Installing Ubuntu and Windows

[joshmoyer]

Basically over the next few months I'll be building a pc, and I want both Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu on it. I want to have both the OS's installed on a HDD/SDD by themselves. Then I want a 1TB drive for music, movies, games, and all of my programs. Firstly, how big should the first drive be, and will my programs run okay if they're installed on a separate drive from the OS? Let me know if I explained that well, I'm sorry if it's confusing.

 

[i7Baby]

You need a logical drive (separate letter) for each.

Windows - 120gb+.

Ubuntu - 5GB - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

 

[cdabc123]

install ubuntu first then load from disk and create a new partition for windows

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, you can have the two on two different drives.
How you want to choose which to boot into dictates how you install them.

If you want to choose in the BIOS every time, install each with only that particular drive connected.
If you want to choose via the GRUB menu that Ubuntu will create:
Install Windows on one drive
Leave it connected
Boot from the Ubuntu install media, and install it on the other drive
At boot time, you will be presented with a GRUB menu to choose what to boot into.


As far as running Windows applications and games from a different drive? No problem. Just choose what drive you want to install it on at install time.

Size? For Windows, 120GB SSD minimum. Ubuntu could be somewhat smaller.

 

[ronintexas]

I would suggest a 250GB SSD for this install - you will need to install Windows first - I would put it on a partition of about 70% of the drive (175GB - leaving 75GB for Ubuntu). Here are instructions: http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2014/05/install-ubuntu-1404-alongside-windows.html

Make sure to read all of the details about a dual-boot....

 

[USAFRet]

Basically over the next few months I'll be building a pc, and I want both Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu on it. I want to have both the OS's installed on a HDD/SDD by themselves. Then I want a 1TB drive for music, movies, games, and all of my programs. Firstly, how big should the first drive be, and will my programs run okay if they're installed on a separate drive from the OS? Let me know if I explained that well, I'm sorry if it's confusing.

To clarify:
Do you want the OS's each on their own drive, or each in a partition on a single physical drive?

 

[joshmoyer]

I want both OS's on the same drive in different partitions. And what was that about having to select in the bios everytime?

 

[USAFRet]

I want both OS's on the same drive in different partitions. And what was that about having to select in the bios everytime?

Since they will be on the same physical drive, the selecting in the BIOS is irrelevant.

250GB SSD or larger
Install Windows first, sizing appropriately. As above, maybe 175 for WIndows, the rest for Linux
Install Windows to the larger partition
Verify it actually works well.
Then install Ubuntu to the other partition.

At boot time, you will be presented with a GRUB menu, allowing you to choose which OS to boot into.