Ubuntu – Dual booting Lubuntu with Windows 8

bootloaderdual-bootlubuntuwindows 8

I've got an older laptop (HP G62) that has Windows 8 as its primary OS and I want to dual boot it with Lubuntu. It does not come with Secure Boot,m nor does it come with UEFI.

I've been looking at this guide and it says that I need to:

  1. Shrink the Windows partition.

  2. Create a primary ext4 partition (using the free space) with the mount point set to /

  3. Create a swap (logical) partition.

    Note: For me it would be 6GB.

  4. Choose the Lubuntu partition and click Install Now.

I am 100% aware that the link that I provided does talk about Windows 7, but I haven't seen any valid guide on how to dual boot Lubuntu with Windows 8 on a laptop or PC without UEFI.

I have two questions:

  1. Will GRUB replace my Windows 8 bootloader?

    Choose an operating system

  2. Should I make the main partition (/) primary?

I know this guide is for Ubuntu, but since they're pretty much the same I though this guide would work for Lubuntu users as well.

Best Answer

  1. Grub will replace your boot-loader and it will look like a standard Linux GRUB menu. You can however make Linux OR Windows as your default after successfully installing Linux.

  2. Let Ubuntu installer handle partitioning. You do not need to create partitions manually before installation. Ubuntu installer will provide visual tool where you simply slide and adjust the space desired to Linux and Windows. The gui partition tool/installer will handle the rest and update GRUB boot menu. You can not have the Windows boot-loader BUT it will boot to both OS just fine.

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