Advice Request Linux (Zorin OS) installation issue

[anirbandutta01]

I'm facing a problem, after download & burn Zorin OS to a flash drive using Etcher or Rufus (MBR partition system) when try to install alongside Windows there's no install alongside Windows option. I've 2 separate drive, one 128 GB SSD (Windows 10 installed) & one 500 GD HDD. After entering USB flash drive & boot from it, it showing no OS found then only 2 option either erase or something else.
I've tested it on another system ( no SSD only 500 GB HDD 2 partition Windows 10 installed MBR file system ) but same result there's no install alongside Windows option found. What's the problem? Should I try Linux Mint? When formatting & flashing Linux, what file system should I select with my 8GB pendrive? Fat32 or NTFS? Could you please give me any solution to get rid of it??? I want to make my system dual boot, SSD with Windows 10 already, HDD with Linux I want. Thanks in advance

 

[bellgamin]

I ran a "live" free version of Linux for a while. I liked it so much that I bought the Pro version ($39). I let Zorin take over my entire laptop. However, I remember that the free version and the Pro version both HAVE the option easily to set up the computer for dual boot.

Zorin's website provides clear instructions for setting up a dual boot between Windows & Zorin. Find in HERE. There is also a VERY friendly & helpful forum -- it's right THERE.

Aloha to you from Hawaii!

 

[anirbandutta01]

Should I try with Linux Mint ?

 

[bellgamin]

Should I try with Linux Mint ?

Sure! I did a live trial of Mint a while back & it had a very clear process for creating a dual-boot.

BTW, for ANY Distro that you are considering, I suggest you use it a good bit in Live mode before making your decision to install it. I found that trying out various Linux Distros was just about the most fun I ever had while I was fully clothed.

 

[Captain Holly]

@anirbandutta01 ...I feel your pain. I started my Linux experiment last week and had a lot of trouble just burning the flash drive. Rufus just will not work on either of my laptops. One is W10 the other is W11 both on 22H2 update. I finally got the flash drive done with the UUI tool and ran Mint Cinnamon from it. I tested Mint, thought it was good so I installed it on my W10 laptop. I liked some parts of it but I got kind of leery of it when I had to run 5 different commands just to add my bluetooth headphones and then I never could get any of the native music players to work. I thought about it a while and went back to Windows. I had to reinstall W10 because the MBR had the Linux boot on it and I never could remove it.

I still would like to learn Linux. I know there are forums, tutorials and videos online to help me learn it if I can put in the time. The last few days I have been thinking more and more about Windows 12, chatgpt and all the other changes that are coming soon in Windows. MS is adding a chat gpt to the Edge browser soon, if I am remembering that right. I don't want anything to do with chatgpt or AI or any of that nonsense. These things are making Linux look better to me and I wanted to try a different distro so I downloaded and ran Ubuntu yesterday. I ran it off the flash drive as a test and did not like it. I like Mint much better. The Mint community forum seems better too.

So now I am in the process of downloading Mint again and will get it installed and work on learning it. I also found that I can not use either of the two flash drives I did the first Mint and the Ubuntu downloads on. They both say they are write protected and I tried everything I could find to fix them, no joy. They were both old flash drives that I already had on hand anyway. I have another one ready to go for my second go-around here with Mint.

It probably will not be as easy as I thought but I am going to do my best to be patient with myself and take the time to learn Linux. With everything MS is up to now I can definitely see myself breaking away from MS in the not too distant future.

C.H.

 

[anirbandutta01]

@anirbandutta01 ...I feel your pain. I started my Linux experiment last week and had a lot of trouble just burning the flash drive. Rufus just will not work on either of my laptops. One is W10 the other is W11 both on 22H2 update. I finally got the flash drive done with the UUI tool and ran Mint Cinnamon from it. I tested Mint, thought it was good so I installed it on my W10 laptop. I liked some parts of it but I got kind of leery of it when I had to run 5 different commands just to add my bluetooth headphones and then I never could get any of the native music players to work. I thought about it a while and went back to Windows. I had to reinstall W10 because the MBR had the Linux boot on it and I never could remove it.

I still would like to learn Linux. I know there are forums, tutorials and videos online to help me learn it if I can put in the time. The last few days I have been thinking more and more about Windows 12, chatgpt and all the other changes that are coming soon in Windows. MS is adding a chat gpt to the Edge browser soon, if I am remembering that right. I don't want anything to do with chatgpt or AI or any of that nonsense. These things are making Linux look better to me and I wanted to try a different distro so I downloaded and ran Ubuntu yesterday. I ran it off the flash drive as a test and did not like it. I like Mint much better. The Mint community forum seems better too.

So now I am in the process of downloading Mint again and will get it installed and work on learning it. I also found that I can not use either of the two flash drives I did the first Mint and the Ubuntu downloads on. They both say they are write protected and I tried everything I could find to fix them, no joy. They were both old flash drives that I already had on hand anyway. I have another one ready to go for my second go-around here with Mint.

It probably will not be as easy as I thought but I am going to do my best to be patient with myself and take the time to learn Linux. With everything MS is up to now I can definitely see myself breaking away from MS in the not too distant future.

C.H.

Actually I want to try Windows 11 but my current configuration won't support it

Computer specs
8 GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB HDD, 128GB SSD (installed Windows 10 Pro X64 22H2 on SSD) Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2100 CPU @ 3.10GHz 3.09 GHz

So looking for Linux dual boot with Windows.

 

[Bot]

I'm facing a problem, after download & burn Zorin OS to a flash drive using Etcher or Rufus (MBR partition system) when try to install alongside Windows there's no install alongside Windows option. I've 2 separate drive, one 128 GB SSD (Windows 10 installed) & one 500 GD HDD. After entering USB flash drive & boot from it, it showing no OS found then only 2 option either erase or something else.
I've tested it on another system ( no SSD only 500 GB HDD 2 partition Windows 10 installed MBR file system ) but same result there's no install alongside Windows option found. What's the problem? Should I try Linux Mint? When formatting & flashing Linux, what file system should I select with my 8GB pendrive? Fat32 or NTFS? Could you please give me any solution to get rid of it??? I want to make my system dual boot, SSD with Windows 10 already, HDD with Linux I want. Thanks in advance

Hi there! It sounds like you're having trouble installing Zorin OS alongside Windows. Here are a few things you could try:

1. Check your BIOS settings: Make sure that your computer is set up to boot from the USB drive before booting from the hard drive. You may need to change the boot order in the BIOS settings.

2. Use Linux Mint: If Zorin OS isn't working for you, you could try installing Linux Mint instead. It's another beginner-friendly distribution that might work better with your hardware.

3. Select "Something Else" during installation: When you get to the installation screen that asks you where you want to install Linux, select "Something Else" instead of "Install alongside Windows." This will allow you to manually partition your hard drives and install Linux alongside Windows.

4. Format your USB drive as FAT32: When you're formatting your USB drive to create a bootable Linux installer, you should use the FAT32 file system. This is the most compatible file system for bootable USB drives and should work with most Linux distributions.

I hope these suggestions help you get Zorin OS installed alongside Windows successfully!