Windows 10: dual-boot Linux

I have a Lenovo laptop with Windows 10 (upgraded from Windows 8.1), and I'm considering setting it up to dual-boot Linux. I just had a look at the HD with Disk Management, and Lenovo has created 6 partitions (C, D, and 4 hidden partitions). Can I get further help here, or is this a situation where I need to go to Lenovo for advice?

:)

 

USB with linux plugged in causes BSOD on WIndows 10

Thats not the best way to dual boot Windows 10 and Linux. Linux should be installed a local drive or partition. Learn more:

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/dual-boot-wind...

 

Reinstalling of windows 10

See the following how to dual boot Windows and Linux, before or after:

How to Dual Boot Windows 10 and Linux Starting with Windows or Linux

 

Do you need direct hardware access? If not and you just want to run Linux, you can always virtualize it. It's much simpler than worrying about bootloaders.

 

Use Macrium Reflect, Acronis or any other cloning application to make a full backup of your Windows system. Then you don't need the recovery partitions. You can just delete them and make room for Linux. Linux will install Grub to dual-boot, but you can also add a Linux entry in Windows Boot Loader using EasyBCD if you prefer.

 

Actually, I don't know whether I need direct hardware access. The main reason I'm contemplating Linux is to try to get Civilization: Call to Power to work again. I'll probably wait until I've either succeeded or failed to look into other things to use Linux for, assuming that I decide to go through with adding Linux.

The C partition has about 62GB occupied, and I don't have anything big enough to back that up on, although I did use Lenovo's OneKeyRecovery to backup Windows 10's original state (44GB). Anyway, the D partition (25GB) is the largest of the "extra" partitions, so, if the stuff Lenovo put there is not actually being used by anything, that's the most likely candidate for making a Linux partition, unless there's a reason not to.

 

To play a game you will need the full power of your graphics card. The Virtual Machine cannot provide that, go for the dual-boot. If there are official Linux drivers from manufacturer for your graphics card, install them to get full acceleration, don't rely on third-party drivers.

 

Considering how old the game is, just getting the game to run will be more of an issue than acceleration.*Huh Regardless of that I would prefer official Linux drivers whenever possible. I guess the next step will be to find out from Lenovo whether there are any other issues I need to be aware of.

 

Don't expect Lenovo provide Linux drivers on their site, unless your model comes with Linux installed. Try directly at manufacturers (Intel etc). Use Aida64 in Windows to see exactly what devices you have so you know what to look for. In Linux you can use Hardware Info or other tools.

Can't you just find and install the Windows version of the game? It should be abandonware (programmers have no claims) by now and so legal to download and install it. No sure if it works in Windows 10 though, but you could try. Don't forget to install latest DirectX 9.0c runtime as old games look for DirectX 9 files not available in Windows Vista and later.

EDIT: As I thought, it is abandonware. Download the Windows version from here. Run the setup in Windows XP compatibility mode with administrator privileges to maximize chances to work in Windows 10. After the installation, right-click on the shortcut and set compatibility to Windows XP and check the box to Run as Administrator, just in case. I would select the option to apply the settings to all users, rather than current user to be extra sure.

 

Right now, the project is still in the initial investigation/looking-for-a-better-reason-than-playing-an-old-game phase.*Smile

 

For those of you who've been on the edges of your seats wondering (The Internet being what it is, there must be someone who fits that category.), I discovered that creating a VM is pretty easy nowadays, and I've set up a VM running Ubuntu.

 

I've been running Ubuntu for a while now in that setup. Easy to do and easy to manage.

 

In Windows 10 Pro 64-bit you can enable Hyper-V and create the virtual machine. In other versions you can use VMWare Player which is free. Not sure if it allow you to create a new virtual machine though. You may have to download the trial version of VMWare Workstation. There are other free applications such as Oracle's VirtualBox, but VMWare has the most features and a rather good 3D support, while others can be 2D only (usually compatible to very old S3 Trio cards). I would install the trial version of VMWare Workstation to create the virtual machine, and then use the free VMWare Player to run it without having to buy the full application. Creating an Ubuntu virtual machine in VMWare is very easy. You just browse to the ISO, the Ubuntu version is recognized automatically and the virtual machine is configured as appropriate. Of course you can manually adjust the size of RAM and virtual hard disk, but default settings should be OK. All you have to do is to install VMWare tools after Ubuntu setup is complete. This is the trickiest part as it involves using the Terminal. No sweat! Google it and you'll find step-by-step guide.

 

VMware which I downloaded a few days ago is the only one of those options I knew about. I think your info is a little outdated, unless I misunderstood you. VMware Workstation Player 12.0 is free and lets you create new VMs. I got it so that I could check new software for viruses, then I remembered about this thread, and I made a Ubuntu VM. I forgot to install VMware Tools in the Ubuntu one though. Thanks for reminding me.

 

I just wasn't sure if you can create a virtual machine in VMWare player or you only run it.