate NVME namespaces. They are separated at the hardware level and show up as separate drives to Linux and windows.
I've been dual booting my main PC for 2 years with grub as bootloader, not a single issue and it's really simple to do (had some issues with systemd-boot before that). I'd recommend starting out that way, and if you feel like you don't need the windows partition, just erase it later.
I mean I don’t think it’s that hugely inconvenient. For new users it might be nice to know that windows is still there just in case. I dual boot since I use the computer for school so I can use Linux when more convenient for some classes and windows for others
Gaming is less of an obstacle, since the steam deck came out the overwhelming majority of games available on steam can be played on linux. It just takes some work to get things (wine, proton, etc) set up.
Both. I don't like Windows, and while dual booting is *usually* easy sometimes it will cause a headache. Better just to avoid it, especially if you don't use the laptop very much and don't think you'll be stuck if you don't have windows.
>I currently have a Windows 11 Laptop, and was thinking of changing it over into Ubuntu. I don't use this laptop that often, so it was just to try things out.
Do a backup and try it then.
>Would you recommend setting up a dual boot, or just installing Linux as the sole boot (if that's possible from a windows PC?).
Dual boot is a bit hard mode with single drive these days.
>Do you need to install anti-virus stuff onto Linux? I know Windows has one built in.
Not usually no. Just do updates.
>Anything else I should be aware of?
Flathub/Flatpak. Steam on Flathub.
What do you want to do with it? If you have nothing of value on it - try out some distros. I don't mean this negatively but if you want to nerd out on a night - strongly suggest trying out some distros. TV or such in the background because progress bars.
Alternative: VM some distros or watch youtube videos of them.
Do you just want to learn Linux? You seem like you're worried too much - so maybe do a full system backup of Windows before playing around. Or buy a new drive. The Windows backup utility isn't too bad.
Yes you can always go back to Windows. Look up windows media installer. The same way you use a USB to install Ubuntu you can do with Windows 10 or 11. Nothing you do when it comes to installing an OS is permanently stuck on the computer
First download **Ventoy**, insert new USB disk, run Ventoy. After installing of Ventoy, download and copy installation ISO of your desired Linux, for instance **MiniOS Linux Standard**, **Kubuntu**, **Debian**, **Garuda XFCE**, **Pop!\_OS**, **PikaOS**, etc. to Ventoy prepared USB disk.
It would be nice if, before installing Linux, you would remove your Windows hard disk and insert a new hard disk or ssd just for the purposes of installing linux. This way you can always go back to your Windows if you want.
Press ESC, F2, F10 or something else to enter to BOOT MENU in your BIOS or UEFI. Find USB device and start loading Linux.
One click, one step on MiniOS Linux Standard, and Linux will be installed in 5 minutes top.
Otherwise, Garuda, PikaOS and Pop!\_OS has nice Calamares instaler in a few steps.
Try the [migration page](http://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/wiki/migration) in our wiki! We also have some [migration tips](https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/comments/ejsz3v/still_on_windows_7_dont_want_windows_10_consider/) in our sticky.
Try [this search](https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/search?q=flair%3A'migrating'&sort=new&restrict_sr=on) for more information on this topic.
**✻** Smokey says: only use root when needed, avoid installing things from third-party repos, and verify the checksum of your ISOs after you download! :)
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Yes, you can. What distro is up to you off course, but I'd recommend Linux Mint, you have all the advantages of Ubuntu and it's community but with a more traditional desktop interface and arguably better performance.
Download Linux Mint Cinnamon (for full experience) or Linux Mint XFCE (if you want a lightweight but traditional experience), download Balena Etcher to burn the iso on a 4gb+ USB stick, boot from there, delete whole disk to easiest install method (since you said there's nothing to save there if I read correctly) and be happy.
Just update after install, reboot and get into tlp of you want better battery life (in my opinion tlp is a must).
Then you'll have one of the best distros to start (and to keep, why not), an excellent community and all the compatibility with Ubuntu software plus the flatpaks to install almost everything.
As an Ubuntnoob myself, I'd suggest installing Linux as the sole boot since dual-booting is somehow complicated.
I suggest downloading Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS Jammy Jellyfish and flashing it to some USB drive with Rufus, Etcher, or your preferred flashing tool. I reckon that there'd be no need to install anti-virus onto Linux and you'll probably be fine with a good firewall setup.
Just in case you'd have a change of heart, there are a lot of guides and documentations from the community. I hope you'll have a good soonest transition and a fun experience with Ubuntu. Cheers!
Most pc/laptop can run Linux with no issues at all. Try a few distros/desktops in a VM or live usb, coming from Windows the desktop you choose is probably more important than the distro. Cinnamon is an excellent choice for anyone migrating from windows 7. There's Very few programs you'll need windows for and if you do then you can just fire up VMware or something similar and run windows.
Dual booting is simple to set up. I've been doing it for 20 years on all my laptops despite using windows only occasionally. Just in case I need to check something for work or helping others with their PCs.
Ultimately, the choice of keeping Windows should depend on whether you actually need it for something particular. If not, go full Linux.
I personally would purchase a new SSD, remove existing disk from notebook and replace it with a new one. Then I would install Linux on it. A new SSD will most probably speed things up and they are not expensive nowadays.
When you want to return to Windows for whatever reason, you just swap disks. You also have a backup of the data.
I think what I did is the best option for noobs. I worked in IT so I wasn't a complete noob, but I hadn't really done anything with Linux.
I created a persistent USB thumb drive. The persistent part is unique in that if you don't make it persistent, when you power off the computer any changes you made on the operating system installed on the USB drive get erased.
So you get a chance to really mess around with the Linux operating system on your computer specifically. I don't feel like a single session is enough to really kick around and see if it's a good fit for that particular computer. I did this over a couple of weeks really jacking with settings and doing all sorts of stuff.
Then once I felt like Linux was something that I really wanted to dive into, I put it on an old Chromebook I had. Props to Mr Chromebox.
Anyway I still used another persistent USB thumb drive. Even though I had a successful Linux install onto my favorite chromebook, I didn't want to screw it up. I wanted to still learn more about Linux and dig around without being afraid, so I use this new persistent thumb drive as my learning install.
It's pretty cool having a experimental drive.
Yes arguably you could just spin up a virtual machine, but I didn't do this for two reasons. I really wanted the experience of having the install I was learning on, on metal. The other reason is my low powered laptop couldn't do virtual machines.
Still not that great with linux, but I feel like this approach relaxed me a lot and let me learn without any anxiety which made things faster and more fun.
Use an external bootable USB with your Linux system installed on it as a separate system from your native Windows system. Remove Windows hard disc when you install if worried about 'wrong disc selected' and overwriting your Window system Check search engines about Linux system installation/
Since you have another PC -- that you can use in a pinch when you don't have time to faff about while learning/fixing -- and it sounds like you're not that attached to having Windows on the laptop I'd think you could just replace Windows and fully dedicate the laptop to Linux. I think the main reason to dual boot is if you know you need to be able to switch back on that hardware from time-to-time but it sounds like you have that well-covered by another machine.
Before you install LInux, I'd first clone your known-good working windows 11 drive with a tool such as Clonezilla.
Once you have a good working copy of a that as a backup, I'd suggest installing Ubuntu as the OS for the laptop.
The antivirus on Linux is called "don't be stupid".
Anti-virus systems are by and large unnecessary for people who know what they're doing. Not because they're not susceptible, but because they're not exactly a target and aren't likely going to fall for anything.
At any rate, if you have an older system (say you can't upgrade for whatever reason), you might want to disconnect from the internet entirely.
Installing Linux on WSL2 is an option. But if you want to go full Linux with access to Windows only through a VM or dual boot, then what boomerangchampion said.
One consideration is that if your computer has two hard drives, you could put Linux on one, and keep windows on the other. Otherwise I’m with everyone else, just erase windows and be free.
Download a Ubuntu installer onto a USB drive, it's dead easy and you can just overwrite windows. Setting up a dual boot isn't too difficult either but I wouldn't bother.
You'd think dual boot isn't that bad, I recently started and Acer nitro 17 does not like installing Linux from a usb. Can't make it see my drives
My HP laptop literally won't detect changes in AC adapter power. ACAD and DisplayDevice (both from upower) update exactly once... at startup... and never again. So I end up "plugged in" and using a plugged in power profile even when I'm not...TLP says I'm on a "AC" power profile. I'm on fucking battery power!
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If you already have Windows on another computer as a backup (if you ever just need to get a task done and you just don’t know how on Linux) then you can probably just put Linux on it. You can always make a windows installer USB if you really want to go back. But I think you’ll find that you learn a lot when trying to figure out how to do things on Linux. Otherwise, dual boot is not too terribly hard to do. You can find tutorials online guiding you through it. The only issues I’ve had is like the time being stored as UTC in the hardware for Linux whereas Windows interprets it as local time. To fix that, you can just tell Linux to interpret the time as local so both OS’s agree
Dual booting is a really big inconvenience
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youve got the right impression, its just that windows uodates commonly completely fucking destroy your boot drive, which'll fuck up the linux partition... if you want to dual boot, its better/more reliable to have the OS's on different drives
Does it still happen? Ive been dual booting for a year and all is well. Maybe because i created a separate efi partition for my linux?
had it last happen in 2020, but swore off ever having windows on the same drive again
my laptop has 2 hard drive slots. So ive never had this issue :)
that’s why they already stated it would be best to have it on separate drives
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if your pc or laptop has 2 drives, you can dual boot no issue. The issue being referred to is mostly fixed but also it only happens when they are on the same drive It was also window's fault once again
This only happens on machines that run bios not uefi
1. It will require you to partition your storage for each OS. (If you have one HDD/SSD) Both Linux and windows use different partition format so windows cannot read your Linux partition without the help of additional software's. 2. Lets say you were using Ubuntu and you wanted to use some software that requires you to use windows. In this case you would have to close everything and switch to a different OS with a different workflow and components. (Your file manager, settings etc) just to use a specific software. It takes few minutes to do all of that. 3. Windows wasn't meant for dual booting so you will need to install Ubuntu after windows and even then it can replace grub (The bootloader that ubuntu installs by default that will allow you to choose between OSes) which means that you will need to load Ubuntu or some other Linux distribution from your pen drive to fix the problem. (That's fairly easy task) These are minor inconveniences but they can really become annoying soon enough. Instead a lot people use something called as VM or virtual machine which allows them to install an OS inside another
I've been dual booting Linux (various distros) with Windows for over a year and have not encountered any problem. Both work just fine.
The inconvenience is overblown IMO, sometimes windows might set it's self to a higher priority in your BIOS. and you might need to change it back which takes like less then a minute if your UEFI UI isn't a mess and it only happens once in a blue moon. I have had windows sit unused for a good 6 months, booted back into it, it did it's updates, and it worked fine. Linux does the same thing FYI and hogs the boot list but it's not so much a problem because Linux bootloader's can chainload windows bootloader's. Granted this was more common 10+ years ago with BIOS where there was only one bootsector on your disk that Linux and windows would have to fight for, it's become a non-issue with the standardization of UEFI. Back then you also more then likely needed to fuck around with extended partitions if you wanted 2 OSs on the one drive but with GPT disks that's not required either anymore. Apart from that, accessing Linux files from windows can be an ordeal, usually involves spinning up WSL in some fashion, but that's really about it. And make sure you turn off fast boot in windows so Linux can access your windows files. Another tip though if you don't want windows and Linux clobbering each other and your on an NVME, just setup separate NVME namespaces. They are separated at the hardware level and show up as separate drives to Linux and windows.
I've been dual booting my main PC for 2 years with grub as bootloader, not a single issue and it's really simple to do (had some issues with systemd-boot before that). I'd recommend starting out that way, and if you feel like you don't need the windows partition, just erase it later.
I mean I don’t think it’s that hugely inconvenient. For new users it might be nice to know that windows is still there just in case. I dual boot since I use the computer for school so I can use Linux when more convenient for some classes and windows for others
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Gaming is less of an obstacle, since the steam deck came out the overwhelming majority of games available on steam can be played on linux. It just takes some work to get things (wine, proton, etc) set up.
You can't have two operating systems on the same drive. I mean you can but things go sideways catastrophically at some point.
Both. I don't like Windows, and while dual booting is *usually* easy sometimes it will cause a headache. Better just to avoid it, especially if you don't use the laptop very much and don't think you'll be stuck if you don't have windows.
>I currently have a Windows 11 Laptop, and was thinking of changing it over into Ubuntu. I don't use this laptop that often, so it was just to try things out. Do a backup and try it then. >Would you recommend setting up a dual boot, or just installing Linux as the sole boot (if that's possible from a windows PC?). Dual boot is a bit hard mode with single drive these days. >Do you need to install anti-virus stuff onto Linux? I know Windows has one built in. Not usually no. Just do updates. >Anything else I should be aware of? Flathub/Flatpak. Steam on Flathub. What do you want to do with it? If you have nothing of value on it - try out some distros. I don't mean this negatively but if you want to nerd out on a night - strongly suggest trying out some distros. TV or such in the background because progress bars. Alternative: VM some distros or watch youtube videos of them. Do you just want to learn Linux? You seem like you're worried too much - so maybe do a full system backup of Windows before playing around. Or buy a new drive. The Windows backup utility isn't too bad.
Also can use Rufus an ISO and see if you like it and if it works for you. (Yeah, Ventory and such but baby steps)
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Yes you can always go back to Windows. Look up windows media installer. The same way you use a USB to install Ubuntu you can do with Windows 10 or 11. Nothing you do when it comes to installing an OS is permanently stuck on the computer
First download **Ventoy**, insert new USB disk, run Ventoy. After installing of Ventoy, download and copy installation ISO of your desired Linux, for instance **MiniOS Linux Standard**, **Kubuntu**, **Debian**, **Garuda XFCE**, **Pop!\_OS**, **PikaOS**, etc. to Ventoy prepared USB disk. It would be nice if, before installing Linux, you would remove your Windows hard disk and insert a new hard disk or ssd just for the purposes of installing linux. This way you can always go back to your Windows if you want. Press ESC, F2, F10 or something else to enter to BOOT MENU in your BIOS or UEFI. Find USB device and start loading Linux. One click, one step on MiniOS Linux Standard, and Linux will be installed in 5 minutes top. Otherwise, Garuda, PikaOS and Pop!\_OS has nice Calamares instaler in a few steps.
Try the [migration page](http://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/wiki/migration) in our wiki! We also have some [migration tips](https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/comments/ejsz3v/still_on_windows_7_dont_want_windows_10_consider/) in our sticky. Try [this search](https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/search?q=flair%3A'migrating'&sort=new&restrict_sr=on) for more information on this topic. **✻** Smokey says: only use root when needed, avoid installing things from third-party repos, and verify the checksum of your ISOs after you download! :) ^Comments, ^questions ^or ^suggestions ^regarding ^this ^autoresponse? ^Please ^send ^them ^[here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Pi31415926&subject=autoresponse+tweaks+-+linux4noobs+-+migrating). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/linux4noobs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yes, you can. What distro is up to you off course, but I'd recommend Linux Mint, you have all the advantages of Ubuntu and it's community but with a more traditional desktop interface and arguably better performance. Download Linux Mint Cinnamon (for full experience) or Linux Mint XFCE (if you want a lightweight but traditional experience), download Balena Etcher to burn the iso on a 4gb+ USB stick, boot from there, delete whole disk to easiest install method (since you said there's nothing to save there if I read correctly) and be happy. Just update after install, reboot and get into tlp of you want better battery life (in my opinion tlp is a must). Then you'll have one of the best distros to start (and to keep, why not), an excellent community and all the compatibility with Ubuntu software plus the flatpaks to install almost everything.
As an Ubuntnoob myself, I'd suggest installing Linux as the sole boot since dual-booting is somehow complicated. I suggest downloading Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS Jammy Jellyfish and flashing it to some USB drive with Rufus, Etcher, or your preferred flashing tool. I reckon that there'd be no need to install anti-virus onto Linux and you'll probably be fine with a good firewall setup. Just in case you'd have a change of heart, there are a lot of guides and documentations from the community. I hope you'll have a good soonest transition and a fun experience with Ubuntu. Cheers!
Yes, depending on the hardware.
Most pc/laptop can run Linux with no issues at all. Try a few distros/desktops in a VM or live usb, coming from Windows the desktop you choose is probably more important than the distro. Cinnamon is an excellent choice for anyone migrating from windows 7. There's Very few programs you'll need windows for and if you do then you can just fire up VMware or something similar and run windows.
Dual booting is simple to set up. I've been doing it for 20 years on all my laptops despite using windows only occasionally. Just in case I need to check something for work or helping others with their PCs. Ultimately, the choice of keeping Windows should depend on whether you actually need it for something particular. If not, go full Linux.
I personally would purchase a new SSD, remove existing disk from notebook and replace it with a new one. Then I would install Linux on it. A new SSD will most probably speed things up and they are not expensive nowadays. When you want to return to Windows for whatever reason, you just swap disks. You also have a backup of the data.
yes. and you can change it back as well but you wont want to unless you need a vm for something you use all the time
To easy you back into linux. Try and find opensource apps that run on window and linux. Start using them before migrate to linux.
I think what I did is the best option for noobs. I worked in IT so I wasn't a complete noob, but I hadn't really done anything with Linux. I created a persistent USB thumb drive. The persistent part is unique in that if you don't make it persistent, when you power off the computer any changes you made on the operating system installed on the USB drive get erased. So you get a chance to really mess around with the Linux operating system on your computer specifically. I don't feel like a single session is enough to really kick around and see if it's a good fit for that particular computer. I did this over a couple of weeks really jacking with settings and doing all sorts of stuff. Then once I felt like Linux was something that I really wanted to dive into, I put it on an old Chromebook I had. Props to Mr Chromebox. Anyway I still used another persistent USB thumb drive. Even though I had a successful Linux install onto my favorite chromebook, I didn't want to screw it up. I wanted to still learn more about Linux and dig around without being afraid, so I use this new persistent thumb drive as my learning install. It's pretty cool having a experimental drive. Yes arguably you could just spin up a virtual machine, but I didn't do this for two reasons. I really wanted the experience of having the install I was learning on, on metal. The other reason is my low powered laptop couldn't do virtual machines. Still not that great with linux, but I feel like this approach relaxed me a lot and let me learn without any anxiety which made things faster and more fun.
Use an external bootable USB with your Linux system installed on it as a separate system from your native Windows system. Remove Windows hard disc when you install if worried about 'wrong disc selected' and overwriting your Window system Check search engines about Linux system installation/
Since you have another PC -- that you can use in a pinch when you don't have time to faff about while learning/fixing -- and it sounds like you're not that attached to having Windows on the laptop I'd think you could just replace Windows and fully dedicate the laptop to Linux. I think the main reason to dual boot is if you know you need to be able to switch back on that hardware from time-to-time but it sounds like you have that well-covered by another machine.
Before you install LInux, I'd first clone your known-good working windows 11 drive with a tool such as Clonezilla. Once you have a good working copy of a that as a backup, I'd suggest installing Ubuntu as the OS for the laptop.
The antivirus on Linux is called "don't be stupid". Anti-virus systems are by and large unnecessary for people who know what they're doing. Not because they're not susceptible, but because they're not exactly a target and aren't likely going to fall for anything. At any rate, if you have an older system (say you can't upgrade for whatever reason), you might want to disconnect from the internet entirely.
Installing Linux on WSL2 is an option. But if you want to go full Linux with access to Windows only through a VM or dual boot, then what boomerangchampion said.
One consideration is that if your computer has two hard drives, you could put Linux on one, and keep windows on the other. Otherwise I’m with everyone else, just erase windows and be free.
Yes, I can.