Dual boot on 128gig possible?

[shimbalama]

Hi All,

Just wondering if I can have both win 7 (64) and ubuntu on a 128 gig SSD and if so whats the best way to do it?

Cheers,
Liam

[levlaz]

This is absolutely possible, and should be pretty simple.

All you have to do is make a new partition for Ubuntu.

If windows 7 is currently installed and is taking up all 128GB of space you can shrink this using the built in tool in windows 7. You can choose how much space you want to devote to the Ubuntu installation.

For example if this is a fresh install of Windows 7 you should be able to get anywhere from 60-80GB out of the 128GB for the Ubuntu installation.

After you shrink the drive. You can reboot with either the Live DVD or a USB stick and Ubuntu will automatically recognize the free space and install side by side with Windows 7.

After you let it install, you should be able to dual boot when you reboot. Each time you reboot you will be given a choice of which partition you want to boot from.

Just an FYI if this is a completely empty drive, make sure you install Windows 7 BEFORE installing Ubuntu, from past experience installing Windows on top of Linux always messes things up.

Let me know if you need more detail on how to perform these specific tasks, but it should be straight forward. Just make sure you back up all of your data before you begin!

[Jmackxxx]

Lev, hit it on the head...Don't forget a Logical partition for swap space... I also installing Home folder on separate partitions

[PapaNerd]

I have a dual-boot MacOS/Ubuntu laptop running on a 60G drive, but things are tight. Some of the answer depends on how many extra apps you install under Windows, but 50%:50% arrangements are possible, or even 60% (Windows) : 40% (Ubuntu).

[pqwoerituytrueiwoq]

128gb sounds like a ssd, don't put swap on a ssd

[Jmackxxx]

128gb sounds like a ssd, don't put swap on a ssd

Good point if its solid state. Thats a question to ask..

[levlaz]

OP said it was a 128GB SSD.

I just did this same thing on a Win7 Dell, not SSD but the new 12.10 Installer is a breeze for dual booting.

[audiomick]

128gb sounds like a ssd, don't put swap on a ssd

Look at this
http://www.storagesearch.com/ssdmyths-endurance.html

In short, in the section about the "Rogue Data Recorder", the author relates how he had calculated that if a program were to be writing data constantly at the highest rate to a 64GB SSD, it would take about 50 years to reach the limit of the write endurance.

Given that a modern system with a "normal" amount of RAM and during "normal" use barely ever has to use the swap space, I don't think there is a real problem.

[NightsShadeQueen]

IMO, swap takes up significant space on a ssd (4gb/128gb vs 4gb/320gb) and OP's going to be pretty space-tight already.

If it's rarely used, why have it?