Windows 10 Dual boot question

[Hermitkrab]

I've been trying to set up a virtual machine on both of my PC's to no avail since they don't have sufficient RAM (only 6 GB). I'm thinking my other recourse is to set up a dual boot system. I've never done that before. Are there any caveats to be aware of? I don't want to mess up the current W10 OS. Thanks...Ed

 

[nmsuk]

Whats the secondary OS

 

[livix07]

My laptop only has 4GB RAM and I have installed and learned Windows server 2016 in VirtualBox. 2GB for the host OS and 2GB for Windows Server 2016. So, 6GB RAM on a PC could be enough depending on what you want to do.

Does each of the PCs have 6GB?

 

[Neemobeer]

If you're going with a Linux distribution then no not really all you need to do is shrink the Windows partition so you have space to install Linux.

 

[Hermitkrab]

Does shrinking the Windows partition have any negative effect on the OS? If there is, I won't mess with dual boot. Thanks.

 

[Neemobeer]

No it won't affect it at all. I would advise to keep the Linux partition small 20GB unless you have a lot of space. Linux can read Windows partitions so you can still work on those files from Linux but not the other way around.