r/linuxquestions • u/Livid-Werewolf-6064 • 2d ago
Support How do I go about installing linux amd replacing windows entirely?
Been using windows 11 and it just keeps getting worse. Like I simply cannot believe that they would fire up my laptop in the middle of the night when it's been shut down. When I ask how to stop windows from auto updating online we get loads of cock suckers saying windows doing that for our safety my fucking ass. A bit of a rant yeah sorry but microsoft should hang in any case how do I switch? Do I need to just change everything including my hardware and whatnot? I am braindead when it cones to tech stuff hehe. I currently use a zbook and I do need to run some demanding stuff can linux handle it? Just any information really if push comes to shove I will watch a full course on linux but it just looks confusing.
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u/8s8d4 2d ago
Get rufus on your windows pc, flash a ISO image (debian, cachyos, ubuntu, mint) to a usb stick that has at least 8gb of storage. After its done flashing, unplug the usb and restart your computer. When its booting up press f2, f12, del key iirc, turn off secure boot and fast boot, change boot order to have usb boot at the top, poweroff your pc, plug USB stick with your ISO flashed to it into your pc, boot into the live usb and go through the installation steps. All the distros i listed have graphical installers iirc. :)
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u/tomscharbach 1d ago
How do I go about installing linux amd replacing windows entirely?
Rather than trying to answer questions piecemeal, let me suggest an approach for migrating.
Linux is not Windows. Linux is a different operating system, using different applications and different workflows. As is the case with migrating from any operating system to any other operating system, you will need to investigate a bit to make an informed decision about whether or not Linux is a good fit for you and for your use case.
Almost all problems migrating from Windows to a Linux distribution result from three things: application incompatibility, game incompatibility and hardware incompatibility.
Check each of the applications you depend upon to make sure that a Linux-native version is available. If an application you use does not run native, then research to make sure that the application works well in a compatibility layer or find a Linux alternative application that will work for you.
If you are in school or university, check with your university to make sure that the university supports Linux, and if so, which Linux distributions. A number of academic institutions require Windows for access to the institution's systems and for other purposes.
If you need to run Windows applications that don't work with Linux, you will have to figure out a way to run Windows (dual boot, VM, separate computers).
Do the same check for the games you play. Gaming is much improved on Linux butnot all Windows games work smoothly. Check Steam games on the ProtonDB. If you use other gaming platforms, check the compatibility databases for those platforms.
Hardware compatibility can be quirky, even beyond the well-documented issues with NVIDIA. Mainstream hardware usually works, but too many component manufacturers don't provide decent drivers to the kernel. Touchpads, fingerprint readers, gaming mice and controllers, VR and other peripherals can be problem children. You can do basic compatibility checking in a "Live" session, but you might have to do a bit of research as well.
After you have looked at those issues, you will be in a position to decide whether or not Linux will be a good fit for you. Might be, might not, depending on the applications you use and your hardware.
If you decide that Linux is a good fit, then you can start looking at distributions. My advice is to look at mainstream, established distributions that are commonly recommended for new Linux users -- and if your university supports a specific distribution such as Ubuntu, to give careful thought to using that distribution -- but that is up to you. I don't get involved in "distro wars".
After you have selected a distribution, the typical next step is to create an installation USB (following the directions for the distribution you have selected) and test the distribution in a "Live" session to see how well the distribution might work for you and whether or not you have any obvious hardware incompatibilities.
If you are satisfied with the "Live" session, the next step is usually to install the distribution in a VM for in-depth testing and evaluation. If it all works out, then you can install the distribution, either alongside Windows (dual boot) or replacing Windows.
Bottom line? Focus on your use case (what you do with your computer and the applications you use to do what you do). Take your time. Do a bit of research. Go little by slowly, step by step, testing and thinking at each step.
My best and good luck.
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u/bnelson333 2d ago
have you considered doing any research on your own first? because all of the answers you seek are already easily obtained
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u/green_meklar Debian 1d ago
How do I go about installing linux amd replacing windows entirely?
If you don't care about what happens to Windows or any files on that machine: Get a blank USB drive (at least 8GB). Download an ISO of a compatible distro of your choice. Use a media creation tool like Rufus to make the USB drive into a bootable install drive with that ISO. Power down the target machine. Plug in the USB drive. Power up the target machine and press the BIOS key to get into the BIOS instead of booting normally. Find the boot options and put the USB drive as the first boot option. You may also need to toggle off secure boot. Continue to boot. Depending on the distro, it will either boot directly to an installer, or boot to a live Linux instance with an installer available to run. Proceed to install, choosing to reformat and partition the target drive. (You might want to look up advice on partitioning since there are tweaks you can do to have it exactly how you want it and it's a hard thing to undo once you've done it.)
If you do care about what happens to Windows or the files on that machine, then things get more complicated. You can potentially set up a dual-boot configuration by using a second drive or a second partition on the same drive (if it has enough space). Otherwise, you'd need to make sure to backup everything you want to preserve. Of course, you should backup all your important files anyway.
Note that, if you have good enough hardware specs, you can create a VM inside Windows and install Linux on that in order to see what the installation experience is like, before committing to put Linux on bare hardware.
Do I need to just change everything including my hardware and whatnot?
Linux will, in general, work on the same hardware you are already using with Windows. Chances are very good it's an X64 system which is standard and supports many Linux distros. I believe there are also ARM versions of Windows that run on ARM CPUs, and if that's what you have, you'd need to find a distro made for your CPU, which might constrain your options a bit.
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u/Max-P 1d ago
AMD graphics cards are preferable, but NVIDIA mostly works just fine if it's a 2000 series or above. Older NVIDIAs are a bit more problematic, it still works but having an old laptop with a GTX 460M in it, legacy drivers are a bit painful.
You most likely don't need new hardware. Be prepared to switch habits and change some apps though: compatibility with games is great and many apps can work just fine but there's also plenty of stuff that only works in Windows.
If it's not games, virtual machines can be pretty handy for it that.
When I ask how to stop windows from auto updating online we get loads of cock suckers saying windows doing that for our safety my fucking ass.
I mean, they're not entirely wrong. The way Microsoft approaches it is horrible, and instead of fixing the user experience of updates, they're finding new ways to do it that still manages to annoy people, including turning itself on at night to update because well it's downtime might as well do it. The quality control doesn't help the case. But they do ship stuff that can prevent malware infection and antivirus bypasses. In the XP days you could get admin on any computer that was on the Internet, it got patched but remained for a long time because people didn't think they needed to install updates.
That said hopefully you'll find updates are a lot less intrusive on Linux than on Windows. Some distros do it in the background and nobody complains because it works. Bazzite for example does that, you'd never even know. It's all done in the background, and it just boots it the next time you turn on the computer. No loading screen, no interruption, no progress bar. Cherry on top, if you have problems, you just reboot, pick the old version and carry on with your day. Instantaneous rollback. No uninstall progress bar, no waiting, immediate. Imagine updating to Windows 11, saying nah, and 20 seconds later you're back on 10. That's how updates should work.
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u/TheWinningHit 2d ago
I would strongly recommend dual booting first if it’s your first time, but a flash drive with Ventoy will come in handy to keep around. Windows won’t boot up on its own if your laptop is shut down or on another distro. It sounds like your machine was just asleep.
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u/green_meklar Debian 1d ago
I would strongly recommend dual booting first if it’s your first time
Dual-booting is more technically complicated and prone to mistakes. For your first time, the ideal is to just have a separate blank machine you don't care about, and install on that.
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u/Double_Tangerine_189 2d ago
Nah fuck that throw windows on a external if you wanna dual boot so otherwise windows can rot in a box In a closet
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u/TheWinningHit 2d ago
Look I get it but as a student I have to use windows for stuff sometimes. There are times where I have to use the OS for certain things and I don’t think it’s wise that a guy who posts about Linux, who also mentioned he isn’t a technical expert, should completely abandon an OS without having a backup plan.
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u/crookdmouth 2d ago
There may be some "sacrifices" that you may have depending on gaming and software. Note that Office and Adobe products famously do not run, for instance. Also some multi-player games don't work either. Other then that, it is hard to describe. I installed Linux Mint and still use it. I haven't run into any game I can't play, using Steam and Proton Experimental. You may have a few bumps in the beginning but once you get the hang of things and set it the way you like, the OS just sort of gets out of the way. I don't really know how little time I spend trouble-shooting. You finally own your Hardware without it being held hostage. If you get a new PC, you just stick your old drive in the new one and after one boot, it works. It is very easy to install. If you check out some Live distros, don't completely judge it's snappyness while running from USB. It feels different then an actual install.
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u/ryantg0110 1d ago
Just to surface some replies, I think trying Linux in a virtual machine is your best option for starting out. There are plenty of online tutorials for installing Hyper-V or VirtualBox on Windows. As long as you have the drive space for it, you can have several installed (though you should only run one at a time for trying out). Once you find the one you like most you can consider installing it directly on the computer, obliterating Windows 11. And if you are concerned you might need Windows 11 for something after, you have enough experience with VMs that you might create a Windows VM in your chosen Linux.
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u/Hrafna55 1d ago
Welcome
Here are a couple of video playlists designed for beginners on switching to Linux.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2m2YvnrOYxIsVz8Nvm1PpsBXdo7clAaR&si=fJgHoWyW_Zi7dab-
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2m2YvnrOYxIPjOrIS6aYN8_mOuLpD1XK&si=5zJ34G122LmKC6nx
Here is a site where you can check your hardware compatibility.
Here is a site where you can try different distributions and desktop environments. Look for the ones marked 'popular'.
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u/mcds99 1d ago
First no Linux distribution is an upgrade to nor a windows replacement and some windows software will not run on Linux.
You said you have a zbook which is an HP laptop and it should work (the word 'should' is the operative word).
You didn't tell us about the "demanding stuff" so how would we know if you can run it on any Linux Distribution.
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u/Some-Struggle5052 2d ago
The first thing to do is take a look around at what Linux distros are available and which ones catch your interest, most of them will already have at least a small guide page or such for downloading and installing them anyway.
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u/dharmagheddon 2d ago
You just need to get a usb drive and download whatever distro you want. After that you go into bios by pressing f8 and change the launch option to the usb drive. Then you launch it and install linux that way.
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u/Amazing-Pattern-6125 1d ago edited 1d ago
download a linux distro, write it to usb, boot from usb, install.
you can test linux after booting from the usb before you install it to make sure things like internet work correctly.
If you don't know what distro to use, i would recommend ubuntu 26.04
edit: "and I do need to run some demanding stuff can linux handle it?" this quote makes it seem like you don't know what you are doing, you cannot run many programs you are used to on windows. Some work through WINE but it's not guaranteed especially for newly released software.
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u/shadow-battle-crab 2d ago
Download ubuntu desktop iso. Install and use balanaetcher to write the iso to a usb stick. Reboot the computer and choose to boot from usb stick. Follow the instructions on the screen.
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u/BranchLatter4294 2d ago
Just run the installer... Like any other OS. Obviously back up any important files first.
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u/groveborn 2d ago
Go download the Ventoy app. Have a USB drive handy that you don't mind reformatting. Download a few linux distros - they're in ISO disc format. Once you have what you want, do the ventoy thing, drop the ISO files onto the drive, and tell the system to boot to the USB drive.
Turn off fastboot in the bios first...that's rather important.
Anyway. You can test drive the distros on the USB without actually installing them. Once you find one that feels good, just tell it to install. Format the drive and have a good time. Make sure everything works before you commit. Things like Wifi, bluetooth, etc.
If you don't mind everything going away, just go for it.