# Installing Ubuntu on new hard drive



## number9 (May 15, 2010)

Hi--noob questions here, so please have patience! Not sure if I'm even thinking about this correctly.

I want to install Ubuntu on a newly built PC, on a 500GB hard drive. Within Ubuntu, I'll use Wine to run MS Office 2000. I'll put my previous PC's hard drive into an external enclosure, connect to new PC via USB, and copy old .doc files to new hard drive and read/write them in Word 2000. 

Somewhere down the line, maybe in a few months, I might also want to install Windows 7, and other versions of Linux. 500GB is a lot of room to play with.

So trying to plan ahead: Before installing Ubuntu, would it be a good idea to partition the hard drive into say, four partitions of about 120GB each? I don't plan to have a bunch of huge files--most will be doc files--so I assume that 120GB is enough for the Ubuntu install.

So I'll have three other 120GB partitions, for future installs.

But I've read that if one wants to dual/triple boot Linux and Windows, it's best to install Windows first. But I can't install Win7 first; if I install it at all, it'll be in a few months.

So will my current plan to partition for Ubuntu cause problems? If I want to install Win7, will I need to re-partition? And how should I do this partitioning--will tools be on the Ubuntu installation CD? Do I need to specify particular file system types on each partition? I know Win7 is NTFS, and Linux is different. How should I deal with this?

Thanks for help, and if my thinking is fuzzy, please help me focus correctly!


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## Abdussamad (May 18, 2010)

Just create one partition for ubuntu for now and leave the balance space unallocated. Install ubuntu on that partition. 

Also there is a software suite called open office that is included or can be installed on ubuntu. You should use that instead of ms office. It'll open doc files and stuff. I don't know whether ms office will work properly in wine. Its best to use native linux applications when using linux.

When you install windows in future you'll have to do a few things:

1. Make sure windows creates a partition for itself in the free space you left and installs there. Don't let it take over the entire hard drive

2. When you install ubuntu it puts boot loader code in your hard disk's Master Boot Record or MBR. Windows will overwrite that so you won't be able to boot ubuntu. You will have to reinstall the linux boot loader which is a program called grub. This will require some reading and learning on your part. Once properly configured grub can present you with a menu at boot up which will give you the option of booting into linux or win.


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## number9 (May 15, 2010)

Thanks for info, Abdussamad.

>>"Also there is a software suite called open office that is included or can be installed on ubuntu. You should use that instead of ms office. It'll open doc files and stuff."

I'm familiar with OpenOffice--it's on the WinXP PC I'm currently using and it's included on the Ubuntu install/LiveCD. Unfortunately, OOWriter lacks a feature I need, so I'm stuck w/Word 2000.

>>"I don't know whether ms office will work properly in wine. Its best to use native linux applications when using linux."

Wish I could use OOWriter. Re Wine+Office/Word 2000: experiences vary. Wine+Word2000 can be problematic, depending on the Wine version:
http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=10
http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=67

...but CodeWeavers guarantees that Word2000 runs on CrossOver Linux [a robust commercial version of Wine] and they offer a free 30-day trial:
http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=1
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxlinux/download_trial/

Re your steps 1+2 on partitioning: This overwriting by Windows of the MBR is the reason I asked my question--if one does not first install Windows, then there's no way to avoid this, correct?

Thanks--
number9


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Consider relatively small partitions for your operating systems and a large partition for all your data. Then all the OSes can access the data, and when/if you reinstall an OS all you have to do with the data is re-link to it. If you do this make sure the data partition is formatted for Windows' use, probably NTFS.


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## Abdussamad (May 18, 2010)

number9 said:


> Thanks for info, Abdussamad.
> 
> Re your steps 1+2 on partitioning: This overwriting by Windows of the MBR is the reason I asked my question--if one does not first install Windows, then there's no way to avoid this, correct?
> 
> ...


No way to avoid that. Windows will indeed overwrite the MBR and you will have to reinstall grub.


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