Windows 7 Really Fubar Computer!

When working with ubuntu on a second drive I found I could easily use the NeoGrub form of Grub the EasyBCD program has to offer. When having ubuntu on the same drive the Wubi installer goes one step further in creating a VHD(Virtual Hard Disk) for Linux to install onto. It's not the same as a VM but won't require a separate partition since the VHD is much like an iso image being mounted on a virtual optical drive.

The drive will need to be reorganized remembering that 7 will be the primary as well as host OS. When having multiple drives most will simply see one large single primary for Windows on the C drive while storing files and even system images on another. Dedcating at least 100gb or more for the 7 primary is the smart move over custom installing programs over to other partitions and drives which can end up in a mess. As the number of programs grows drive space for the 7 install of course will need to be there and why your 232gb can still work as the C for 7.

If you want to be thorough however to insure the best possible results and best repartitioning a total wipe followed by making the educated guess of just what you need for 7, storage, and ubuntu would be the next task. On a single drive system you cettainly want to manage drive space even more carefully to avoid seeing too much for one and not enough for another. The Windows primary made too small can run out of space and end up seeing "out of memory" errors when no longer able to create the paging file used for virtual memory more so on the 32bit Windows.

The Wubi option however avoids the need to create any Linux root partition running the distro virtually while still seeing it made a boot option. You can run an OS from any VHD like you would on a physical hard drive unlike the limitation imposed while running it on a VM(Virtual Machine).

For custom installing ubunti to a new root partition without Wubi you would go through the motions where the ubuntu installer wants to use up the entire drive just for Linux when opening the partition editor and using that form of GParted. You would want to see the root made the "mount point /" and point Grub to that partition and oops! could end up back at square one with either Windows or ubuntu failing to start up afterwards. Grub assigned to the drive would replace the 7 mbr and boot loader automatically since Grub would be installed. Being on the same drive requires Grub be pointed at the drive or device not at the root partition while that would still be made the mount point / using the edit partition option where you simply select the ""/" sign when scrolling down the list of options. Mount point means Grub will load the OS installed on that partition when it looks for the OS to load at post time.