Attempting dual boot - adding Windows 7 to existing Ubuntu laptop


  1. Wiccidlady
    Posts : 2
    Windows 7
       New #1

    Attempting dual boot - adding Windows 7 to existing Ubuntu laptop


    Sooooo. Here's my frustration.

    I have a laptop with Ubuntu 14 installed on a SSD.

    I have a second drive 1TB, with nothing on it, that I want to install Windows 7 to.

    I've partitioned and formatted the 2nd drive with Gparted to be DOS and NTFS, flagged one partition as BOOT.

    Restart - boot from WIN disc. Follow the instructions up to picking which partition to install to. NONE of the partitions will let me install to them. OK.

    SO I found tutorials on how to format and partition the drives in the CMD window. Did this. Followed all the instructions. STILL Windows will not let me install to any of the partitions in the choice window.

    I get the error: Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition.

    Help please?
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  3. torchwood
    Posts : 7,107
    W7 home premium 32bit/W7HP 64bit/w10 tp insider ring
       New #2

    Hi there,
    You have to install windows first, and then Ubuntu.
    Have a look at the tutorials section Dual booting

    Roy
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  4. Barman58
    Posts : 31,249
    Windows 11 Pro x64 [Latest Release and Release Preview]
       New #3

    One way to proceed is ...

    wipe the disk you wish to run windows on completely.
    disconnect the drive with ubuntu on it
    Install the windows from the disk/USB - it will create a correct layout with system partition

    Once you reconnect the Ubuntu drive you can use the bios drive select option to choose which OS you wish to boot into each time.

    This is probably the easiest method given that linux is already loaded but it may be possible, once the two OSs are present, to add the secondary OS to the boot options of the primary OS
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  6. Wiccidlady
    Posts : 2
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    Thank you both for your replies. I really didn't want to uninstall Ubuntu as it already has programs downloaded/saved etc. I haven't tried to crack into my laptop case as of yet. I will see if I can disconnect the drive with Ubuntu and go from there.

    Thanks again!
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  7. Barman58
    Posts : 31,249
    Windows 11 Pro x64 [Latest Release and Release Preview]
       New #5

    It should be possible to access the drives, and actually physically remove them - check your user guide. If this is not easily possible there may be a method to disable a drive in the BIOS menu
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  8. gregrocker
    Posts : 50,642
       New #6

    Always unplug all other drives when installing Win7. Then afterwards plug back in the other drives, access any other OS using the BIOS's one-time Boot Menu. If you don't like that configuration install EasyBCD to add the other OSes. For Ubuntu specifically what works best is Dual boot Ubuntu-Win7.

    The problem is likely preformatting the drive so delete all partitions using the Drive Options pictured in Step 12 during Clean Install Windows 7 then either create and format new as you please or just click Next to let the installer do it for you and proceed.

    If this still fails then Troubleshoot Windows 7 Installation Failures.

    Do you have a UEFI BIOS? Is there a choice to boot the Win7 DVD as a UEFI DVD drive?
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