How to download my Win10 to an SSD to run it from there?

Beginners
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I’m really a noob. But I have been reading through all the messages and haven’t found anyone addressing this issue. Unless I missed it, but I tried!

I have an HP Pavilion with Intel(R) Core™ i5-6200U CPU @ 2.30GHz 2.40 GHz
12 GB RAM. It is not happy with Win10 (bogs down, runs at 100% disk often) and I want to be free of Billy G’s stuff in the worst way. But I still need Win* for work.

I’ve searched and I’m learning. But… I need some help getting over this hump. I have an external 516GB SSD all ready to plug in, but I’m missing something. I want to know if I can have both Win* and LM on my SSD so I can switch between them? I know Ventoy allows me to load several OS or distros and run whichever one I want to from it. Can my data files also be used there to access from whichever OS I’m using? That’s really the key thing for me. I’ve used a live boot and I love Linux Mint, but where does it save stuff when I have to shut it down to open up Win* again?

Also, how can I download Win* from my laptop to my SSD so I can have it there to run it from.

I know VM is the best option, but I’m uncertain how to accomplish that. Baby steps!

1 Like
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This from 11 years ago:

This from 5 years ago:

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=287353

For Win10 - Curious as to why you want to run Linux from the SSD? Anywho - create two partitions on the SSD. Clone your current hard drive to one of the partitions on the SSD and then install Mint on the other partition.

Set up the BIOS to boot from USB.

Don’t quote me but I think the performance of both OSes will be degraded by the USB connection.

When I made my dash for “freedom” I swapped out my DVD/CD drive for an adapter that allowed me to put my laptops original 2.5" internal 500GB drive with Win7 on it into the adapter. I then connected a new 2.5" 2TB drive where the original drive had been and installed Ubuntu on it.

Now when I boot up I have the choice between Linux or Windoze.

Did not take long to find Linux versions of everything I used to do with Gate’s crap.

Linux can read Windoze file formats but Windoze cannot read ext4 for example. So I can use Linux to read the files I created using Win7 but if I boot into Win7 I cannot access my Linux created files because my drive is formatted for ext4.

Had not booted into Win7 for over two years until a few weeks ago when I had to “repair” an NTFS formatted external USB drive that my Ubuntu OS was generating an error trying to read. Time to copy those files over to an ext4 formatted drive.

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@Minty , could you share details regarding the adapter you are using? Like, manufacturer / part # / place where you purchased it…

Your setup is great!

Thanks,

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@minty thanks so much for the information. I’ll check out the link. Looks like what I need. And your setup sounds really good. Might be above my ability to pull it off, but the info on file formats is really helpful. That’s one of those little things that’s not often mentioned…

You said:

create two partitions on the SSD. Clone your current hard drive to one of the partitions on the SSD and then install Mint on the other partition

I have no idea how to partition the hard drive. And if I partition it, do I use Ventoy, or do I not? Do I just put LM on one side and Win on the other?

For Win10 - Curious as to why you want to run Linux from the SSD?

because that’s the method used by the friend who made my live boot disk with Ventoy and a couple of distros. He told me what to get, but by the time I got the hardware, I wasn’t able to get a hold of him to ask about the next steps. BIOS is set up to boot from USB. (we were group camping and went our ways…)

I understand the basic concepts, but it’s the details that give me issues. Ideally, I’d love to just install Linux Mint and use a sandbox for win10. But even though I’ve read several things about how to do that, I still feel stuck. And reluctant to do it on my own without someone to talk me through spots that seem obvious to experienced people, but can stall out a noob.

As much as I want to ditch Gates, I can’t figure out how to switch an Excel spreadsheet (used like a database with high level programming involved) to LibreOffice (which I love). I’ve spent numerous hours reading forums, reading documentation, and tried to figure out how to translate it, but some things at that level just don’t transfer well from what I can see. It’s a bit above me and I don’t know how to find someone proficient enough in both to make the switch for me. I’d happily pay someone to pull this off! I don’t have a lot of time to do the switch over as far as when my laptop isn’t busy being used for business.

This is the external SSD setup I have:
Adapter: SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free Clear External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Supports UASP SATA III] (EC-OCUB)

SSD: Lexar 512GB NS100 SSD 2.5” SATA III Internal Solid State Drive, Up to 550MB/s Read, Gray (LNS100-512RBNA)

It makes sense at this point to boot from the SSD so I can switch quickly between them, and then down the road figure out how to sandbox win10 in a Linux system.

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@MamaSauerkraut , I worked with LibreOffice for a bit (on Linux Mint), but found that OnlyOffice has far better compatibility with MSOffice files.

If you’re able to install OnlyOffice on some flavor of Linux, it would be interesting to see if all your Excel worksheet’s programming still functions. OnlyOffice opens and reads Excel worksheets without requiring any intermediary conversions.

I’m happy to try reading your Excel worksheet on my system if that could be useful to you. That’s one way we’d know right away if OO would work for you.

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That would be helpful! I have a scrubbed version (no personal customer data) that I could send. A few months ago I tried Only Office, but didn’t see where it worked very well. I would welcome other eyes on this.

Every other spreadsheet I’ve been able to use LibreOffice with no issues, but this one has pivot tables that go beyond what LO could do from what I could see. I was hopeful with OO, but it didn’t seem to work there, either. I looked at the formula strings and found that some things like ( ’ ) or (!) mean something different in LO and Excel.

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Looks as if OO wants to do pivot tables:

for MamaSauerkraut2
for MamaSauerkraut2878×156 84.2 KB

Dunno how well, though.

Please send me the file via the forum’s “Messages” function:

for MamaSauerkraut
for MamaSauerkraut371×600 74.4 KB

BTW, were you working with a Windows version of OO? Or with a Linux version?

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I sent a message, but couldn’t upload the file. That extension isn’t supported.

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08285WPWK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Thanks. I’ll look for the Dell-compatible version.

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Ok, so as you’re using OO’s Windows version, I think the Linux-based version will function differently. Only one way to find out. :slight_smile:

Are you’re ok with uploading the scrubbed file here?

Do you think it would be useful to the community for you to move this conversation to a new thread? One specifically for Excel file-compatible software? Just a thought…

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Yes, moving this to its own thread sounds like a good idea. Do I just start another one? Or can the comments be moved?

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If you start a new thread, you can easily reference any appropriate comments from this one. That will serve as background for new readers.

for MamaS