[SOLVED] Dual boot with Windows 10

[stevedat]

Why not run Windows 10 in a virtual machine using VirtualBox?

Actually my dell laptop just installed 2GB of Ram, impossible to run Windows 10 in VirtualBox ^ ^, and I got Windows XP in VirtualBox already, but it seems that there is something wrong with USB connection although I also installed needed extension pack but it's useless.
 

[gold_finger]

Can you guys guide me best ways to do it without losing any existing data at /home?

There is no 100% guarantee when installing any operating system (Windows or Linux), so it's always advisable to make backup copies of important files before doing any new installation.  Please do that if you can.

Whenever partitions on the drive need to be manipulated/changed there is always a risk that something will go wrong.  When following correct procedures problems are rare, but there is always some risk involved.

In order to give you best advise on how to proceed, please boot into Linux Lite, open a terminal and post back here with the output from this command:

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sudo parted --list
That will show exact partition structure on the disk right now and whether those partitions are "primary" or "logical", which is important to know before giving you instruction.

If you are only planning to use Windows for a few things (and don't plan to install a lot of programs to it), there is a good chance that you may not need to shrink your Linux home partition at all.  Your current LL root partition is 80GB, which is way more than necessary.  I believe a new install of Win 10 will take-up around 20GB +/- of space.  Your LL root probably uses only 6-10GB of space, so you can safely shrink the root partition to 20GB and still have plenty of space left over for expansion.  That will leave you with 60GB to put Windows on.  Windows will take-up about 20GB of that and you'll still have around 40GB left to install other programs, etc.

If you want to see exactly how much space is being used on your LL root partition right now, open a terminal, enter this command and look at what is says for the root partition:

Code: [Select]

df -h
Before doing anything, make sure you have a "live" Linux Lite dvd/usb.  If you still have the one you used to install LL, good.  If not, make a new one and test booting it to make sure it works properly.

You will need the LL dvd/usb to shrink the root and/or home partition.  (You can not do that while booted into the LL that you installed on the hard drive.  It must be done from a live dvd/usb.)

After you post back with terminal output requested above, I (or someone else) will get back to you with specific instructions on how to proceed.  Unless you already know how to fix boot issues yourself, don't attempt to shrink the root partition before one of us posts back with those instructions.  (Shrinking root could break booting of LL, so you'll need to know how to fix that using a live dvd/usb before you try doing it.)

[torreydale]

Why not run Windows 10 in a virtual machine using VirtualBox?

[stevedat]

Hi everyone,
 
First of all, a big thank to Linux Lite creator & its team members.   
I am running Linux Lite 2.6 on my Dell Inspiron N4050 and being happy with it. 
However I need to use Windows for some stuff. I know that most of the stuff can find and work on Linux, but it's not all.
So I want to reinstall Windows on my machine.
The point is I decided to install Linux Lite 2.6 on my entire HDD (500GB). I separated my hard drive like that: /root (80GB), /home (400BG), and /swap (2GB) (there is only 3 partitions and amount numbers of GB on each partition is not accurate, just relevant numbers).
And now I am going to install Windows 10 and having a dual boot to pick up which OS to boot up when I want to run Linux Lite or Windows 10. 
Can you guys guide me best ways to do it without losing any existing data at /home?
Re-seizing partitions by GParted takes long to complete - it was a painful experience. !_!
I think that I need a way fast & secured! 

Thanks.
Dat