install Ubuntu on your system
install Ubuntu on your system
When you choose your HDD with all your data and click - to change it and create a Linux partition, it won’t delete everything or just leave the drive in free space. It will reallocate space for the new partition, making the remaining area available as free space. This process typically doesn’t erase files but reorganizes them. If your USB drive is nearly full, using it for Ubuntu can cause performance issues and may lead to data loss if not managed properly.
Recommend starting with Windows Disk Management, reducing the volume size to create available space on the HDD. Once done, proceed to install Linux and choose the newly freed area.
I'm struggling too, otherwise I'd be stuck. That's why I'm switching to Linux and using a USB drive.
If you have an external or spare internal drive, you can back up your files using USB Linux. You might be able to reformat the drive and install Linux afterward. There could be a way to reduce the volume size in Linux through tools like GParted. I’m not very experienced with Linux.
You can move data using any USB-to-USB cable, but be aware that unmounting in GParted might remove files or risk damage.
Hdd is Windows, my system crashed and showed blue screens when launching. I posted a forum thread but haven’t received any responses. USB works with Linux but still lets me access my HDD files. I found instructions to convert USB to USB, though I wasn’t sure if they required special equipment. Would it be possible to move data from my desktop to my laptop without using USB? I only have a 4GB drive which isn’t suitable for transferring 500GB, and another 64GB drive with Linux is already installed. Shrinking the volume in Safe Mode didn’t help.
I ultimately wish to bring back Windows, plan to dual boot while keeping it as the primary OS. I must transfer my files off the machine so I can restore everything.