On Saturday, March 16, 2013 07:07:13, Jack Chastain wrote:
> OH no. It's me again
> 
> Just received my new laptop. Wow. I didn't think it would be possible to
> loathe W8 more, but I discounted having to actually use it.

This is where "The Windows Tax" gets a whole new meaning.  ;)

> I have purchased a 250Gb SDD and want to install is soon, but I can aford
> to take some time to "do it right" - if that is at all possible. But it's
> why I ask anyway.

Ah.  SSDs are different than hard disks in the tweaks that are available for 
formatting and using them, so try to find some "optimizing Ubuntu for SSD" 
type of information.  That will give you some hints for the setup, and you'll 
probably need this information before initially making the filesystem on 
Linux.

> I have already burned and tested a Ubuntu 12.10 DVD. I have also made a
> Windows Recovery disk of the current system.
> 
> I want to load Ubuntu (and maybe others) and be able to load Windows in
> VirtualBox later, if needed (possibly Photoshop, Visio, probably little
> else)
> 
> So - what do I need to have on hand BEFORE I load Linux to my system? My
> intent is to totally wipe W8 off the system until I put it back in VB, but
> not having any install disks, I am not entirely sure what I need to insure
> I have so I can do this when needed. There is some indication that this
> Recovery DVD is pretty basic - maybe not the entire W8 system.

Being that you don't have install media for Win8, I don't recommend wiping it.

One thing you could do would be to boot a LiveCD and use 'gparted' to shrink 
the partition Win8 was using to something reasonable, so that you had room to 
install Linux and dual-boot.  [gparted is a GUI tool, and can deal with EFI 
partition tables.]

> Also - can I simply place my new SDD in the system, boot the Linux CD and
> start the install to this nice, fresh, barren device? I presume I can, but
> that usually means I am about to get myself into Trouble.

If you can get Ubuntu to boot on the system then tn theory it should be that 
easy.

> I have considered starting with dual-boot, and may do that initially, but I
> am hoping I really don't have to mess with W8 longer than is absolutely
> necessary. I don't do this very often, so all thoughts appreciated - as
> always!

Try to look up the system and see what other hints Linux users have about the 
hardware and setup.  That usually saves a lot of headaches trying to figure 
out what drivers or firmware you're going to need.

  -- Chris

--
Chris Knadle
[email protected]
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