So I've got 2 hard drives, a 128GB SSD, on which Windows 7 is installed, and a standard 1TB hard drive.
Now I want to install Ubuntu. The SSD has only got about 4GB of space left, and I don't really want to delete anything to make space for Ubuntu so I want to install it on the 1TB hard drive. I know that in order to do this I will have to change the boot order each time I want to switch OSes, but I don't really mind since I won't be using Ubuntu as much as Windows anyway. I've got a lot of data on the 1TB hard drive, about 850GB, but there should be enough for Ubuntu.
My question though, is if I can just make a new partition on this drive and install Ubuntu to it, without erasing any other data. If I can, can I, like I specified, also just change the OS I want to use by simply changing the boot order? Sorry if this has been asked before, but most of the answers I could find were about installing it to an empty second hard drive, whereas I would like to keep the data on mine.
Thanks in advance!
Best Answer
You can create partitions on your HDD without erasing any data if there is enough space.
You can boot from Ubuntu LiveUSB, start gparted and do it there.
You will not need to change boot order in bios.
You can install grub on SSD or HDD, that will provide boot menu, where you will be able to choose which OS to start.
If you install grub on HDD, then when HDD is the first boot option, you will have that menu. If you switch boot order to SSD, you will boot right into Windows.