Backing up to wipe hdd for dual-boot installation...

[johnnyorion]

So, having been so impressed with Ubuntu Netbook Remix (couldn't stand
the UNR Launcher though and quickly uninstalled that in favor of a
normal desktop with wallpaper) I've decided to turn my main system(an
AMD Quad-core/500GB HDD/4GB RAM/Vista Home Premium) into a dual-boot
system. I'm currently backing up mainly just my main user folders
(with my desktop, music, pictures, videos, downloads, etc.) onto my
1TB external harddrive. I'm not too concerned about the programs.
There aren't even too many program settings I'm really concerned about
however, that being said:

Does anyone have any advice on any information that I should also
backup before wiping my Vista drive to reinstall Vista to dual-boot
with Ubuntu Studio (keep in mind, I want to kind of start over with
Vista anyway instead of trying to clean up the crap that's collected
from installs/uninstalls, downloads and unused programs, etc)...

I'm thinking of stuff like Windows Live Mail's db of my email and
settings, Firefox extensions, bookmarks, settings, and other stuff
like that so that I might avoid losing stuff and also get set back up
more quickly and completely...

thanks...
l8r,
Chris

[Kyle Hutson]

1) Get a USB drive (flash, hard drive, doesn't matter as long as it's
big enough)
2) Go find the "Windows Easy Transfer" (formerly know as the "File and
Settings Transfer Wizard") and run it
3) Follow the prompts, saving the data to your USB drive.
4) DBAN, FDISK, or whatever else you like to the drive.

> Does anyone have any advice on any information that I should also
> backup before wiping my Vista drive

> [...]

[Russell Schmidt]

I know you said you wanted to start over with Vista, but I thought I'd
chime in and let you know it's really not necessary to remove Windows
when installing Ubuntu. If you pop in the Ubuntu installer and hammer
the next button enough times, the installer will automatically shrink
your Windows partition, create its own, and you'll end up with a
dual-boot system. Of course it's always a good idea to back up your
data and there is a small chance the partitioner will nuke your
Windows partition, though I've always had good luck. Doing a disc
cleanup/defrag will help, and of course you have to make sure you have
enough space free.

Another note - if you've got your heart set on wiping Vista, I
recommend you install Windows first and then Ubuntu. If you do it in
that order Ubuntu will automagically set up your bootloader so you can
select to boot into Vista or Ubuntu when you start up your computer.
If you do it Ubuntu first you'll have to remember to leave space for
your Windows partition, and you'll have to do some manual editing to
get GRUB re-installed and seeing both operating systems.

~ Russell Schmidt

[Chris Pemberton]

With 4 cores and all that RAM, just run Windows within VirtualBox.

[Jeffrey Watts]

I don't think I'll ever dual boot again (except perhaps when in a managed software environment at a business where I need to hide my Linux install).

In my opinion, with hardware like you have, you ought to just use virtualization.  Will this be primarily a Windows box?  Then I'd recommend downloading VirtualBox from virtualbox.org and running Ubuntu virtualized.  Then you can use both OSes at the same time.  If you'd rather it be primarily a Linux box, you can use VirtualBox or KVM/Qemu.

Right now on my Macbook Pro I have RHEL5.3, OpenSolaris, and Solaris 10 instances.  Whenever I need one of them I simply unpause them (you can save the instance's current state and start where you left off).  I find it to be very productive, CPU and graphics performance is great, the only thing that's a bit weak is disk, but that's rarely an issue for desktop use.  That might be able to be mitigated through tuning, I've never bothered to look though as it's never been that big of a problem.

Jeffrey.

On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 9:56 AM, Russell Schmidt <rexst...@gmail.com> wrote:

I know you said you wanted to start over with Vista, but I thought I'd
chime in and let you know it's really not necessary to remove Windows
when installing Ubuntu. If you pop in the Ubuntu installer and hammer
the next button enough times, the installer will automatically shrink
your Windows partition, create its own, and you'll end up with a
dual-boot system. Of course it's always a good idea to back up your
data and there is a small chance the partitioner will nuke your
Windows partition, though I've always had good luck. Doing a disc
cleanup/defrag will help, and of course you have to make sure you have
enough space free.

Another note - if you've got your heart set on wiping Vista, I
recommend you install Windows first and then Ubuntu. If you do it in
that order Ubuntu will automagically set up your bootloader so you can
select to boot into Vista or Ubuntu when you start up your computer.
If you do it Ubuntu first you'll have to remember to leave space for
your Windows partition, and you'll have to do some manual editing to
get GRUB re-installed and seeing both operating systems.

 ~ Russell Schmidt

--

"He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." -- Thomas Paine

[Kit Peters]

So do people on the list like VirtualBox over QEMU/KVM?  If so, why?

KP

--
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[Rezty Felty]

I use both.
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SysAdmin
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[Jeffrey Watts]

Well, my laptop is where I want to run virtualized instances and it's running MacOS.  VB is easy, free, and open source.

If I were running virtualized instances on Linux I'd probably look at KVM/Qemu.

Jeffrey.

On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 2:24 PM, Kit Peters <pope...@gmail.com> wrote:

So do people on the list like VirtualBox over QEMU/KVM?  If so, why?