[MOVED] Topic: Zorin 7.1 & Windows 7 on 2 different HDDs

Okay so I have a custom built (I did it myself) Dell Studio 17 Laptop.

In it I have 2 different HDDs for now and will be installing a 3rd at a later time.

The first HDD is a Seagate 1tb Hybrid SSD/HDD with an 8GB SSD built on. I currently have Windows 7 installed on this drive.

The 2nd HDD is a HGST 7200 RPM 1TB HDD.

Unfortunately the boot loader in this laptop doesn't let me select which HDD I want to boot from without changing the boot order in the bios for the HDD group every time.

What I want to do is install Zorin 7.1 to the HGST and not have it merge in with my Windows 7 hard drive.

I was thinking I could set it to boot the HGST every time and get the Zorin boot menu to let me choose what OS to boot.

Problem is if I choose to install it along side Windows 7 I get no options for the drive to install it to. I tried to explore the HGST from inside Zorin and it wasn't even mountable.

If I choose "Something else" I am not familiar enough with partitioning Linux at all to make sure I have the correct swap drive/size or for that matter even to set it up correctly at all. I know in Windows the swap file is based on RAM. If it matters this system has 8GB DDR3 and 1GB Video ram.

So the question is, how do I get Zorin 7.1 on the HGST and get it to give me to choice of what to boot every time.

I want each OS to have a whole drive to itself. Later when I install the 3rd drive I plan to use a universally readable file system and use it as a drive to share files between the two operating systems.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. If it matters I'm using Zorin 7.1 Ultimate 64-bit and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Hi, I think (NO GUARANTEES) is that your best way forward is to remove the hard drive in the laptop, attach the external drive and boot off the DVD to install Zorin - choose the 'something else' method at point of install - create a '/' active partition for root formatted to 'ext4', make it primary, then create an extended partition of your choice in respect of size and AT THE END of this create your 'linux swap' which should match your RAM - but no less than 4 Gb. The space before should be formatted to '/home' for your data and WINE apps. I would then place GRUB on the HSGT drive. After you have done this, change the boot order in BIOS so that the HGST is the first drive to boot, then when the bootloader starts, boot into Zorin, be sure you are connected to the internet and update by opening a terminal and enter:

Code:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist upgrade

Hopefully this should update your GRUB at the same time and pick up your Windows 7 install. Keep us posted.

Hi,

when you install Zorin, you must make sure that the bootloader (GRUB) is placed on the first (Master) HDD which is designated as "dev/sda" like you see in this pic where it says "Device for bootloader installation":



If you install it to anything else like the 2nd HDD "dev/sdb", you will have problems with the boot order!.

Regards Wolfman

Hi Wolfman, Can't speak on external drives but have had no such issue placing GRUB on a different drive to the one installed (until you come to remove OS's! ). Prior to my changed setup I had GRUB on my Windows 7 Drive for Zorin on the next drive down - and have done similar stuff when adding additional GNU/Linux OS's.

Hi Swarf,

see this section on the page below: "Never choose any other partition! (this may break the boot of your other systems, see Bug #1049549)."

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2/Installing

Regards Wolfman