Preparation

Chapter 3 — Preparing to Install

Installing Linux isn't difficult, but a little preparation beforehand saves a lot of headaches. This chapter covers everything you should do before you boot from a USB stick: checking your hardware, understanding how your computer starts up, deciding on a dual-boot or full install, and — most importantly — backing up your data.

1. Checking Your Hardware

Most hardware made in the last ten years works well with Linux. A few categories are worth checking before you commit to an installation.

The live USB test

The single most useful hardware test is to boot from a live USB (covered in Chapter 4) before installing. If everything works in the live session — WiFi connects, sound plays, screen resolution is correct, touchpad responds — it will work after installing too. If something is broken in the live session, you know to investigate before installing.

WiFi — the most common sticking point

Most WiFi chips work out of the box. The common exceptions are some Broadcom chips (found in many older laptops) and certain Realtek adapters. If your WiFi doesn't appear in the live session:

• Connect via Ethernet cable temporarily — the installer can then download the proprietary driver.
• Ubuntu and Mint include Broadcom drivers in their "additional drivers" tool, accessible after install.
• Search for your chip model (e.g., "BCM43142 Linux") to find the specific driver package needed.

Graphics cards

• Intel integrated graphics — always works perfectly; open-source drivers are built into the kernel.
• AMD graphics — works very well; open-source AMDGPU driver is built in and performs excellently.
• NVIDIA graphics — the open-source Nouveau driver is installed by default but is limited in performance. For gaming or CUDA work, install NVIDIA's proprietary driver after installation (Ubuntu and Mint make this straightforward via the "Additional Drivers" tool).

Printers and scanners

Most modern printers from HP, Canon, Brother, and Epson work automatically or with a free driver download from the manufacturer's website. Older or cheaper printers using Windows-only drivers (GDI/host-based) will not work. Check the OpenPrinting database (openprinting.org) for your specific model.

Checking your current hardware (on Windows)

Before installing, note down your hardware details from Windows Device Manager (Win + X → Device Manager). Specifically:

• WiFi adapter name and chip model
• Graphics card(s)
• Available disk space (right-click drive in File Explorer → Properties)
• Total RAM (System → About)

2. Backing Up Your Data

Do this before anything else. Even if you're only planning a dual-boot alongside Windows, you are resizing partitions — and that carries a small but real risk of data loss if power fails or something goes wrong.

What to back up

• Documents, photos, music, videos — anything in your user folder
• Browser bookmarks — export from Chrome/Firefox to a file
• Email — if you use a desktop email client (Outlook, Thunderbird), export your mailbox
• Game saves — often stored in AppData on Windows; back up if important
• Software licence keys — for any paid Windows software you might need to reinstall

Where to back up

• External hard drive or USB stick — fastest and most reliable option
• Cloud storage — OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox; good if your internet connection is fast enough
• Second internal drive — if your machine has two drives and you're only touching the first one

3. BIOS vs UEFI — How Your Computer Starts

When you press the power button, your computer runs a small program stored on the motherboard that gets everything initialised before handing control to the operating system. There are two generations of this program, and knowing which one you have affects how you install Linux.

BIOS (Legacy)

BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is the older system, present on most computers made before 2012. It's a simple text-based interface. BIOS uses a partition scheme called MBR (Master Boot Record) which supports drives up to 2 TB and a maximum of four primary partitions.

UEFI

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is the modern replacement. Most computers sold since 2012 use UEFI. It has a graphical interface (sometimes touchscreen-capable), supports drives larger than 2 TB, and uses a partition scheme called GPT (GUID Partition Table) which supports up to 128 partitions and much larger disks.

UEFI systems have a dedicated small partition called the EFI System Partition (ESP), usually around 100–500 MB, formatted as FAT32. This is where bootloaders live. When you install Linux alongside Windows on a UEFI system, Linux adds its bootloader (GRUB) to the same ESP — both OSes then appear in the boot menu.

Which matters for Linux?

Most modern Linux installers handle both automatically. The important thing is to boot your installation media in the same mode as your existing Windows installation. If Windows is installed in UEFI mode, boot the Linux installer in UEFI mode. Mixing modes causes bootloader problems that are annoying to fix. Chapter 5 explains how to select the correct boot mode from your computer's boot menu.

4. Secure Boot

Secure Boot is a UEFI feature that checks whether the software being loaded during startup has been digitally signed by a trusted authority. It was designed to prevent malware from hijacking the boot process.

Does Linux work with Secure Boot?

The major distros — Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, Debian — all include Secure Boot support. Their bootloaders are signed with Microsoft's key (which all major PC manufacturers trust), so they will boot with Secure Boot enabled. For most users installing Ubuntu or Mint, Secure Boot does not need to be touched.

Some smaller or older distros, and some proprietary drivers (notably older NVIDIA drivers), are not Secure Boot compatible. In these cases you may need to disable Secure Boot.

How to disable Secure Boot (if needed)

• 1
  Restart your computer and press the key to enter firmware settings during startup — usually F2, F10, F12, Del, or Esc depending on manufacturer. The key is often briefly shown on screen during boot ("Press F2 to enter setup").
• 2
  Navigate to the Security or Boot tab (varies by manufacturer).
• 3
  Find Secure Boot and change it from Enabled to Disabled.
• 4
  Save and exit (usually F10). Your computer will restart.

5. Dual-Boot vs Full Install

Before you install, decide whether you want to keep Windows or replace it entirely.

A third option: a separate drive

If your computer has a second hard drive or SSD (or you add one), you can install Linux entirely on that drive and leave the Windows drive untouched. This is the safest option for dual-booting — the two operating systems live on completely separate physical drives. When installing Linux, you just select the second drive. The UEFI boot menu then lets you choose which drive to boot from.

6. Understanding Partitions

A partition is a section of a hard drive that the operating system treats as a separate storage area. Think of your drive as a plot of land, and partitions as plots divided by fences — each section is used independently. You can have multiple partitions on one physical drive.

What partitions does Linux need?

At a minimum, Linux needs just one partition to install into. In practice, most installations create two or three:

• / (root) — the main Linux partition. Everything lives here: the operating system, programs, and your files. Recommended minimum: 20 GB; 40–60 GB is comfortable.
• swap — overflow space used when RAM is full; also used for hibernation. On modern systems with plenty of RAM this is less critical. A common rule: match your RAM size, up to about 8 GB. Most installers create this automatically.
• /home — a separate partition for your personal files (documents, music, settings). Keeping /home separate means you can reinstall the OS without losing your files. Optional but recommended on systems with large drives.

On UEFI systems, there's also the EFI System Partition (ESP). If Windows already has one, Linux will use it — you don't need to create a new one.

What a dual-boot disk looks like

File systems

Windows uses NTFS for its partitions. Linux uses ext4 by default — it's fast, reliable, and has been the standard Linux file system for over a decade. Newer options like Btrfs and XFS exist and are used by some distros (Fedora uses Btrfs by default), but ext4 is perfectly fine for a first install. The installer handles all of this automatically.

7. Making Space for Linux (Dual-Boot)

If you're dual-booting alongside Windows, you need to shrink the Windows partition to free up unallocated space for Linux. The Linux installer can do this, but it's safer to do it from Windows first so Windows can update its own records cleanly.

• 1
  Defragment the Windows drive (HDDs only — skip for SSDs). Open "Defragment and Optimise Drives" from the Start menu and run it on the C: drive. This clusters files together so the partition can be shrunk more effectively.
• 2
  Disable Fast Startup in Windows. Go to Control Panel → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do → Turn off fast startup. Fast Startup leaves the Windows partition in a "hibernated" state that Linux cannot safely write to.
• 3
  Open Disk Management in Windows (Win + X → Disk Management). Right-click the C: drive and choose "Shrink Volume".
• 4
  Enter the amount to shrink in megabytes. For a comfortable Linux install: 50,000 MB (50 GB) is the minimum; 80,000–100,000 MB is better if you have the space. Click Shrink.
• 5
  The freed space will appear as Unallocated (black bar) in Disk Management. Leave it unallocated — the Linux installer will create partitions in it.

8. Pre-Install Checklist

Before you move on to creating your installation media, run through this list:

• ☐ Data backed up to external drive or cloud
• ☐ Hardware checked — WiFi adapter, graphics card, printer compatibility noted
• ☐ BIOS/UEFI mode noted (run msinfo32 in Windows if unsure)
• ☐ Secure Boot status noted (on or off; leave on if distro supports it)
• ☐ Chose dual-boot or full install
• ☐ If dual-boot: Fast Startup disabled in Windows; drive shrunk and unallocated space available
• ☐ Distro chosen (from Chapter 2)
• ☐ USB stick ready — 8 GB or larger, contents backed up (it will be wiped)
• ☐ Power supply available — plug in your laptop before installing; don't rely on battery

Chapter Summary