Dual Boot: Installing Windows 7 and Debian 10 (Buster) Operating Systems on a Hard Disk in BIOS Mode (Page 2)

botond published 2020/03/07, Sat - 17:22 time

Content

  1. page: Installing Windows 7
  2. page: Installing Debian 10 (Buster)

 

2. page content

 

Continuation

The dual-boot description on the first page we have installed the windows 7 operating system BIOS mode one MBR partition schema disk for the first two partitions and on this page we will continue installing Debian 10 (Buster) as the second system.

 

 

Obtaining Debian 10 (Buster)

Before installation, we can test how Debian works with Live systems. By launching these, we can find out if our machine is compatible with the system at all (in most cases, yes), and we can decide which desktop version to choose. You can get versions of Debian Live at the following links:

Download the current Debian Live version (always the latest version of the latest release):

https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current-live/amd64/iso-hybrid/

Of course, this will change later, so if Debian 11 comes out, for example, it will be available here. Therefore, I will also include link 10.3, which is the current version at the time of writing this description:

https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/10.3.0-live/amd64/iso-hybrid/

Of course, this will be transferred to the archive later when the next sub version is released, so here's a look at it:

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/archive/

This list includes all versions up to Debian 3.

Of course, if you do not want to be overwhelmed with large ISO files, you can choose from the small netinst installation packages:

https://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/

However, I definitely recommend the Live installation package as this will provide a much simpler and more convenient installation process.

Making a bootable flash drive

The most convenient way to install operating systems today is to create a bootable flash drive. So if you picked out Debian 10 (Buster) Live, which has the right desktop environment for you, iso-hybrid to choose what You can easily write to a flash drive from under Linux systems using the dd command. But if we want to make our installation USB key in another way, then here are some other methods.

Once you have created your installation flash drive or even a DVD, you can start the installation.

 

Launch Debian 10 (Buster) Live

In this installation example, I a debian-live-10.3.0-amd64-where.iso I downloaded a 10.3-bit Live version of Debian 64 using the KDE desktop.

Ha VirtualBox system - as I am now due to the presentation - before starting the machine, in the "General" tab of the virtual machine settings, the type of the machine must be changed to the previous Microsoft Windowsabout Linuxand the version of the previous one Windows 7 (64-bit)to from Debian (64-bit)and in the "Display" settings, the graphical controller was the previous one VBoxSVGA mode VMSVGA mode, because VirtualBox can maximize its compatibility with the operating system you are running according to these parameters.
Of course, it is not very realistic for someone to install multiple operating systems on one machine in VirtualBox, but if we do create dual-boot or multi-boot installations on a virtual machine for experimentation and study, we should never forget that if we want to boot with the other operating system the same machine, always set these settings according to the system you want to use before booting.

So insert the installation flash drive or DVD, etc. into your computer - on which you previously installed Windows 7 - and boot it.

Startup method

After the installer starts, we will first be greeted by a menu that selects the normal startup mode:

Installing Debian 10 (Buster) - Installation Method: Debian Live with localization support

Now we are not installing with the usual basic text or graphical installer, but with the debut of Debian 10. With the Calamares Live installer, a more convenient graphical installer framework based on QT. To do this, of course, the Live system must already be running in the background, so we select second option, where we also get locale settings:

Installing Debian 10 (Buster) - Selecting Regional Settings

Find and set your language. Of course, this only applies to the Live system itself, it will have to be configured separately in the installer, but it will make it easier because we can configure our keyboard more easily, in case, for example, we have to open a terminal window before / during the installation, where special characters will also be in place. After selecting the language, the Live system will start with the desktop environment of the downloaded version.

If you haven't downloaded the Live version, but use netinst, or the plain installer, which doesn't include the Calamares installer framework, or you just want to use the old installation method, you can do the whole process in the usual GUI is a How to install Debian 10 (Buster) minimum server , but in this case we will do the partitioning as described here so that our dual-boot system can work properly.

Starting up the Live system and basic setup

After the system has booted up, a desktop will appear with a single (barely visible) icon labeled "Install Debian"

Install Debian 10 (Buster) - With Debian Live on the KDE desktop

We’re still setting up a few basic things to make the installation process more convenient.

 

 

Keyboard Layout

At the bottom right of the KDE desktop, right-clicking on the language layout icon will bring up a menu and selecting "Settings" will open the keyboard setup panel. Here you can add the Hungarian language from the pop-up list by clicking on the "Input Method" tab and all special characters are already working on our keyboard. Of course, this may require different settings for other desktops.

Resolution

At first, my resolution is quite small (800x600), so I set a higher one. Obviously I have this because of the VirtualBox, but if the default resolution of the Live system is not suitable for anything else, we can set it from the menu, but I think it takes longer to find the right settings window, so we prefer to solve it from the command line. First, query the available video modes with the following command:

xrandr -q

Then set the appropriate resolution, for example:

xrandr -s 1024x768

I will now set this to this size only to make the description. On a physical machine, it's a good idea to choose the native resolution of your monitor if you haven't had it before. It was switched to the new size immediately after the command was issued.

Set the screen resolution for Debian 10 Live

If, on the other hand, our native screen resolution is not listed, then so we can set it up.

Username and password

And if our screensaver closes at any time on the fly, asking for a password, the live username (where it asks) is "user" and your password is "live".

If you are up to now, the installation may start.

 

Installing Debian 10 (Buster) with Calamares

Clicking on the "Install Debian" icon on your desktop will launch the Calamares Debian 10 installer, which has a much nicer interface than the usual graphical installer and appears to have fewer steps to complete the installation process. We are greeted first by the welcome screen and we can also set the language.

Select language

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Welcome

Set your language here and move on.

Regional settings

In the following window, you can set the region and zone, as well as other locale settings:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Regional Settings

Set it up properly and we can go on.

Keyboard setup

In this step, you can set up the keyboard:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Keyboard Setup

Here you get a visual keyboard layout setting that lets you check the exact location of accented and special characters on your keyboard. If we have the right one for us, we can go on.

partitions

We get a highly cultured partition management interface:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Partitions

Here at the top of the window, when we move the mouse, the small cogwheel, BIOS, then on the right edge of the circles (partition table type) and standing on the MBR nicely tooltiplists a lot of useful information about the current system startup conditions, such as that the machine was booted in BIOS mode and that the system should also install a boot environment (GRUB), which you install either at the beginning of that partition or in the MBR (the latter is recommended). And the information on the right indicates that the MBR partitioning scheme currently in use has limitations and that modern machines are already GPT partitioning scheme used, etc. So it provides a lot of information to the user here.

In the middle you can see four main operation settings, of which we have a we need a fourth option, because it's a dual-boot installation where we want to manually configure the partitions for ourselves.

Below, we can also visually see our hard drive in the machine, which in this example is a single 80GB of storage that shows this dual-boot partitions created on the first page of this description for Windows 7 is.

So here we just select the fourth, Manual Partitioning and go to the next window.

 

 

Manual partitioning

Here you will also see the current partitioning of our mass storage and then list the partitions and the empty space below:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Partitions - Manual Partitioning

We have our previously created 500 MB and 59,5 GB partitions, and underneath the 20 GB of free space that we intended for the Debian system.

Here, we will not over-cram it here, but will do the following:

  • We will create an ext4 partition which will take up almost all of the free space that is mounted on the root file system (/).
  • We create a swap partition that is usually set to twice the amount of RAM in the machine. So in this example, with 4 GB RAM, it would be a good idea to create an 8 GB swap partition, but for now, only 4 GB is configured.
We do not create multiple partitions here, for example / var, / Home and other parts, but only these two. But if we know what we are doing, then of course we can build our own structure. So let's decide here based on our insight and the capacity of our hard drive.
Create a master partition

Select this a Free space option, and then click on create button.

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Partitions - Create Partition

Here you select the entire area by default. On the slider above - or in the box below - adjust the appropriate size and adjust the other sections as well. Here Gib and My b values, so the 1024 division / multiplication is valid - provided we want to calculate it accurately, but we can ignore it.

For example:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Partitions - Creates a partition with settings

Settings:

  • Size: After deducting 20 GB from 4 GB, I have 16 left, multiplied by 1024, so we set it to 16384 MiB, which is exactly 16,00 GiB.
  • Partition Type: Primary
  • File system: ext4
  • encryption: nem
  • Attachment point: root file system (/)
  • flags: boat

Let's do this, and we'll get back to the updated partition table, where our newly created partition will appear:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Partitions - Updated Partition Table

I found a bug in the installer here: Returning to this window, no partitions are currently selected, but the Create button is active. If you click the Create button in this case, it will be thrown out of the entire installer and you can start over. So to create the next swap partition, first click on the "Free space" line or the gray area on the right side of the visual bar above, and then click on the Create button.
Create a swap partition

So, if you have selected "Free Space" and clicked on creating, the partition creation window will reappear and set the following:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Partitions - Create a Swap Partition

Settings:

  • Size: leave it set to the remaining free space, in this example 4 GB.
  • Partition Type: Primary
  • File system: linuxswap
  • encryption: nem
  • Attachment point: -
  • flags: swap

Let's do this again, and we'll get back to the partition list:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Partitions - Partitions created

Here are the 4 partitions that we created for the operating system 2 on the hard disk created with the MBR partitioning scheme, where no new partitions can be created anymore (although the Create button is still active, but this is due to the error mentioned above).

Here again, make sure that the "Install Bootloader to" option at the bottom of the panel is set to "Master Boot Record" so that GRUB will be installed in the right place.

If we are all here, we can go on ...

 

 

users

In this panel you can enter your name, username, computer name and user password:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Users

Fill it out properly and move on.

Summary

Then an overview panel will appear, showing you what you have set up so far:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Summary

So here you can see that your time zone, other regional settings, and keyboard are also appropriate. For partitions, it indicates the two new partitions we have created, and then the point is that your Debian system will be installed on the new ext4, so you don't have to worry about where to install it and that the boot loader is / dev / sda which will be placed in the MBR of the hard drive. If everything is correct, click the install button.

Installation

The installer starts and runs without further external intervention:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Installation

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Installation

Completion

And after the installation is complete, you are prompted to restart your computer:

Debian 10 (Buster) Calamares Installer - Finish

Remove the installation media from the machine (in the case of VirtualBox, unmount the live installer) and click Finish.

 

 

Restart your system

When you restart your machine, GRUB first loads:

Restart Machine - GRUB Boot Menu

As you can see, GRUB has also set up Windows 7 for us, so our dual-boot system will work nicely. First, let's look at the Debian 10 we just installed by selecting the first option.

Launch Debian 10 (Buster)

Selecting Debian will launch and the login window will appear:

Debian 10 (Buster) - Login screen in KDE

After logging in, KDE Plasma comes in:

Debian 10 (Buster) - The KDE Plasma Desktop

So in our dual-boot system, Debian 10 is ready to use. 

Let's reboot, now with Windows.

For VirtualBox users, here you need to reset the machine type and version to Windows settings and the graphical driver to VBoxSVGAon.

Start Windows 7

After restarting, selecting Windows 7 from the GRUB menu will launch Windows:

Windows 7 login screen

Then entering:

Windows 7 desktop

 

 

Conclusion

So this would be a dual-boot combination of Windows 7 and Debian 10 (Buster), where in BIOS mode we installed the two operating systems on two MBR-based partitions of a hard disk (per person), which we then boot from the GRUB boot menu.

This is a completely simple, uncomplicated installation that fits perfectly with the first part of the dual-boot / multi-boot description series. Little by little, I keep making several different versions, in the meantime, use this with health!

 

 

Navigation

This description consists of several pages: