Install over Mint

Administrator

DaveLay

Install

I want to install on a laptop that has Mint and Ubnutu. I am given a choice to replace Ubuntu but not a choice to replace Mint. That is the one I would like to replace, but when I go to manual partition I'm afraid I don't know enough to keep from messing up the whole system.

Administrator

Hi Dave and thank you for your interest in Peach OSI and for your question.

Sir, there are several ways to find out which partition on your hard drive has the OS that you want to remove but I am going to try to walk you through what I think is the easier way. In doing so I am going to assume that you have a way to live boot Peach OSI - because if you have gotten to the point in the install where you tried to decide which partition has Mint then you already have a medium to Live boot Peach OSI with. I am also going to assume that you can boot into Mint and that the partitions for Mint and Ubuntu are identical in size - which would make it difficult to know which partition is which. I also am going to assume that you know how to boot your computer either from a DVD or USB stick with Peach OSI already burned or installed. If my assumptions are incorrect, please address any of those issues at the bottom of the post.

First - Boot into Mint and open whichever text editor that you have installed. Typically gedit or mousepad but it could be something else. Open your text editor of preference and type in any simple sentence like "This text was created while I was booted in Mint." Now save that file in your "username", "my documents" or documents folder and give it a filename that you will remember for the next part - like "Mint text ". Then completely shutdown your computer.

Second - With whatever medium that you used to attempt to install Peach OSI, boot Peach OSI Live. You will not need a password to boot Peach OSI Live. Once Peach OSI has booted live - on your desktop you will see icons that depict the available partitions on your hard drive. Either double click on one of the icons or right click on the icon and select "mount". Once you have mounted the partition you can search the "home" folder which should allow you to search the "Username" (it won't be username, it will be what ever username that you are using when you log onto either Ubuntu or Mint). Go to the "documents" folder and look for the "Mint text" file that you created above. If the file is not located in this particular partition - then close out the window and then go to th next icon partition on your desktop. Continue with this process until you locate the "Mint text" file that you created above while you were booted in Mint. Once you locate the file you know that you have the right partition. Close out the window and the right click the icon that depicts the partition that Mint is installed on. After right clicking on the correct icon select properties. The object here is to find out what your systems has labeled the partition as. It will be something like sbd1 or something similar. Whatever it is jot it down. You can also make a note of the size of the partition just to have that as further confirmation of the partition. When you feel like you have enough information that can help you determine the correct Mint partition, shut down Peach OSI - meaning completely shut down your computer.

Third.. Reboot the Peach OSI medium as you did earlier and this time select to install Peach OSI. Click through the screens until you get to the screen that asks where and/or how you want to install Peach OSI to your hard drive. Select - "Something Else." When the partition program opens look at your available partitions. You will be able ot match up sbd1 or sbd2 or whatever it is with the information that you jotted down above. Highlight that partition and then click the minus sign "-" in your available options on the lower left of the open window. The system will ask you if you are sure that you want to delete the partition. If you are sure that you have the correct partition select OK or continue. This will delete the Mint partition. Once deleted you will need to create the partition over for Peach OSI. Make sure that you've highlighted the empty partition and then click the plus sign "+". Allow Peach OSI what ever drive space that you want to allow it on the next open window, (probably whatever you had previously allowed mint), unless you have never given any Linux system any swap space. In that event I would allow for a swap space at least as big as the amount of RAM that you have on board. I typically give the swap space 1 1/2 times the amount of RAM - example - 4GB of RAM onboard - allow 6GB. But you can allot only 4GB if needed as per my example. If you are having to allow swap space use the fields in the window onscreen to allow the amount of space and to assign that space the name of "swap space' in the pull-down menu at the bottom. After making your selections hit OK or Continue. If you have had to create a new swap space (if there already was a swap space then there was no need to create another one.) Now allot whatever space that you want to allot to Peach OSI by highlighting the remaining free space or non-allocated space and then clicking on the Plus Sign "+" again. Once you have selected the size of the partition on the bottom of the window it will be asking you where to place the "root". (Please allow Peach OSI at least 8.6GB of space - that this the recommended minimum but I think you will like Peach OSI and will need more space) Hit the tab on the bottom and select "/" for the placement of "root". Once that's done you are ready to hit OK or Continue and Peach will complete building the partition and continue with the installation of Peach OSI.. During the installation process Peach OSI will rebuild your Grub bootloader and it should maintain your boot to Ubuntu and give the system an Option for Peach OSI. On some systems it might report that Peach OSI is Ubuntu - which it is a derivative of. In that event can you can edit the Grub bootloader inside Peach OSI to give it the correct identification. If you need any help in that regard, let me know...

I hope this helps... I am traveling this week so if I am a bit slow in getting back to you please do not think that I am avoiding you... Also, I have not had the time to proof this so please bear that in mind too...