this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2025
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I'm looking to install Linux on our home laptop and see if I can convince my wife to migrate off Windows. Since I'm not sure there won't be times we need or want to boot back into Windows, I want to set it up so we can dual boot. The laptop only has a spot for one drive however so I can't use two drives and chose them with the bios. I know in the past Windows has been problematic with dual boot setups on a single drive, corrupting the boot drive following updates and what-not. I'd really like to avoid that if possible.

Any suggestions on how best to go about it, or something I should at least avoid because it's known to be problematic?

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[–] ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (14 children)

App-wise, I know my wife is going to want to use Microsoft Word and Excel, and we always use this laptop for our taxes, so TurboTax. I have a feeling running from a USB drive will be way too slow.

[–] anamethatisnt@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago (10 children)

The Kingston Datatraveler Max will be more than fast enough
https://ssd-tester.com/kingston_datatraveler_max_usb-a_256gb.html
https://www.kingston.com/en/usb-flash-drives/datatraveler-max

If you're unwilling to change software suites thst is gonna be the bigger problem.

[–] ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (9 children)

Being that this laptop is probably 15 years old, I'm doubt the USB slots are going to benefit much from those high speed drives. They are USB3 at least.

Software-suite wise, I suspect that won't be a problem long-term but I know we'll have to look closely at least a few of our more complex documents - such as resumes - to make sure they can be converted properly. My wife is a spreadsheet maniac too, though I expect most won't take special handling. Being able to boot back to Windows in a pinch will be beneficial though.

[–] anamethatisnt@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago

Half the speed of USB 3.2 Gen2 is still plenty fast. :)

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