Linux performs well on external drives and supports dual-booting partitions.
Linux performs well on external drives and supports dual-booting partitions.
Hey there, I'm just getting started with tech. I'm a Research Assistant at my university and mostly work with Linux, but I need a new laptop. I want Windows for gaming, but I don’t want to stick to Linux all the time. Can I run Linux on an external drive and keep it running smoothly for tasks like machine learning? I understand dual-booting is possible through partitioning, but it seems a bit confusing. Also, what are the downsides to doing that? And I’m more interested in software than hardware, so any suggestions would be great! Thanks a lot!
In addition to the storage space available for each operating system, the reduction isn't very significant. It's straightforward—just open Disk Management, choose your C:/ drive, and shrink the partition. After installation of Linux distributions like Ubuntu or Mint, the installer will prompt whether you wish to run Linux alongside Windows. These newer Linux versions offer a much smoother and more intuitive setup process. Once configured, GRUB becomes the bootloader, letting you choose between continuing to Linux or restarting from Windows. Booting live Linux from a USB drive is feasible, though write operations are constrained by the USB bus speed (2.0/3.0/3.1/etc). The NAND flash in USBs is generally of lower quality compared to SSDs, which means a thumb drive might fail sooner than a dedicated drive, especially for long-term use. If your laptop has sufficient power, you could also explore virtualization as an alternative.
Sniped by Windows7ge. Generally, most distributions I've tried offer a straightforward "install next to" feature during partitioning, making it unnecessary for Windows users. It hasn't caused any issues in the situations I've encountered.
The drive already has unused space, which is acceptable. However, most users extend partitions to complete the disk, and shrinking it from within the operating system is unlikely—perhaps I'm mistaken, as I haven't tested shrinking an NTFS Windows partition from a Linux installer.
No, this will reduce the size of NTFS/Windows partitions for you.
It will reduce the partition size, but I still need to specify the exact amount. I might prefer using Disk Management while Rufus creates the bootable USB, but that’s reassuring to know the installer can handle it. I’ve always done it through Windows, though both options seem reasonable. The user gets to decide.
It uses the standard setting by default. I was thinking you could skip it for quicker processing, though your approach still works fine. No issues with your method either.