CTO: 2x OS
Why not both?
There are nerds in this world, and I am proud to be among them. One of them, Bhaanu Kaul, a fan of If Loops on Facebook (good for him), once gave me advice on how to install two functioning operating systems on one computer.
Okay, how many of you have heard of Linux? How many of you have heard of Ubuntu? Well, they are basically the same to you non-nerds, but speaking in OS’s (Operating Systems), Ubuntu is the one you’re looking for.
Now I know that you’re thinking –
You: Hey, If Loops, even if I get this thing called Ubuntu, what the hell am I going to use it for?
Me: Well, reader, lucky for you, there is already a website dedicated to your question. It is: http://www.lugod.org/presentations/ca4h/used_for.html
Well, that was convenient, wasn’t it? Okay, now, I am going to explain how to actually get the operating system on your computer.
1. First download the ISO file from their website. Then you might run into the problem of whether you want 32 or 64 bit. A site that helped me with that problem was: this
2. Get a program that supports burning a .iso file onto a DVD. I used RoxioBurn, which came with Windows 7. My friend used ImgBurn.
3. You need to find a blank DVD, not a CD (because I don’t know how that will turn out for you, but if you want to try it, go ahead). I used a SONY DVD+RW 120 min/ 4.7GB.
4. Use the CD Burning program to burn the .iso file onto the blank DVD.
5. When the burning is complete, the program should eject the disk for you. If it doesn’t, do this manually, and then reinsert the disk.
6. Shut down your computer.
7. Start your computer up again.
8. As soon as the setup or start up screen comes up, press the key you use to get into BIOS (for help, click here) (for people with ASUS laptops, press F2, when your screen shows ASUS in print at the beginning, and for people who are pressing the key to late, just start pressing the key repeatedly as soon as your computer starts.)
9. If you have Windows 7, or not, look for a tab that says Boot or Boot Setting. Go to it.
10. Go to Boot Priority, or something similar to that, and use the “+” or “-” keys to set “DVD/C” to first priority.
11. Press F10, or whatever key your computer requires for you to save your current settings.
12. Restart, and the .iso file should boot Ubuntu from the CD.
13. Everything else should be easy. One thing though, when it gives you the option of “Where would you like to put Ubuntu?” Say install it side by side to the other OS’s on your computer. And don’t make the mistake I made by keeping my external hard drive (1 TB) in the computer. What happens, is that the installation software for Ubuntu recognized my external hard drive as my computer because it was larger than my actual computer. So for it installed Ubuntu on my external hard drive a few times, and now I cannot access 649 GB of memory, even though I unpartitioned the hard drive. All that is, is unallocated space. There should be a bar, right after the “Manually partition space” option, that lets you slide it around, and decide how much memory Ubuntu gets to keep in your hard drive.
14. After it is installed, restart your computer, and access the BIOS, once more. Set your “Hard Drive” to first priority in the boot setting.
15. Save your new settings.
16. Restart.
17. Use the up and down arrow keys to choose which OS you want to use. Now you have two OS’s!
– If Loops
If Loops 
Well, ubuntu is great, except if you have an old computer. Watch out for graphics cards problems. I am now stuck with an OS on my computer that does not boot. Thankfully I dualbooted xp.
While linux can be a great blessing, it can also be a real pain. Make sure to dual boot for those days when you do not want to relearn how to do everything.
Wow, that sucks. Having an inoperable OS on your computer is a pain in the ass, but yeah, I guess your dual booting saved you. Thankfully, I have a pretty new ASUS laptop with Windows 7, and I am pretty sure it has a good graphics card (I haven’t checked that part yet), so I might stay problem free on those terms. However, I have a problem with my IOMEGA external hard drive (1 Terabyte). I was an idiot and accidentally installed Ubuntu on it the first two times, which created two partitions in my hard drive. So then I deleted the partition of 649 GBs, and now it is simply unallocated space (meaning I can’t use it). I have tried completely reformatting it, using both: NTFS and exFAT, and still nothing. Don’t worry, I bought a portable external 500 GB hard drive to replace it. But it would be appreciated if anyone could tell me, how to get the lost 649 GBs to become usable once more.