installing on a second hard drive

[SnackPaq]

ok this is my first time with linux and was wondering if there are any differences between installing on a separate hard drive or creating a partition. also how to i set it up where it asks me which operating system i want to use on startup?

[kspncr]

ok this is my first time with linux and was wondering if there are any differences between installing on a separate hard drive or creating a partition.
Are you dual-booting with Windows? As long as you have Windows installed first, Ubuntu should set up the dual-boot for you when you install it regardless of same or separate hard drive. It's pretty much a matter of preference whether you should have the operating systems on separate hard drives or not. The advantage of having them on separate hard drives is this: if one hard drive fails, you don't lose both OSs.


also how to i set it up where it asks me which operating system i want to use on startup?after you install ubuntu, you can install a program called Start-up Manager by going to Applications->Add/Remove Programs, search for it, and install. You can use Start-Up Manager to set which OS will start by default.

[linux_tech]

As long as you have space on the drive you can dual boot; Windows and Ubuntu
can co-exist on the same drive, different partitions. Install windows 1st, then install Ubuntu into its own partition. Depending on your data storage, applications, etc. I'd recommend at least a 160GB drive. The only real advantage to a 2nd drive is the added immediate redundancy of the 2nd drive, that is if one of the drives fail then you still have the other drive. Having an extra hard drive with the OS already on it never hurts.