linux mint installation guide

Linux install guide

FIRST OF ALL: Backup important files on your C:\ to an external drive like a USB formatted to FAT32/exFAT and NOT NTFS, this way your uni files are safe even if you somehow nuke your c drive.
Answers:
-is dual booting a good idea? -> mostly yeah, while it's best to wipe everything and go Linux-only, some people can't, and dual-booting is the only choice. Since you have a whole different drive for Linux, it's perfectly doable.
-Will grub mess up my bootloader? -> GRUB is a bootloader, if it has its own drive, it will work just fine and won't destroy itself.
-Any tips for a smooth experience? -> linuxjourney.com (in-depth guide on understanding Linux)
First of all, is all your software compatible with Linux? If so, great, if not, check.
Also, make sure you have a free USB drive (different from your backup drive) with 8 or more GB of free space, we will need this to install Linux and it will be formatted.
You haven't mentioned what Linux distribution you want to use, so we'll use Linux Mint as an example, Ubuntu based, easy to use, everything just works.
To install Mint:
-Go to linuxmint.com/download.php and choose what edition you want. If you're unsure, choose Cinnamon.
-Download the .iso file, this file contains the Linux Mint Cinnamon image.
-While the file is downloading, download rufus, this tool will allow us to "flash" the .iso into the USB (put all of the .iso's files into the USB so that we can boot from it).
-When Mint is done downloading, open rufus, give admin permissions and a window will appear, there will be quite a few options but the ones we're interested in are only 2. Plug in the USB and In the 'Device' section, choose the USB you just inserted (unplug any other storage media so selection will be easier), for 'Boot selection' click on SELECT and choose the .iso file you just downloaded. In 'Format options' make sure the file system is set to FAT32 (which should be the default), finally, click on START and wait.
-When the flashing process finishes successfully, close everything and reboot. Here's the tricky part: now we have to get into your computer's BIOS/UEFI, an interface which will allow us to boot the USB we just flashed. This part is tricky because i don't know what computer you have, to enter the UEFI/BIOS, a key must be spammed after powering on the computer, i can give a generic list: F2/F1/F10/ESC. Don't blindly trust this, look up the key yourself for your laptop model on google ([laptop brand/model] BIOS key).
-(Make sure the flashed USB is plugged in). After you get into the BIOS, use the left/right arrow keys to go to the 'Boot' section, if you see your USB's name, congrats! you did everything right. Look at the bottom of your screen, you should see something like "Change values: somekey/somekey", use the down arrow to select the USB and press one of the change values key until the USB is on top of the boot order. Go to the 'Exit' or the last tab, select 'Save and exit' (or something similar).
-You should now see GRUB asking you which OS to boot, select 'Start Linux Mint 22.1' and press enter, you should now boot into Linux Mint, this will take some time and the system will be slow because you're running it from a USB.
-Once you get into Mint, it should be smooth sailing from here on, this is a 'live environment' test your hardware and make sure everything works properly. Connect to the internet and once you're ready, click on 'Install Linux Mint' icon on the desktop. The installer should open, it will ask some questions, make sure to check 'install multimedia codecs' if it asks, then it will ask where to install Mint, choose 'Something else', choose the partition that matches your D:\ drive (either by size or file system), once you verify that the selected drive matches your D:\ drive, click on 'install now'. Once it finishes, reboot your computer, unplug the USB if it asks you to. Hopefully you will see GRUB asking what OS to boot, either Windows, or Linux Mint, choose Linux Mint using arrow keys and ENTER.
And you should be pretty much done, log into Mint and configure your system! If you need more help you can ask.