How to Partition/Prepare your Hard Drive to Dual-Boot Linux

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Here's a tutorial on how to shrink your current partition to create a secondary partition. This secondary partition is where we'll be able to install Linux in a dual-boot configuration.
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[@Aaron-nicolas]

I dont mind the quality of the video, all i care about is the detailed tutorial. keep going!

[@MikeTheTech]

thank you!

[@Doruletz1999]

You NEVER, EVER defragment an SSD, for obvious reasons... SSD's have a limited amount of IOPS (read and write operations), and defragmenting uses a lot of IOPS to no avail. Defragmenting is in fact a relic, meant for spin Hard drives (platter and needle) , especially for the old type IDE Drives.

[@G11Chan]

don't worry pal Defrag tool only does the TRIM process on SSD, so no worry about defragging unless you're using third-party software.

[@gben82]

@@G11Chan ..Also, I think he said to not defrag SSD in the video, so not sure what the OP of this comment is going on about

[@Kirmo13]

oupsie doupsie.... should have checked the comments before jumping two feet in. oh well, it can't be that bad

[@vaelxn]

@@gben82 he said other people say not to defrag SSD, but his advice was to defrag any drive. defragmentation only optimizes mechanical drives. when it comes to flash storage (SSD, eMMC, SD, etc. etc.) the address of data doesn't matter in terms of r/w speed. the only purpose defragging such drives serves is to reduce lifespan

[@GroteGlon]

@@Kirmo13 Not that bad, definetly a waste.

[@kristieson8162]

Great tutorial! I like how you explain how to partition the drive steps by steps. It is easy for newbie to understand.

[@mimir_time]

You helped a lot with my journey with linux, Aprecciated this video.

[@MikeTheTech]

Thanks! Comments like this are what keep me motivated to make more videos. Glad I could help you out!

[@Robert-np1ow]

I definitely like that fact you took your time you explained things all in all i was happy with it. Thank You!

[@Hasse-swe]

I was hoping for a longer video there you show us how to add the partition manualy in Linux install manager. I am installing a dualboot right now and i have another part of the harddrive for storage.

[@nmarks]

Thorough, friendly and jargon free. 👍

[@Elii1987]

Thank you very much!! very clear and to the point! For the record, it worked well :D

[@MikeTheTech]

Thanks for the comment and update!

[@nanabrimpong3485]

@@MikeTheTech hi I need your help. I installed linux mint deviants edition 5 on my external hdd but I cannot find my ntfs partition on the external and my main ntfs partition on the pc's internal hard drive when I boot with the lmde 5. but it shows me the other linux partitions I have on both internal and external hard drives in the devices section. I also went to the file system section of the lmde 5 I installed and I found an EFI folder which when I opened was showing the content of my internal window xp partition as folders within this same folder. but I cannot find all the ntfs partitions either external or internal to mount. but my lmde 5 is set to automount all devised or drives or partitions whichever you want to call it to list in devices. but not showing. Any help please? one thing I also noticed is I don't have any efi or swap partition created on my external hard drive partitions. but the grub is installed on the external hard drive.

[@NMReadingUK]

This video really helped me partition for Linux. Thanks very much.

[@HektorBandimar]

Hi, interesting tutorial, thanks. I have a dual boot setup, with Windows 10 and Linux 17.3 Rosa, it works fine, but my problem is I am running out of space on my H/D, how can I move the data to a larger capacity H/D without losing my data and partitions etc.?

[@MikeTheTech]

You can use software to clone the drive to the new one.

[@trustee1108]

@@MikeTheTech clever idea

[@unggulwidiatmodjo2861]

thank you siirr, such a great video

[@MikeTheTech]

Glad you liked it!

[@ogulbilgi8892]

Fuckin awesome tutorial dude. Exactly what i needed.

[@MikeTheTech]

Happy it helped! Thanks for the comment.

[@M4y0nn41s3]

Very helpful! Thank you so much!

[@MikeTheTech]

You're very welcome!

[@russellesby179]

You saved my thesis

[@MikeTheTech]

So glad the video helped, that's great! Thank you for the comment and letting me know. 👍

[@GMknew]

thanks a lot man! i've got it up and running

[@MikeTheTech]

+GM Opinions sweet! Glad it helped. Thanks for the comment.

[@MikeTheTech]

+GM Opinions this video was pretty much because of your other comments, too. So everyone can thank you for that. lol

[@rezakhakpour7549]

i learned some from this. thanks

[@MikeTheTech]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jojojawjaw]

Extremely helpful, thank you

[@salaheddinehouache1015]

Great and clear explanation, I'm fed up with Complicated videos. for me i have only one HDD of 1TB . C for Windows, D and F. I wanted to do the same as you did. from which drive I should do the shrinking, Logical D or Primary F ? Thank you

[@CryptidsRoost]

Many thanks for this Mike. I reformatted and did a fresh Win7 install last night on my main laptop hdd. Btw I will not use Win 8/8.1 or Win10. Personally I this they are shite, but that is my own opinion lol. I do have 2x 500Gb external hdd's but they contain my laptop backups and my YT creator files for my channel. I have been wanting to have a dual boot with Linux for a very long time. I wan't sure exactly how to partition my C:/ until now. I want to get used to Linux before I buy a new laptop. I am on the lookout for a new one preferably one that does NOT come complete with ANY form of Windows. I refuse to put ANY MORE money into that w****r's pocket. Apart from which, as I said, I don't like any of the newer Win versions and have never used a mac either. New sub too

[@vaelxn]

win7 was the last windows distro i liked, so i hate to inform you, but it's a terrible OS to put on any device you plan to connect to the internet. it was abandoned years ago and no longer receives security updates

[@blueskyzen5398]

thanks mike. helpful.

[@MikeTheTech]

Glad to help

[@riddick3943]

Very helpful!

[@MikeTheTech]

Glad you liked it!

[@GutoohkGk]

straight to the point, thanks

[@Shaihan]

I already have 2 partitions on my HDD but the second one has files in it. will I lose the files from installing Deepin Linux on it?

[@lunainthewoods]

You will most likely lose your files due to formatting. Best bet, backup, add new partition, install linux in there

[@gdeangelkick]

What about partitions for boot and efi?

[@roberton9032]

Hi I'm trying to install Xubuntu as a dual boot setup with W10 but during the process of installing Xubuntu it can´t recognize the unallocated space created with disk management any suggestions? best regards

[@ikennaopara2768]

Awesome video. Thank you so much. I got my hdd resized and ready for dual boot with RHEL. Do you have another video that handles actual linux installation on the unallocated drive space? Thanks again

[@MikeTheTech]

Not yet, but good idea!

[@danielamarilla3489]

hi there, how can i setup my secondary HDD as a bootable Linux then? i already partitioned half just for Ubuntu, now looking into how install it as well

[@carleynorthcoast1915]

I would like to dual boot windows 10 - Two copies on the same drive just to have a clean version that is uncluttered. Would I create a new simple volume and assign a letter to the partition? I often hear that a clean version of windows is more efficient but I would think that windows would be sophisticated enough to maintain itself.

[@unknownentity330]

Just create a guest account. It will run buttery smooth compared to your primary account

[@totaalikielto81]

Good video! Liked and subscribed!

[@shankhashuvrosinha6814]

Please show the next steps for installation, with BIOS setup. Do we need to disconnect the ssd while installing Linux?

[@user-hr5of7pi3j]

No

[@Mimsy_Crush]

yes thanks im dual booting i made 200 gb just for a linux dual boot system so i dont have to use windows 10 as much

[@mahadihassanshohag4810]

Great tutorial!

[@KEEVVY]

And I was eseus partition tool to shrink an active partition when windows already included this

[@MikeTheTech]

lol, at least eseus has a nice UI!

[@SandroM_]

Why would uright click on the new unallocated drive and select create new simple volume if you don't even have to complete the steps? I'm confused

[@MikeTheTech]

Useful to set ahead of time to differentiate between partitions. But not necessary because it can be done later during the Linux install. Since I don’t show the Linux install, I figured it would be useful to show ahead of time.

[@LuckyDuke-fd7te]

My linux booting stick doesnt recognise any of my SSDs, only the booting stick i used is beeing recognised. what should i do?

[@FlorencioHugando]

Hi. Are you sure that it would work the same if you shrik the partition C: in which the Windows system is installed?

[@hankyotutorials]

nice tutorial❤️

[@jovanimartinez8277]

I have a windows SSD that im trying to partition to have linux and windows on the same drive. Once i have linux installed, can i use the files i have in the windows partition portion of my hard drive?

[@noahriding5780]

If you have some damage on a hard drive that causes installation errors... how do you determine how much to make the split partition for to get around the damage to be able to finish and install (when the install is tripping because of it)? (And to make sure you get the damaged part on the minimum possible area?)

[@youssefhany4846]

I made the exact same steps on my external sata HDD, and when I tried to install centos it doesn't even see the HDD to install linux on it! what should I do ?

[@50shadesofskittles9]

Took me less time to scan and optimise than his description. Lolol

[@MikeTheTech]

k

[@the_gost_gamer3841]

Thank you

[@jimschlosser1621]

Nice video. I fucked up and didn't configure the empty space before I installed kali. Kali is infact installed and will not boot. Woops.

[@charlesworton4020]

Had you created that logical drive on Drive C, you would NOT have been able to install Linux to that drive. I'm still fighting through this myself, but apparently you can only have one OS per physical drive. Don't know why - possibly a Bios issue.

[@MikeTheTech]

I’m confused. You can definitely partition a single drive to support multiple operating systems.

[@charlesworton4020]

@@MikeTheTech Hi, Mike - Yeah, I've been fighting my way through this for the last several days. If GRUB is installed in the Master Boot Record, you can install Linux on a Logical Drive partition. But GRUB has to be there - if not, Linux can't see the logical drive. If you have time, maybe give it a shot yourself. I will admit to having been steamrolled by this, and I'm pretty exasperated. I might have missed something. Pretty much ready to jump off a bridge - or maybe through my machine off a bridge. Or both. Take care, guy - Charlie

[@مريمبتاعةاللغات-ج4د]

please help me....I installed Kali alongside windows10. Kali is working but I cannot return to win10 although win10 files are still there.........

[@faresmasmoudi9605]

awesome thank you

[@MikeTheTech]

You bet!

[@arditgjeta5088]

why i cant use an unallocated space for installing linux in my pc???!!

[@G11Chan]

well, you need to format the unallocated space so that it can create a usable data space for you.

[@rm3934]

NOthing about the UEFI; I wouldn't know generally but it seems to be a requirement to have a separate partition for Peppermint OS - either way just further confirmation that installing Linux insn't really an option for anyone not going for a clean install ie not a dual boot; maybe Peppermint is an outlier and a UEFI partition isn't a consideration on other Distros.

[@MikeTheTech]

I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to install peppermint os with or without UEFI. Every dual boot requires partitioning.

[@rm3934]

@@MikeTheTech My statement was ambiguous - I meant it to be obvious that a partition was needed for the OS and another one for the UEFI. The OS installed (presumably); it just didn't appear in the Boot/EFI menu; there was a warning during installation that it likely wouldn't boot without that separate partition. if I can be bothered - the next step is to create that extra 300MB partition and then see whether I can guess how to find and put the relevant files on it (As with much to do with Linux in my experience at that stage around 200 options - in combination came up; no hint of that in the guide; fortunately Google Gemini seemed informed and suggested that they all be ignored except one). I should mention that this was an experiment to install it on a 8GB partition with a view to seeing whether it was faster than Win10 - on a low spec. laptop

[@343mustbestopped2]

Thanks man

[@MikeTheTech]

You're welcome!

[@denniszenanywhere]

Good tutorial. Question, how do I add partition if I am running out of space on my Ubuntu without removing and reinstalling Ubuntu? I mean is there a way to just add more partition space to my Ubuntu which would then reduce my windows partition?

[@scuffeddeimos]

No. Hard drive space is mutable in one direction, that is: reduce space for the drive to create a partition space. If you want to "add" more space, you would have to wipe it and start fresh. An advanced option would be to create a partition for your linux OS (say about 20 GB), and use the remaining space --or however much you want-- as a separate filesystem that your OS can access.

[@BankruptGreek]

old but maybe relevant, you *can* increase space but only to the right of every partition, if you make space to the left of the partition then your computer will need to move all files to the left and that can cause problems at times. (the reasoning behind this is because computers start allocating space / saving files from the left of the partition and so extending it to the left means they all need to be moved to the new left/the new starting point of the partition)

[@bungiesnowflake]

I have Linux ubuntu on my computer, I want to remove it completely and put windows on ( have a copy of windows 10 rdy 2 go). But I'm not tech savvy. Is there an easy way to do this without being a tech guru ?

[@MikeTheTech]

Backup ALL existing data that you want to keep from any partitions on the drive and store it on an external drive. Insert the Windows installation media and choose the advanced options. When you see the portion to choose your drive, use the tools there to delete all existing partitions to create a completely empty single drive. Format that drive and install fresh.

[@ShubhanandDas]

Hi, thanks for good video. Need to know if trusqeil Linux will detect this unused drive and automatically install along side of win 10? PL let me known if you have video on next steps after this particular video

[@chiragsapra9909]

I am getting error "Couldnot get size 0x800000000000000e" and the installation is not showing any partitions, please help Sometimes it also shows the error, "failed to start MokManager: Not found import_mok_state() failed" Please help somebody

[@a_shrxydud]

could any issues come up with partitioning an NVME ssd?

[@davidwayne9982]

I have my PC with an SSD that has Sparky 7 on it (based on Debian 12- but FASTER than mx)... and I want to ADD a second SSD that has BLEND OS on it-- and for that reason- do NOT want to have to partition and format either-- but leave them AS THEY ARE- and be able to BOOT from EITHER--- is that possible- and if so - HOW????

[@MikeTheTech]

Of course. You can choose your default boot device in your BIOS and have it prompt you on startup to choose.

[@Rgroose]

thanks !

[@muhammadsaqibashraf7812]

I am continuously facing this issue when i am shrinking my free space in order to create a new partition it starts to initializing and after some time a message appear on my screen that i dont have enough space, i have tried to create partition by using some software too but nothing helped me out.

[@G11Chan]

you prob used it up, get an HDD with more capacity.

[@ahmedatif5825]

Why it says unusable instead of free space?

[@bagzhansadvakassov1093]

I can't really undestand dislike situation. Can someone justify it?

[@Kirmo13]

what if my specific distro doesn't "automatically recognize and setup this partition for me"?

[@MikeTheTech]

In those cases, make a note of the exact partition size to ensure you’re referencing the correct one. While the names can change based on the reporting distribution, the sizes stay the same. Then just choose the proper partition, and continue the installation. Formatting optional.

[@Kirmo13]

@@MikeTheTech Yooo man thank you sooo much for replying. I haven't been able to find an answer in the debian wiki yet so any interaction really brings me some joy (like + sub for that :D). Anyways, I already thought of what you said, but the thing is that the partition does not show at all. I only see 2 drives: the usb I'm booting off of, and my main ssd with no paritions, not even the windows recovery and the other small one that shows up in the windows drive manager. So what I did is press the "custom partition" butoon, and there I do see the 50GB partition I allocated separately on my windows setup, but my distro wants me to select one partition for the root directory, one partition for the "/" directory (which is actual root), and one partition for the "/home" directory, and thy must be different. Or so I understand. I really don't want to press next without being 100% sure because I haven't made any backup, and I'm not going to since backups are for ***** (jk obviously, I just like to play with fire and I don't have very important files) Anyways, I'll just keep searching and probably report back if I find a solutions. Don't feel obligated to answer/help me since it's something very specific and I'm not even sure I explained properly what is going on. btw, I'm trying to boot MX Linux

[@Kirmo13]

@@MikeTheTech Yo, I found the solution fyi. I had to create sub-paritions for /root and /home. This video goes in great detail on how to do it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYO0qKGhhZd-i6c

[@MikeTheTech]

Greta to hear!

[@aymenali143]

Thankx 🌷

[@mychannel-bu6jx]

why so many dislikes this was an awesome tutorial

[@MikeTheTech]

Thanks, Manny!

[@marcusdelictus]

i see unshaved beard and it glasses. unwashed look.. i click and trust you!

[@simonlevett4776]

I've just found a PC with Win 7 on the HDD [not sure why the previous owner left the hard drive]. Would it be possible to add Ubuntu to the hard drive so that it becomes dual bootable ?

[@MikeTheTech]

If theres enough space, sure!

[@xnetcascais]

well i would like to give 1000 likes just because your cool, slow and clear description is cristal even for those like me who are not too smart for pc stuff :) - however i may have a different problem where i hope you can somehow help me. i have a linux mint and the charger died. due the fact i needed urgently some files i remove the HD from linux and installed in a windows pc, using a external usb to hd drive connector. after connecting to pc i got the sound for new device but no disk was presented. due to stress i opened the first tutorial i got in my phone and used the dskmng to see the drive. the drive was there but everything grey where the only choice after right click was delete volume (i read that nothing of this would delete the data from hd) however after this action i added a new volume and letter and windows was able to see the drive but no content visible. now i have no idea if i can revert this or if i lost all data. can you please help with any suggestion? many thanks in advance!

[@MikeTheTech]

Deleting the volume unfortunately formats it as well. Before doing anything else on the drive it might be best to hire data restoration services to help to ensure you don't lose anything. If it wasn't deleted, there would be options to open it, but once it's deleted it becomes a lot more difficult.

[@rrrttrrrttt9878]

@@MikeTheTech well, tks for your reply. im quite dissapointed because i have a lot of data there and that place where i got the info for changing the letter drive and new volume was 'saying' that i would not lose any data. :/ all the best and i look forward to see your new episode.

[@rjjrdq]

"third partion not empty." Installation fail...

[@MikeTheTech]

Needs to be empty then. lol

[@moisharma1027]

I have 500GB free but When I shrink I get only 30gb why? how to increase more

[@MikeTheTech]

Try defragmenting the drive? If it's an older drive with a lot of use the files may be spread a bit thin. Are there other recovery partitions using space?

[@moisharma1027]

@@MikeTheTech how can I give 300gb for ubuntu only?

[@G11Chan]

@@moisharma1027 check how much free space you have on the drive and if you have enough shrink the drive to 300GB or 307,200MB

[@kyleparsotan6799]

the whole process of linux mint

[@twitch_theoxidado9043]

The disk is mbr?

[@sohailansari2009]

Where is the installation part..?

[@theaveragegamer-avgamrmods]

urgent!!! could this method work with cloud ready os

[@MikeTheTech]

It should, yes.

[@kozmik9238]

Uh.... you forgot the part where the partititons for Linux need to be EXT4, something you can't format to in Windows...

[@MikeTheTech]

This is preparing it so that it shows up already as a partition when installing Linux. You generally format to EXT4 during the beginning of the installation process.

[@gsdtxz]

Real machine ??

[@MikeTheTech]

?

[@gsdtxz]

@@MikeTheTech your real pc ? Not VMware?

[@r.j.4950]

Turn up your audio, can`t hear most of what you are saying.

[@bye1337]

8mins for yapping bro...

[@MikeTheTech]

Lul. Thanks for the view/comment.

[@cil7ea]

tutorial starts at 4:00

[@MikeTheTech]

Fair

[@Multiple-Sclerosis]

Double PHD in yapping

[@MikeTheTech]

Ew

[@donaldvalentine1055]

Not the best tutorial. This guy is partitioning his 2nd hard drive which isn't the case for most people. They will be partition their primary drive.

[@MikeTheTech]

The same instructions should apply. I'll make a video in the future showing the procedure on a primary drive. Thanks for the feedback.

[@karlbrian9972]

You talk too much

[@MikeTheTech]

😶

[@mystwalker479]

Explanation is better than doing something you don't know what you're dealing with

[@SirW1SE]

I left because of not getting to the point

[@MikeTheTech]

The video is like 8 mins total. Lol. Good luck though! Sorry you didn’t like the video.

[@SirW1SE]

@@MikeTheTech my bad, was in bad mood and left an impulse comment. Thanks for making this and helping people out. I didn't dislike it, just was in a hurry. Sorry 🙏

[@MikeTheTech]

All good! We all have bad days. Thanks for the reply. Hope you have a good one!

[@traleyton8057]

A one minute task spread over 8 minutes. What a waste of time and waffling. U tube should stop paying the time wasters.

[@tommans3125]

booooring

[@MikeTheTech]

Move along then.

[@harshtiwari2150]

When installing Ubuntu instead of showing free space it's showing unusable space. Plz help

[@buddhikasenanayaka7899]

Harsh Tiwari did you fix that problem bro.i had the same problem in kali