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asaf92 avatar Ubuntu

How to migrate Ubuntu from HDD to a new SSD (dual boot Windows 11)

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asaf92

My question:

I currently have the following setup:

  • ~500GB SSD - Hosting Windows 11 (preview version, AFAIK it's Windows 10 with cosmetic changes)
  • ~2TB HDD - Split between Windows D:/ drive (1.5TB) and Ubuntu (~300GB)

Which looks like this in Windows Disk Managment: enter image description here

Recently I bought a new SSD (1TB). I want to install Ubuntu on that SSD and remove the installation that's on the HDD.

What I want eventually is:

  • 500GB SSD - Hosting Windows
  • 1TB SSD - Hosting Ubuntu
  • 2TB HDD - Don't care, prefer to have everything belong to Windows

How do I get there? Are there any complications that might corrupt Windows? Will the Ubuntu installer overwrite stuff on the Windows drive?

More Info:

Currently, in the BIOS (ASUS motherboard) I see that the boot order has both Ubuntu and Windows boot loader on the old SSD for some reason (even though Ubuntu is installed on the HDD).

I want to format the old Ubuntu, and install a new one, but I read in many places that Ubuntu overwrites the Windows boot loader/EFI System Partition (is there a difference?). I can boot from the Windows Boot Loader directly and have confirmed this in the BIOS settings.

Is it safe to simply delete the 279.67GB Primary partition on my HDD (Disk 0), and start a new installation of Ubuntu on the new SSD (not in the picture) from a USB drive? Also, why is there an EFI partition on my HDD if both boots in BIOS are from the SSD?

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ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
ChanganAuto
Reinstalling and then - eventually, if desired - copy the old Ubuntu's users' settings will take much less time than what you're asking here.
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asaf92 avatar
ke flag
asaf92
Wouldn't reinstalling just reinstall Ubuntu on the same drive?
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ChanganAuto avatar
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ChanganAuto
Why would it? You, the user, are in control of where it is installed.
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asaf92 avatar
ke flag
asaf92
I was referring to the "Erase Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS and reinstall" option (I have the installer open now). It has an "Install Now" option at the bottom. Will it not just reinstall on the same drive without asking me?
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ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
ChanganAuto
You need to choose something else and define your partitions manually. "Erased and install" may also work as long as you previously selected the target drive. Either way, you need to learn about UEFI mode, its requirements and how to manage a dual-boot, select bootloader, etc.
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ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
ChanganAuto
(...) This snippet - *I see that the boot order has both Ubuntu and Windows boot loader on the old SSD for some reason (even though Ubuntu is installed on the HDD)* - tell us that you don't understand UEFI mode yet otherwise you wouldn't be wondering about what is a very typical setup: In UEFI mode the firmware (UEFI) boots from .efi files in the EFI partition; different OSes' bootloaders can and do coexist in the same EFI partition and although you can have one EFI partition per drive actually only ONE PER SYSTEM is needed and recommended (for simplicity)...
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oldfred avatar
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oldfred
You only need one ESP, but I prefer to have an ESP on every drive, even if just for backup. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI & https://askubuntu.com/questions/1130372/dual-booting-win-10-and-ubuntu-18-04-on-two-separate-physical-ssds & https://askubuntu.com/questions/1167910/unable-to-properly-boot-linux-from-external-ssd/1167940#1167940
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asaf92 avatar
ke flag
asaf92
Thanks for both of you! I followed your instructions and it looks like everything is working as expected. I now have triple-boot :)
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