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Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.

‎01-29-2017 06:59 PM

HP Recommended
Product: 250 G4 Notebook (Laptop)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

This computer came with WIn7 and was upgraded to Win10. I would like to make it a dualboot (with Windows as the MBR) with Ubuntu. However, My BIOS is "Legacy" and I already have 4 partitions (the unused space is not usable by Linux). Can this laptop's BIOS be upgraded to UEFI without reinstalling Windows (I want to preserve all my applications and settings in WIndows). If so, can you point me to instructions in detail? If not, recommendations for any alternatives, such as what to do (& how) with the 3 partitions other than WIndows (C: is the main WIndows partition of course; 😧 is Recovery; I have no idea what the other two partitions are since they do not appear in Explorer and E: is the DVD).

3 REPLIES 3

‎01-30-2017 05:17 AM

HP Recommended

Windows always adds more partitions than just the one the OS is installed in.  Windows 10 adds more than Windows 7 had.  Then an upgrade is different than a clean install.  If the 😧 is HP Recovery, then that is no longer needed and in most cases will not work, anyways.  IMHO, trying to change the BIOS will not help and may cause other problems.

Have you actually tried to install Linux?  Most dual boot install routines are Windows aware, but do research on the Linux flavor you are interested in.  They have user forums and guides for most.


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‎01-30-2017 04:38 PM

HP Recommended

Duh! I honestly had not even given a thought to the Recovery partition being useless at this point. No idea what the other partitions are but I can certainly increase 😧 and overwrite it (after making a Windows 10 recovery DVD of course. A perfect solution. Thank you!

 

P.S. I have played with linux before, several flavors of Ubuntu including Mint, Kubuntu and others. Mostly on an old Dell xp machine. Improved performance for a while, but the old Dell ain't what she used to be and I retired her. Should run better on the laptop. 

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‎01-30-2017 06:48 PM

HP Recommended

Yes.  Linux used to run very well on older hardware.  I did/do not use it very much but do enjoy being to do some things when Windows gets stubborn and will not let me do what I want.

Glad to help out.  Let us know how things work for you, as  I am sure there are other users that have considered doing the same thing as what you are asking about.


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