Get backed up
Don’t even think about installing Linux until you’re backed up.
There’s nothing worse than attempting to upgrade or install a new operating system only for something to go wrong. You can replace that gut-clenching feeling with one of minor irritation by making sure you’ve backed up your Windows installation (or just your data) before you begin, this will enable you to easily roll back to a working state if something goes awry.
There are numerous backup tools for the job, but we’ve plumped for Re do Backup and Recovery, which works beautifully with both Windows and Linux installations – go to www.redobackup.org/download.php and follow the instructions to download the Redo Backup live CD in ISO format. Burning it to disc is simple: pop a blank disc in the drive, browse to the ISO file in Windows 10, right-click it and choose ‘Burn disc image’. If you’d rather create a bootable USB stick, make sure it’s been formatted as FAT32, then download and run the latest version of Unetbootin from http://sourceforge.net/projects/unetbootin – select the Diskimage option, click ‘…’ to select your ISO file and verify the correct USB drive has been selected before clicking ‘OK’.
Before proceeding further, you should also create a Windows recovery disc or flash drive if you don’t already have Windows 10 installation media – you may need this should you run into problems with dual-booting Ubuntu and Windows. Type ‘recovery’ into the Windows 10 Search bar and choose ‘Create a recovery drive’ to get started.
Once your recovery and RedoBackup media has been created, reboot your PC with the RedoBackup drive inserted, then tap the option at startup to select your boot device (often [F11] or [F12]). Select the drive and then choose ‘Start Redo Backup’ when prompted. If you end up back at the boot choice menu then it’s likely you’re trying to boot from a newer PC inUEFIr at her than BIOS mode( see the Roll back and Start Again box, below for help resolving this issue ). If you’ re unable to get RedoBackup working in any shape or form, try backing up using the built-in Windows disk imaging tool instead, which is part of the Backup and Restore tool.
Back up with Redo
When the main screen appears, click the ‘Backup’ button to get started. Select the drive Windows is currently installed on (typically drive 1) from the drop-down menu and click ‘Next’. All of the drive’s partitions will be selected – leave this as it is and click ‘Next’ again.
Next, you’ll be prompted to choose your backup destination – typically the largest partition on an external hard drive directly plugged into your PC, so select it from the list, making sure there’s adequate backup space available, and click ‘Next’ again. Once done, click ‘Browse’ to select or create a folder inside which your backup will be stored. Click ‘Save Here’ followed by ‘Next’. Give your backup a suitable name – the default date is a little confusing, so feel free to change it to something like ‘pre-Mint’. Finally, click ‘Next’ again, then sit back and wait while RedoBackup does the hard work of backing up your drive. This can take some time, so if you have another PC handy, why not use the time to prepare your Mint install media following the advice over the page? Once that’s done, and the backup completes successfully, you’re ready to install Linux.
If something goes wrong with your Mint installation, or you want to start again from scratch and try a different approach, then all you need to do is boot from your RedoBackup media and follow the step-by-step guide below, which should put things back exactly the way they were before you started.