I have been a "Dual-Booter" for many years now... I started with Ubuntu 8.04 and WUBI (look it up.)

Now, I feel like an old pro when it comes to installing Linux alongside Windows.

So, I bring you the first step in everything you should do before you attempt to install Linux and dual-boot.

Macrium Reflect Free: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/det...e_edition.html

This is the last "free" edition of Macrium Reflect. Macrium Reflect is a drive imaging program that you can use to make an image of your hard drive.

  1. Install this program on Windows.
  2. Use it to make a "boot USB"
  3. Boot from the USB into Macrium Reflect "Restore" Program
  4. Back up your Windows hard drive to a safe location.


Now, you may be thinking "Duh... of course we should make a back-up of our hard drive before we try installing a secondary OS. And you'd be right. But the reason I use Macrium Reflect, is because if there are any issues, you can boot from the USB you created, and be back to your usable Windows desktop in (usually) under 5 minutes. (Time/speed depending on if you have an SSD or HDD...)

One of the things you can end up playing "fast-and-loose" with is the boot partition (EFI) of your hard drive. Windows has an EFI partition, and so does Linux, in general. Most of the time you can install your Linux /boot/efi partition, in it's own partition... but you need to be really careful during your Linux installtion, to either choose or create that partition.

So... making sure you have a good drive image that you can restore from can save the day! Linux, in all intents and purposes, is a consistent learning experience. You will always be learning. This is a great way of keeping your problems to a minimum, and restorations as short (as in time spent) as possible.