Problems with Zorin 9

Dear community,

this is my first post so please be nice to me at least this time around.
As the topic implies I am experiencing issues when I want to:

1. Install Zorin OS 9 Core 32-bit on a former Win XP Notebook that currently has no OS at all
2. Try/install Zorin OS 9 Core 64-bit on a computer running Windows 8.1 when setup and now running Win 10

Now to problem number one:
The problem here is that the installer runs smooth up to the point where either additional packages are removed or it is running dpkg afterwards. I fixed the first problem by disconnecting my ethernet cable after Zorin downloaded all the data from the internet but then again the installer aborts the installation when executing dpkg afterwards. The issue can't be related to my notebook's spec because I checked them beforehand and a dualboot install previously worked just fine. The Live Usb also can not be a cause because I triple checked checksums and tested on multiple sticks. I would be really greatful if someone could help me out on this one because that is the major problem.

Problem two is not as important except for when Win 10 is getting on my nerves again :
This problem shows itself after being able to choose between trying from live Usb or installing Zorin. The Screen simplay turns grey and I need to enter BIOS to boot back to Windows again. I managed to get booting to work at least but I guess my options are still not correct so you might be able to easily solve this.
My options in BIOS are as follows: fastboot set to disabled, boot order set to the live media on position one, secure boot enabled (turned off does not help though) and quiet boot enabled.
I also read about disabling something concerning intel but I'm not sure what it was or if it would be of use.
PC specs are:
Intel i5-4460 @ 3.2 GHz
4 gigs of RAM atm
Nvidia GeForce GTX 750

As I said any help on either topic will be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards Alex aka curtisy

1. OK, WinXP notebook does not give enough information - suspect you may need to install Zorin 9 Lite on that rig.

2. OK, I take it that Win 10 has the following partition set up:



First off, I don't suffer from having a Mobo with UEFI BIOS but give this a shot:

A. Run 'chkdsk' then 'defrag' your 'C' Drive in Win10

B. After above, find 'Computer' right-click and select 'Manage'

C. Select Disk Management, then select 'C:/' partition, right-click and select 'shrink volume' - let windows do this, don't try doing anything yourself!

D. Reboot the machine after shrinking C:\ drive and run 'chkdsk' and 'defrag' once more.

E. Download NeoSmart Technologies EasyBCD Bootloader from Softpedia:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS- ... yBCD.shtml

F. Try to boot in legacy mode with your Zorin disk and in 'live' mode launch 'GParted' (Gnome Partition Editor).

G. In the free space, create an 'Extended Partition' and split it up as follows:

i. 512 Mb /boot disk formatted to 'ext4'
ii. 30720 Mib '/' (root) partition to 'ext4'
iii. At END of partition create 4096 'swap area'
iv. Whatever is left in-between, format as '/home' to 'ext4' file system.

Now see if you can install to the '/' partition - you will be asked to reformat (by default it will state 'do not use' - change this to 'format' as stated above.

With regards to the Bootloader choice - DON'T choose 'sda' - the mbr - inistead, point to the '/boot' partition of 512 Mb.

After install, revert back to UEFI and boot into Wndows 10.

H. Install Easy BCD - it will automatically backup your existing Windows MBR.

I. Edit the Easy BCD bootloader by adding [GNU/]Linux partition - ensure GRUB2 is selected as mbr type for GNU/Linux.

J. Select the '/' partition to boot to in Linux - easily identifiable from the size of 30 Gb as you won't have any other partition of that size.

Save the new bootloader and either provide a timed choice or no timed choice with Win10 as the default boot OS so that you have to use up or down arrow to boot into Zorin - you will need to edit the bootloader to stat Zorin - by default it is set to 'NeoSmart'.

More information here:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6500

https://vimeo.com/110085401

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9413&p=46368&hilit=Matthew+Moore#p46368

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/tired-of-w ... ws-ubuntu/

Hey Swarfendor437,

thanks for the quick reply will try the above and report back how it worked out.
One question about the lite version of Zorin OS 9, is there a way to install the Win XP or 7 theme afterwards, because it doesn't come with those preinstalled sadly? Or are they included in the Lite build of Zorin 10?

No, I'm afraid not - you could try installing Cinammon DE but not sure if it is compatible with Lubuntu based distributions like Zorin.