Dual boot linux Mint with Windows 8:

Dual boot linux Mint with Windows 8:

Before we proceed to see the procedure to dual boot Linux Mint 16 with Windows, let me give you some details. First, I had Windows 7 installed with 3 partitions on it. Later I installed Linux on it in dual boot mode. I changed the partition and kept around 100 GB of total 320 GB for Linux installation. In the course of time, I upgraded to Windows 8 and subsequently to Windows 8.1. I never had to face the problem of Windows 8′s secure boot thingy. It is just to clarify that this process does not show you how to deal with UEFI.

If your computer came with Windows 8 pre-installed, the process to install Linux in dual boot is slightly different. For Windows 8 pre-installed system with UEFI, follow this tutorial which is written to dual boot Ubuntu with Windows 8 UEFI. Though written for Ubuntu, it is applicable for Linux Mint as well.

Install Linux Mint 17 & 16 in dual boot with Windows 8:

Follow the steps below to install Linux Mint in dual boot with Windows:

Step 1: Create a live USB or disk

Download and create a live USB or DVD. If you are using Windows, you can use a live usb creator tool. In Ubuntu, you can use Startup Disk Creator (if it works). If you need more hints, here is a screenshot tutorial on how to create a live USB for Linux.

Step 2: Boot in to live USB

Plug the live USB or disk in to the computer and restart the computer. While booting the computer press F10 or F12 function key (defers from computer to computer) to go to the boot menu. Now, choose the option to boot from USB or Removable Media.

Step 3: Start the installation

It takes some time to boot from the live USB or disk. Have some patience. Once it boots in to live disk, you’ll be provided to Try Linux Mint or Install Linux Mint. Even if you choose to try it, you can find the install option on the desktop:

In next few screens, you’ll be asked to choose the language of the operating system. It will then do some checks on available space, battery and Internet connection.

Step 4: Prepare the partition

This is the most important part of the whole installation. Where to install Linux Mint? As mentioned before, I prefer separate partitions for Windows and Linux. Windows is already installed here, we’ll prepare a new partition for Linux Mint. In the Installation Type window, choose Something Else:

Now, I have 3 NTFS and some ext4 partitions. If you don’t have ext4 partition, don’t worry, we don’t need that. As you can see in the picture below, one of the NTFS partition consists of Windows installation. This should be untouched if you want to keep your Windows installation safe.

I hope you have more than one NTFS (or FAT 32) partitions (i.e. Drives in Windows term) on your hard disk, with one of them consisting of Windows installation (usually C drive). What you need to do here is to delete a NTFS or existing ext4 partition and create some free space. This will delete all the data in that partition and this is why I asked you to verify if you have Windows installed in a different partition.

Click on the desired partition and press the - to delete the partition.

Step 5: Create root, swap and home

Once you created free space on your hard drive, its time to install Linux Mint on it. Now, there are several ways to do it. But here, I’ll show you my favorite way and that is to have a Root, a Swap and a Home.

Create a root partition first. Choose the free space available and click on +.

Here, choose the size of root (10 GB is enough but I chose to have 20 here), choose ext4 file system, and mount point as / (i.e. root):

Now, next is to create swap partition. It is advised by many that Swap should be double of your RAM. You can choose the swap size accordingly.

The next step is to create Home. Try to allocate the maximum size to Home because this is where you’ll be downloading and keeping the files.

Once you have created Root, Swap and Home partitions, click on Install Now button.

Step 6: Follow the trivial instructions

Technically, you have crossed the main hurdle if you react till this point successfully. Now you will be taken through a number of screens to select options like keyboard layout, login credentials etc. You don’t need to be a genius to figure out what to do here afterwards. I have attached screenshots for reference purpose here.

Once the installation is over, you will be presented with the option to keep trying live version or to restart the system.

And that would be it. On next boot, you will see the option of Linux Mint on the grub screen. And thus you can enjoy the beautiful and beginner friendly Linux distribution. I hope you found this guide to Linux Mint 16 dual boot with Windows helpful. If you have questions, suggestions or a word of thanks, feel free to drop a comment. Stay tuned for more.