Windows 10: I tried to install windows 8.1 on linux from usb but install says :cannot find optical...

The windows installation require optical drive drivers

:)

 

Installing windows off of a USB stick

Step By Step from vista:
From admin cmd prompt

1. diskpart
1a. list disk
2. select disk 1 (replace 1 with your usb drive)
3. clean
4. create partition primary
5. select partition 1 (replace 1 with your usb drive)
6. active
7. format fs=fat32
8. assign
9. exit

Copy Windows Vista's DVD ROM content to the Flash Drive

xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\ (d being your vista cd and e being your usb stick)

And that's it, boot off your usb disk

 

Planning on installing Linux (Ubuntu?) for the first time

I have a very old laptop which slow as hell, so I want to install Linux on it and give it to my mum (she literally just browses the internet)

I've never used Linux before, but I've read you can boot linux and run it from a USB stick; I want to do this first before installing it to the hard drive to see what it's like

I've tried this , but it says "an error occured while executing syslinux. Your USB drive won't be bootable" *Frown

Also on the drop down list provided in the install app, which version of Ubuntu should I install? 'cos there's loadsss

 

How to go about building a tri-boot system?

i dual boot all the time, and going in to tri boot is easy.

step 1) partition the drive in to 3 partitions ( leaving 1 empty for the linux installer. )
step 2) install windows on the first 2 partitions.
step 3) install linux, and let it auto partition the remaining space. ( i recommend at least 30gb of space for linux, because it will make things a lot easier. )

step 4) enjoy.