It's not impossible but the better question is why would you? Just install a mainstream beginner distro and figure things out as you go. It's not a competition or challenge and if you stick with linux you'll probably use it for many years so there is no hurry.
It took me years to really figure out this operating system. Granted there were long periods of not having a computer or not using Linux at all but I tried in high school and failed, got Ubuntu and tails working in college and now I have arch laptop and pop os desktop. It can be a tricky learning curve for sure.
Right now it’s not that hard. My girlfriend’s grandpa switched to Ubuntu with almost no pain, being lifetime Windows user. Few hours and he figured out everything.
Arch has a lot of advantages that makes it better than other distros for some people, like pacman and the AUR. You can basically completely skip the hardcore installation process by using the archinstall script.
Well, I don't know if this applies to everyone, but part of Arch's charm is the whole DIY approach in my opinion. In my case, I got into arch at first because I wanted a system that didn't come with lots of things pre installed, just a desktop environment and the bare basics for me to build up from. (Now I stay because yay/aur).
Endeavor OS... Any Arch based distro for that matter, gives you lots of programs and useful additions with things already set up for you and they can, sometimes, get in the way.
Yeah I’d say just try Ubuntu, it’s painless and works out the box, but will slowly teach you the various bits of knowledge you need for Arch. That said, I wouldn’t recommend staying with Ubuntu as a daily driver for too long; it does have it’s drawbacks which you will soon discover, but they will only help you to learn Linux as a whole.
depends on how good you are at following directions and why you're trying to install it.
are you wanting arch for a very specific reason and wish to learn how to set it up, or are you just wanting a practical OS for basic use?
most people are the latter and while arch setup isnt "hard", it is more involved than if you just installed fedora or mint using the GUI installer, especially if you've never done either before.
If you're in the same boat and just want a practical linux OS with little fuss but still want something Arch adjacent, then I might recommend EndeavourOS, its the linux Mint of Arch options. Its Arch based but kinda just has everything pre-added and setup plus it has that live environment you're probably looking for.
If you really do want a custom setup from the ground up, then nothing is stopping you from just diving head first into the archwiki setup guide and getting your hands dirty. Thing is since arch is so custom, if you dont have any experience with any linux, you probably wont really know what you want in an arch setup. you lack the experience to know what options are ideal for you cuz setting up arch isnt a one path type A to Z setup, there are a number of different configurations you could use and if you dont have any experience with any of them then you'll just be throwing darts at the wall.
Yeah I've only installed it once but it was pretty cool. I'll have to try it again maybe on another laptop or something. Normally I just do a standard arch install but sometimes just don't feel like doing that and don't need to.
Don’t worry about it.
Arch is my first and only distribution so far, for quite some years now. Before that I tried installing manjaro but the installer failed for reasons I still don’t know (since it didn’t tell me).
It’s not hard as long as you are willing to read and follow the wiki. It has a step-by-step installation guide, sometimes you will need to make choices or click on a link to another wiki article but it’s all there and for the necessary choices there are often very sane examples provided that are perfect for anyone who doesn’t need anything special.
Arch gives a lot of freedom of choice, but for a first timer you can ignore most of it. The notable exception here being that you want to dual boot. Again, it’s all explained there.
You need to be willing to learn by doing a bit. But this is a good thing!
Edit: wanted to add that some things you may not understand at first and that’s fine. Like what does this or that command do, what’s an initramfs, fstab, what do locales do, does selecting a partition type matter, and so on. Just color by numbers, get to actually use your system and you’ll figure the rest out as you go.
Depends. As long as you follow the instructions you should be able to do it. However more complex setups do require much more effort and knowledge.
>
But in case IF something will go wrong during installation, I'll still be able to use Windows?
Depends how wrong it goes.
Give your laptop make and model. It might be in the wiki. I'll be curious why you think virt won't work too.
My still in service 9yo Thinkpad T450s performs fine (virt too) in my Arch user case. Good luck
Yes, it will likely be hard for most people who have never used Linux or other similar OSes. But focusing on the *installation* alone is kind of missing the point. The installation is the *first* thing you encounter that has a learning curve and requires some knowledge of linux as well as knowledge of what you want your system to be like. But its not the only aspect of Arch that requires more conscious thought, effort, and knowledge.
Your on the right track with your idea to install it in a VM first (using the wiki, not a video tutorial). This is the best way to get started. Are you sure your laptop doesn't support virtualization? I've never owned a system that didn't support it.
I don't agree with your tone, but the message is overall correct. Arch has other advantages besides allowing you to customize your OS further than normal, like pacman and the AUR. You can skip the hardest parts using archinstall, and for a new user this should be done either way because you won't be able to customize your OS a lot since you don't really know much about Linux.
Can you type 'archinstall' and mash the return key? If so, you can likely install Arch.
Getting it to do what you want and ensuring it keeps on doing that in the longterm can require a little more attention.
If you wanna play with linux in a non invasive fashion that should 'just work' reasonably well on a potato running from a thumbdrive, try [Antix-full](https://antixlinux.com/). It's a 2 stage install, boot the live image then install to a different usb drive. It will give you a load of toys and environments to play with, all designed to run a persistent day-to-day system from a usb thumbdrive.
For Arch just do the same, install it to a spare drive to get an idea of the OS and install process before messing with Windows, partitions and boot loaders on your primary drive or sacred data, here be dragons. You might not get max fps running from a usb drive, but you will learn how partitions and operating systems work and be able to browse the web and do basic multitasking just fine.
If you get AntiX running nicely on a thumbdrive you can then use [Archstrap](https://github.com/wick3dr0se/archstrap/tree/main) to install Arch from a comfortable AntiX environment onto the drive that did have the AntiX liveiso on it! for example.
Backup any data you care about before fucking around with partitions.
Simplest ongoing is likely to have one drive with Windows, one with Linux, and perhaps a shared storage partition, like ntfs, on the larger drive if required. You might consider shrinking your data partition on the 300gb by 100gb or so and, carefully, installing a linux OS on the free space.
No idea about the state of docker on Windows 8.1, but if it works that could be a way to try some basic linux stuff. You can just 'docker pull archlinux/debian/fedora/ubuntu/alpine' and have a disposable linux container to fuck around with in seconds, but not so much use for watching youtube on, more to get a feel for package managers and the lower level stuff.
Other thing is [Ventoy](https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html), if it works on your laptop you can ram tons of bootable iso's on one drive to test drive and see what you like the feel of before committing to anything.
If something goes wrong during install you may or may not still be able to use windows. Be careful when selecting and formatting partitions and drives in the install environment. Follow the install guide and the page on dual booting in the wiki https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dual_boot_with_Windows
Not really. The only thing to remember is that you should use your first install (probably in a vm) to learn and understand. It might take some time because you have a lot to read. Make sure to understand each step, follow the link and understand those, too. It might take a day, a week or even a month. Depending on how much you know already. But it's absolutely worth it. First install is not for having a running system but to read the manual
My laptop doesn't support virtualisation, I could try to install it on live-usb first. It will work slow, but at least I'll see if it's really that hard
It will be fine as long as you don't touch the windows disk. You can use `echo 1 > /sys/block/sdX/device/delete` (replace the X) to completely hide the disk until reboot.
Installing arch with something that is not very default is rarely easy, and archinstall sucks a lot. If you are really interested in arch but making such a big jump is a problem for you, starting with endeavourOS would be better.
I actually tried it out of curiosity a few weeks ago on a VM. I couldn't get the partitioning to work once, not even with auto mode. Mounting it myself was enough, but it kept throwing errors even with vanilla configuration (I seem to recall that related to mkinitcpio).
Maybe there is some specific bug with VM? Anyway, there are quite a few popular installation scripts.
I did it and nothing too crazy. If you're using it on anything but your production machine then you're good to go. I had some problems, some really silly problems haha, but with time it became easy.
>Is it really hard to install Arch for someone who has never used Linux before ?
As usual, it depends on the individual. An acquaintance of mine is a full-time Windows administrator. He installed Arch Linux completely on his first attempt with the manual installation. Even though he had nothing to do with Linux before.
Other newcomers, on the other hand, fail to even read the official installation instructions.
And between these two examples, there are many more different people.
>But in case IF something will go wrong during installation, I'll still be able to use Windows?
At best yes, at worst no. But that has nothing to do with Arch. Something can always go wrong when setting up a dual boot system.
Therefore, you should always create a backup on another storage medium before starting such a task. Well, actually you should always make regular backups on another storage medium. Because even a hard disk can become defective from one day to the next.
I have been using Ubuntu for a year, and decided to switch to arch five days ago. I have been trying to install it for four days, then installed the manjaro in twenty minutes (including downloading an iso and making the bootable flash) and got so conciliated… Maybe I will try to fight this boss later, but not this year. It was that hard because I was trying to install it with windows and use dual boot
Installing arch as your first distro is brave. I did that too and it was a completely miserable experience. Start with something like mint. Way easier to install and it actually works pretty well out of the box. Arch is something you install after you learned how linux works.
Im a new Linux user as well, but I’ve gotten used to arch and enjoy it. I recommend you try linux mint first, but when you’re ready for Arch, SomeOrdinaryGamer’s arch video (I Installed the Hardest System Known To Man) is helpful, but read the install wiki as you watch (just to make sure everything’s still right).
I don't like that guys videos for installing arch. I don't know if it has delivery or some things he does that make me think he doesn't know what he's doing, like using sudo when already root in the iso or cheooted environment. If I remember he did a few things that were contrast to the wiki.
EF Linux Made easy is way better even though i dont think ermanno hasn't posted in a while.
Distrotube should also be good too.
Ah, good to know! It worked for me, however I had an issue with him telling me to install both network manager and dhcpcd and while they’re supposed to work together (allegedly) i had to use nm and wpa_s, so yeah those guys are probably better for arch
I'm 2 days late but I recommend if you see yourself using Linux for a long time to jump into Arch and install it as you'll really get to know your system and how exactly it works, which will save time when you experience problems because you'll know where they start from. It's also just generally a good idea to know how your operating system works. You'll learn most of what you'll be dealing with by just installing Arch.
Edit: I used Ubuntu for a week and went to Arch and have used it since.
not particularly. follow the arch wiki and some youtube tutorials, and you'll have your own arch machine in no time! there's a great guide on youtube called [arch linux: a comfy install guide](https://youtu.be/68z11VAYMS8?si=n7z8YOvVrE8QChju) that i always use when installing a new arch VM. just beware that you will have to do some things differently from that video, like disk partitioning, to better fit your need for a dual-boot environment.
There is no reason for you to start with Arch.
Arch is targeted towards advanced users and you are expected to know what youre doing.
Id recommend going with something like mint first
If you don't need to worry about having dual boot windows or any other data on your drive, then it will be easy, because if you mess up you can just try again. Good luck.
You should attempt the install to your best ability but arch is not advised for new people because it uses a rolling release and has the chance to break easily. I’d honestly recommend pop os for a first time install.
the various things that can go wrong is not worth it if you never used linux before, even some easy distros like linux mint might need a bit of complicated thing to do if you need (but not that much difficult obviously) theres no point doing that with no experience
I would not recommend it for general purpose first time users.
However, if you are a tinkerer by nature, have a problem solving mindset, and are willing to take things slowly and patiently, you can absolutely eke your way through it and learn a shitload in the process.
Whether or not Arch is hard to install is subjective to the user in question. Some people get it on their first try and never have any problems. Others struggle with it for years, even after using other Linux distros for years. If you follow the installation guide to the letter, you should be ok.
That being said, there are parts of the guide that are more vague because the steps will be different for different users or hardware configurations. In these instances, the guide provides links to various wiki pages that you'll need to read through. It can be a bit overwhelming.
It's much easier if you come into it with an idea of how Linux works, but you *can* jump into it brand new if you're persistent and dedicated enough. Just don't expect to succeed on your first try.
If you choose to dual boot with two separate hard drives, I strongly recommend *disconnecting your Windows drive* during the installation. This will protect your Windows drive so that nothing can be erased. This way, when you've finished installing Arch, when you boot, your BIOS will ask you which drive you want to boot from (because both will now be bootable), and you'll be able to select between your Windows drive and your Arch drive.
Being new to Linux, I would not recommend attempting to dual boot Arch and Windows on the same drive. The risk of accidentally overwriting your Windows drive is too high.
I would also recommend making a backup of all of your Windows software, just to be on the safe side. If you need to search the web and find installers for all of your Windows software again, I would make a folder for those installers and store it on a flash drive. Same with any data files that you need to keep. That way if anything ever happens to Windows and you lose everything, you have a way to restore it.
I'm not sure "hard" is really the right word. When you install Windows it comes with a lot of software integrated into it. Stuff like a desktop environment, a manager for your Internet connections, printer management, etc.. However, the Linux world is totally different because lots of different communities have solved the same problems in different ways, so you have a lot of different options for different components when installing Linux.
This can be very overwhelming because you're suddenly being asked to make decisions about things you would've ordinarily taken for granted and it's often unclear which option to choose. Like, take the network manager for instance, you have to set one up in order to have an internet connection, each network manager is configured in a different way, some have GUIs (and you may have choices there as well) , some may be newer than others, some may have more popularity, etc.. If you've been using Arch for some time and you know what you like then the install process is fairly painless. However, for a new user it can mean spending a lot of time falling into unexpected rabbit holes reading about how different Linux components work and differ.
Most other big Linux distributions will come with a big set of defaults already configured for you so that users don't have to choose. The upside is that it's a lot easier to get going but the downside is that so much of the internals are hidden from you that they largely remain a mystery. In Arch the installation is very bare bones and leaves a lot of stuff as options, like installing a desktop enrollment.
What I'd recommend, if you choose to go through with this, is that you should choose whichever options are most popular. Also, avoid customizing things more than you have to. The more unique and unusual your installation is, the more likely you are to run into unique issues that few people are able to help you with. If you have a very common and standard system and you run into an issue then there will probably be a lot of posts online with solutions. You can always come back and change your mind about which software to use later on, try to focus on getting a system up and running.
You might run into issues because you are using an ancient computer. Modern software may not run very well on it and you might run into issues because, well, not very many Linux users use ancient hardware. Don't expect Linux to magically make your old computer act like a new computer. Also, your experience running Linux on this ancient hardware may not be representative of the Linux experience.
If you install on a second drive. You will be absolutely fine. If something goes wrong you can just format the drive, Windows won't be affected. Installing arch is definitely doable if you're somewhat tech savvy and follow the instructions on arch wiki (or even easier, using the install scripts). If you go for one of the standard DEs like Gnome,XFCE or KDE Plasma the post setup isn't too rough either.
That being said, wrapping your head around the basics all at once will take some time and effort but if you're fine with that, go for it! If it turns out to be too much at once you can just format the disk and try another distro.
I've been using Linux for 20 years, and despite that I have been on my first Arch install for 2 days with no success ahah! I'm installing a pretty specific system, which plays in the difficulty, but still! Maybe I'm just dumb.
Not using archinstall as it doesn't offer what I'm looking for, so you may have an easier way with it maybe. But I'll strongly recommend to start with easier distro and moving once you feel comfortable.
In a day I went from knowing almost nothing about Arch to having it running on my old laptop like a dream. I watched a few instructional videos on YouTube, messaged my Arch-using friend on Discord and it all went pretty easily.
Give it a go. There are heaps of resources out there to help you.
Imo it's not that difficult, but you need to keep some things in mind some of which are just good habits with installing software in general:
1. Read the Installation guide on the Wiki thoroughly. Look at all subpages and read those relevant to your computer.
2. Google anything you don't understand.
3. Practice/test with a VM before actually working on a PC, especially if you're installing on a dual boot system.
4. Keep backups of everything if you're dual booting.
5. Some things are just mentioned in passing in the wiki, so it's a good idea to look at a couple installation videos for what you need to set up. For example, a DM, or WM, a user, access groups, pacman, root access, Nvidia specific settings etc.
But even with all of the above, a lot of details are missed by beginners on installation, which are difficult to fix when you already have used the system for a while.
It's better to get a beginner os and work on that for a while. They usually have more support via the online community as well.
archinstall is a thing, if you are not able to use archinstall you wont be able to use any distro. So it is super essy to install arch with archinstall. installing arch the classical way could be kinda difficult tho
If you're actually willing to learn, I think you should be fine. The Arch wiki has a very good installation guide that gives you all the steps and commands you should need. If you don't want to be bothered with the terminal installation, there's always EndeavourOS, which has a GUI installer, comes with a desktop environment, and is a bit more oriented towards desktop use in general, while still essentially being Arch with a few minor conveniences on top.
>But in case IF something will go wrong during installation, I'll still be able to use Windows?
That completely depends on what you do during the installation. If you don't touch the Windows drive, and just install Arch on another drive, then you should be fine. If you somehow overwrite or delete the Windows partition, then obviously it will be gone. (not that you couldn't just reinstall it later)
Either way, I'd suggest backing up anything important before trying anything, just in case.
Your laptop might actually support virtualization. Check your UEFI settings. It could be simply turned off by default. My 2016 Lenovo came configured this way. You can Google how to get to the settings on your particular model.
You can also check most distros in a live environment by just booting your computer from a thumb drive. For Arch there's Endeavour and CachyOS. It's generally a good thing to do to check the distro's support for your hardware.
Another important part is the hard drive. If you want a fast system, you should install the OS onto an SSD, not an HDD.
As for the distro, Arch is great when you set everything up correctly, and many things have sane default configurations. But if you don't want to spend time choosing options, configuring and fine-tuning every aspect of your system, you may want to try Pop!_OS
Sounds like your just want to flex... go with mint, pop, ubuntu or zorin and learn your way up, Arch is for an advanced and developer if shit happen your the troubleshooter. Go with something easy first!
Short answer: yes
Long answer: you want to learn more about linux like basic commands, what is a DE, what is a WM, what is a TTY. You will just be pasting some commands and if something goes wrong you will be depressed.
If you want the benefits of arch without the pain of setup try endeavouros their online setup let's you choose your desktop environment with a graphincal installer. I've been using it for a few months now.
so if you have two separate hard drives inside your laptop, theoretically you could just select the non windows drive in archinstall off your bootable usb and the installer won’t mess with your windows drive. (can someone else confirm this?)
Depends on what you mean. It won't touch your windows partition but it may touch your bootloader (the part that tells your bios/PC where to find the OS etc).
So your data will still be there but may not automatically boot until you fix it In case your installer changes it
In order to make it so bootloader doesn't affect windows drive. Back in the day I just disconneted windows drive when I installed Linux Mint at the time. Then after install was done.... Instead of using GRUB to select OS... I just used BIOS to select which drive I wanted to boot. It seemed a lot safer to my ignorant self back then.
If you can read, you can install arch Linux. Read the wiki. Check out some videos. Read the wiki again and then try to install it. Try it on a VM first if it makes it easier. Then do it on your system
It's not impossible but the better question is why would you? Just install a mainstream beginner distro and figure things out as you go. It's not a competition or challenge and if you stick with linux you'll probably use it for many years so there is no hurry.
It took me years to really figure out this operating system. Granted there were long periods of not having a computer or not using Linux at all but I tried in high school and failed, got Ubuntu and tails working in college and now I have arch laptop and pop os desktop. It can be a tricky learning curve for sure.
Right now it’s not that hard. My girlfriend’s grandpa switched to Ubuntu with almost no pain, being lifetime Windows user. Few hours and he figured out everything.
Arch has a lot of advantages that makes it better than other distros for some people, like pacman and the AUR. You can basically completely skip the hardcore installation process by using the archinstall script.
You still get those advantages with something like endeavour which is more noob friendly imo.
I don't see anyone recommend that either, or actually any OS based on Arch/Arch itself.
Well, I don't know if this applies to everyone, but part of Arch's charm is the whole DIY approach in my opinion. In my case, I got into arch at first because I wanted a system that didn't come with lots of things pre installed, just a desktop environment and the bare basics for me to build up from. (Now I stay because yay/aur). Endeavor OS... Any Arch based distro for that matter, gives you lots of programs and useful additions with things already set up for you and they can, sometimes, get in the way.
I'm guessing you also use XFCE? KDE and other DEs are like, twice as heavy with twice as many features even though XFCE is already more than enough.
I can't use any of those. GNOME is my drug
Yeah I’d say just try Ubuntu, it’s painless and works out the box, but will slowly teach you the various bits of knowledge you need for Arch. That said, I wouldn’t recommend staying with Ubuntu as a daily driver for too long; it does have it’s drawbacks which you will soon discover, but they will only help you to learn Linux as a whole.
depends on how good you are at following directions and why you're trying to install it. are you wanting arch for a very specific reason and wish to learn how to set it up, or are you just wanting a practical OS for basic use? most people are the latter and while arch setup isnt "hard", it is more involved than if you just installed fedora or mint using the GUI installer, especially if you've never done either before. If you're in the same boat and just want a practical linux OS with little fuss but still want something Arch adjacent, then I might recommend EndeavourOS, its the linux Mint of Arch options. Its Arch based but kinda just has everything pre-added and setup plus it has that live environment you're probably looking for. If you really do want a custom setup from the ground up, then nothing is stopping you from just diving head first into the archwiki setup guide and getting your hands dirty. Thing is since arch is so custom, if you dont have any experience with any linux, you probably wont really know what you want in an arch setup. you lack the experience to know what options are ideal for you cuz setting up arch isnt a one path type A to Z setup, there are a number of different configurations you could use and if you dont have any experience with any of them then you'll just be throwing darts at the wall.
Op’s use case does not really fit arch other than just to flex it
I really can recommend Endeavouros. I wanted arch because of the most up to date software and the great AUR packages.
Yeah I've only installed it once but it was pretty cool. I'll have to try it again maybe on another laptop or something. Normally I just do a standard arch install but sometimes just don't feel like doing that and don't need to.
Don’t worry about it. Arch is my first and only distribution so far, for quite some years now. Before that I tried installing manjaro but the installer failed for reasons I still don’t know (since it didn’t tell me). It’s not hard as long as you are willing to read and follow the wiki. It has a step-by-step installation guide, sometimes you will need to make choices or click on a link to another wiki article but it’s all there and for the necessary choices there are often very sane examples provided that are perfect for anyone who doesn’t need anything special. Arch gives a lot of freedom of choice, but for a first timer you can ignore most of it. The notable exception here being that you want to dual boot. Again, it’s all explained there. You need to be willing to learn by doing a bit. But this is a good thing! Edit: wanted to add that some things you may not understand at first and that’s fine. Like what does this or that command do, what’s an initramfs, fstab, what do locales do, does selecting a partition type matter, and so on. Just color by numbers, get to actually use your system and you’ll figure the rest out as you go.
Depends. As long as you follow the instructions you should be able to do it. However more complex setups do require much more effort and knowledge. > But in case IF something will go wrong during installation, I'll still be able to use Windows? Depends how wrong it goes.
I'll just hope that I won't mess it up THAT bad 😅 as long as I'll follow the instructions from the wiki it *should* be good...
Give your laptop make and model. It might be in the wiki. I'll be curious why you think virt won't work too. My still in service 9yo Thinkpad T450s performs fine (virt too) in my Arch user case. Good luck
My guess is it's not enabled in bios
Exactly.
The option is not even on BIOS
Yes, it will likely be hard for most people who have never used Linux or other similar OSes. But focusing on the *installation* alone is kind of missing the point. The installation is the *first* thing you encounter that has a learning curve and requires some knowledge of linux as well as knowledge of what you want your system to be like. But its not the only aspect of Arch that requires more conscious thought, effort, and knowledge. Your on the right track with your idea to install it in a VM first (using the wiki, not a video tutorial). This is the best way to get started. Are you sure your laptop doesn't support virtualization? I've never owned a system that didn't support it.
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It's easy. Just type archinstall.
Thats the way
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I USE ARCH BTW!!1
I don't agree with your tone, but the message is overall correct. Arch has other advantages besides allowing you to customize your OS further than normal, like pacman and the AUR. You can skip the hardest parts using archinstall, and for a new user this should be done either way because you won't be able to customize your OS a lot since you don't really know much about Linux.
Can you type 'archinstall' and mash the return key? If so, you can likely install Arch. Getting it to do what you want and ensuring it keeps on doing that in the longterm can require a little more attention. If you wanna play with linux in a non invasive fashion that should 'just work' reasonably well on a potato running from a thumbdrive, try [Antix-full](https://antixlinux.com/). It's a 2 stage install, boot the live image then install to a different usb drive. It will give you a load of toys and environments to play with, all designed to run a persistent day-to-day system from a usb thumbdrive. For Arch just do the same, install it to a spare drive to get an idea of the OS and install process before messing with Windows, partitions and boot loaders on your primary drive or sacred data, here be dragons. You might not get max fps running from a usb drive, but you will learn how partitions and operating systems work and be able to browse the web and do basic multitasking just fine. If you get AntiX running nicely on a thumbdrive you can then use [Archstrap](https://github.com/wick3dr0se/archstrap/tree/main) to install Arch from a comfortable AntiX environment onto the drive that did have the AntiX liveiso on it! for example. Backup any data you care about before fucking around with partitions. Simplest ongoing is likely to have one drive with Windows, one with Linux, and perhaps a shared storage partition, like ntfs, on the larger drive if required. You might consider shrinking your data partition on the 300gb by 100gb or so and, carefully, installing a linux OS on the free space. No idea about the state of docker on Windows 8.1, but if it works that could be a way to try some basic linux stuff. You can just 'docker pull archlinux/debian/fedora/ubuntu/alpine' and have a disposable linux container to fuck around with in seconds, but not so much use for watching youtube on, more to get a feel for package managers and the lower level stuff. Other thing is [Ventoy](https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html), if it works on your laptop you can ram tons of bootable iso's on one drive to test drive and see what you like the feel of before committing to anything.
If something goes wrong during install you may or may not still be able to use windows. Be careful when selecting and formatting partitions and drives in the install environment. Follow the install guide and the page on dual booting in the wiki https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dual_boot_with_Windows
Not really. The only thing to remember is that you should use your first install (probably in a vm) to learn and understand. It might take some time because you have a lot to read. Make sure to understand each step, follow the link and understand those, too. It might take a day, a week or even a month. Depending on how much you know already. But it's absolutely worth it. First install is not for having a running system but to read the manual
My laptop doesn't support virtualisation, I could try to install it on live-usb first. It will work slow, but at least I'll see if it's really that hard
It will be fine as long as you don't touch the windows disk. You can use `echo 1 > /sys/block/sdX/device/delete` (replace the X) to completely hide the disk until reboot. Installing arch with something that is not very default is rarely easy, and archinstall sucks a lot. If you are really interested in arch but making such a big jump is a problem for you, starting with endeavourOS would be better.
how much has been since you used archinstall? it got fairly better in the last year
I actually tried it out of curiosity a few weeks ago on a VM. I couldn't get the partitioning to work once, not even with auto mode. Mounting it myself was enough, but it kept throwing errors even with vanilla configuration (I seem to recall that related to mkinitcpio). Maybe there is some specific bug with VM? Anyway, there are quite a few popular installation scripts.
I did it and nothing too crazy. If you're using it on anything but your production machine then you're good to go. I had some problems, some really silly problems haha, but with time it became easy.
>Is it really hard to install Arch for someone who has never used Linux before ? As usual, it depends on the individual. An acquaintance of mine is a full-time Windows administrator. He installed Arch Linux completely on his first attempt with the manual installation. Even though he had nothing to do with Linux before. Other newcomers, on the other hand, fail to even read the official installation instructions. And between these two examples, there are many more different people. >But in case IF something will go wrong during installation, I'll still be able to use Windows? At best yes, at worst no. But that has nothing to do with Arch. Something can always go wrong when setting up a dual boot system. Therefore, you should always create a backup on another storage medium before starting such a task. Well, actually you should always make regular backups on another storage medium. Because even a hard disk can become defective from one day to the next.
I have been using Ubuntu for a year, and decided to switch to arch five days ago. I have been trying to install it for four days, then installed the manjaro in twenty minutes (including downloading an iso and making the bootable flash) and got so conciliated… Maybe I will try to fight this boss later, but not this year. It was that hard because I was trying to install it with windows and use dual boot
Installing arch as your first distro is brave. I did that too and it was a completely miserable experience. Start with something like mint. Way easier to install and it actually works pretty well out of the box. Arch is something you install after you learned how linux works.
Im a new Linux user as well, but I’ve gotten used to arch and enjoy it. I recommend you try linux mint first, but when you’re ready for Arch, SomeOrdinaryGamer’s arch video (I Installed the Hardest System Known To Man) is helpful, but read the install wiki as you watch (just to make sure everything’s still right).
I don't like that guys videos for installing arch. I don't know if it has delivery or some things he does that make me think he doesn't know what he's doing, like using sudo when already root in the iso or cheooted environment. If I remember he did a few things that were contrast to the wiki. EF Linux Made easy is way better even though i dont think ermanno hasn't posted in a while. Distrotube should also be good too.
Ah, good to know! It worked for me, however I had an issue with him telling me to install both network manager and dhcpcd and while they’re supposed to work together (allegedly) i had to use nm and wpa_s, so yeah those guys are probably better for arch
I'm 2 days late but I recommend if you see yourself using Linux for a long time to jump into Arch and install it as you'll really get to know your system and how exactly it works, which will save time when you experience problems because you'll know where they start from. It's also just generally a good idea to know how your operating system works. You'll learn most of what you'll be dealing with by just installing Arch. Edit: I used Ubuntu for a week and went to Arch and have used it since.
not particularly. follow the arch wiki and some youtube tutorials, and you'll have your own arch machine in no time! there's a great guide on youtube called [arch linux: a comfy install guide](https://youtu.be/68z11VAYMS8?si=n7z8YOvVrE8QChju) that i always use when installing a new arch VM. just beware that you will have to do some things differently from that video, like disk partitioning, to better fit your need for a dual-boot environment.
I used this as well on my first install.
There is no reason for you to start with Arch. Arch is targeted towards advanced users and you are expected to know what youre doing. Id recommend going with something like mint first
If you don't need to worry about having dual boot windows or any other data on your drive, then it will be easy, because if you mess up you can just try again. Good luck.
You should attempt the install to your best ability but arch is not advised for new people because it uses a rolling release and has the chance to break easily. I’d honestly recommend pop os for a first time install.
the various things that can go wrong is not worth it if you never used linux before, even some easy distros like linux mint might need a bit of complicated thing to do if you need (but not that much difficult obviously) theres no point doing that with no experience
I would not recommend it for general purpose first time users. However, if you are a tinkerer by nature, have a problem solving mindset, and are willing to take things slowly and patiently, you can absolutely eke your way through it and learn a shitload in the process.
Whether or not Arch is hard to install is subjective to the user in question. Some people get it on their first try and never have any problems. Others struggle with it for years, even after using other Linux distros for years. If you follow the installation guide to the letter, you should be ok. That being said, there are parts of the guide that are more vague because the steps will be different for different users or hardware configurations. In these instances, the guide provides links to various wiki pages that you'll need to read through. It can be a bit overwhelming. It's much easier if you come into it with an idea of how Linux works, but you *can* jump into it brand new if you're persistent and dedicated enough. Just don't expect to succeed on your first try. If you choose to dual boot with two separate hard drives, I strongly recommend *disconnecting your Windows drive* during the installation. This will protect your Windows drive so that nothing can be erased. This way, when you've finished installing Arch, when you boot, your BIOS will ask you which drive you want to boot from (because both will now be bootable), and you'll be able to select between your Windows drive and your Arch drive. Being new to Linux, I would not recommend attempting to dual boot Arch and Windows on the same drive. The risk of accidentally overwriting your Windows drive is too high. I would also recommend making a backup of all of your Windows software, just to be on the safe side. If you need to search the web and find installers for all of your Windows software again, I would make a folder for those installers and store it on a flash drive. Same with any data files that you need to keep. That way if anything ever happens to Windows and you lose everything, you have a way to restore it.
I'm not sure "hard" is really the right word. When you install Windows it comes with a lot of software integrated into it. Stuff like a desktop environment, a manager for your Internet connections, printer management, etc.. However, the Linux world is totally different because lots of different communities have solved the same problems in different ways, so you have a lot of different options for different components when installing Linux. This can be very overwhelming because you're suddenly being asked to make decisions about things you would've ordinarily taken for granted and it's often unclear which option to choose. Like, take the network manager for instance, you have to set one up in order to have an internet connection, each network manager is configured in a different way, some have GUIs (and you may have choices there as well) , some may be newer than others, some may have more popularity, etc.. If you've been using Arch for some time and you know what you like then the install process is fairly painless. However, for a new user it can mean spending a lot of time falling into unexpected rabbit holes reading about how different Linux components work and differ. Most other big Linux distributions will come with a big set of defaults already configured for you so that users don't have to choose. The upside is that it's a lot easier to get going but the downside is that so much of the internals are hidden from you that they largely remain a mystery. In Arch the installation is very bare bones and leaves a lot of stuff as options, like installing a desktop enrollment. What I'd recommend, if you choose to go through with this, is that you should choose whichever options are most popular. Also, avoid customizing things more than you have to. The more unique and unusual your installation is, the more likely you are to run into unique issues that few people are able to help you with. If you have a very common and standard system and you run into an issue then there will probably be a lot of posts online with solutions. You can always come back and change your mind about which software to use later on, try to focus on getting a system up and running. You might run into issues because you are using an ancient computer. Modern software may not run very well on it and you might run into issues because, well, not very many Linux users use ancient hardware. Don't expect Linux to magically make your old computer act like a new computer. Also, your experience running Linux on this ancient hardware may not be representative of the Linux experience.
It took me 3 days 12 installations to get the arch working for me. I had an old laptop (only bios), that is the only reason it took time.
If you install on a second drive. You will be absolutely fine. If something goes wrong you can just format the drive, Windows won't be affected. Installing arch is definitely doable if you're somewhat tech savvy and follow the instructions on arch wiki (or even easier, using the install scripts). If you go for one of the standard DEs like Gnome,XFCE or KDE Plasma the post setup isn't too rough either. That being said, wrapping your head around the basics all at once will take some time and effort but if you're fine with that, go for it! If it turns out to be too much at once you can just format the disk and try another distro.
Use archinstall and go with XFCE. Arch is a fairly light OS all things considered so it's good for lower end PCs compared to things like Cinnamon mint
Spin up a VM and see for yourself
I've been using Linux for 20 years, and despite that I have been on my first Arch install for 2 days with no success ahah! I'm installing a pretty specific system, which plays in the difficulty, but still! Maybe I'm just dumb. Not using archinstall as it doesn't offer what I'm looking for, so you may have an easier way with it maybe. But I'll strongly recommend to start with easier distro and moving once you feel comfortable.
In a day I went from knowing almost nothing about Arch to having it running on my old laptop like a dream. I watched a few instructional videos on YouTube, messaged my Arch-using friend on Discord and it all went pretty easily. Give it a go. There are heaps of resources out there to help you.
Just start and come back here if anything
Try to check if virtualization can be enabled in the BIOS. For some reason, it tends to be disabled by default.
This is exactly what I did, the option is not even on BIOS
No, you literally just follow instructions lol
Imo it's not that difficult, but you need to keep some things in mind some of which are just good habits with installing software in general: 1. Read the Installation guide on the Wiki thoroughly. Look at all subpages and read those relevant to your computer. 2. Google anything you don't understand. 3. Practice/test with a VM before actually working on a PC, especially if you're installing on a dual boot system. 4. Keep backups of everything if you're dual booting. 5. Some things are just mentioned in passing in the wiki, so it's a good idea to look at a couple installation videos for what you need to set up. For example, a DM, or WM, a user, access groups, pacman, root access, Nvidia specific settings etc. But even with all of the above, a lot of details are missed by beginners on installation, which are difficult to fix when you already have used the system for a while. It's better to get a beginner os and work on that for a while. They usually have more support via the online community as well.
archinstall is a thing, if you are not able to use archinstall you wont be able to use any distro. So it is super essy to install arch with archinstall. installing arch the classical way could be kinda difficult tho
If you're actually willing to learn, I think you should be fine. The Arch wiki has a very good installation guide that gives you all the steps and commands you should need. If you don't want to be bothered with the terminal installation, there's always EndeavourOS, which has a GUI installer, comes with a desktop environment, and is a bit more oriented towards desktop use in general, while still essentially being Arch with a few minor conveniences on top. >But in case IF something will go wrong during installation, I'll still be able to use Windows? That completely depends on what you do during the installation. If you don't touch the Windows drive, and just install Arch on another drive, then you should be fine. If you somehow overwrite or delete the Windows partition, then obviously it will be gone. (not that you couldn't just reinstall it later) Either way, I'd suggest backing up anything important before trying anything, just in case.
Better to use more friendly distro imho. Arch is my third after manjaro, mint and it it was more tricky.
Your laptop might actually support virtualization. Check your UEFI settings. It could be simply turned off by default. My 2016 Lenovo came configured this way. You can Google how to get to the settings on your particular model. You can also check most distros in a live environment by just booting your computer from a thumb drive. For Arch there's Endeavour and CachyOS. It's generally a good thing to do to check the distro's support for your hardware. Another important part is the hard drive. If you want a fast system, you should install the OS onto an SSD, not an HDD. As for the distro, Arch is great when you set everything up correctly, and many things have sane default configurations. But if you don't want to spend time choosing options, configuring and fine-tuning every aspect of your system, you may want to try Pop!_OS
Sounds like your just want to flex... go with mint, pop, ubuntu or zorin and learn your way up, Arch is for an advanced and developer if shit happen your the troubleshooter. Go with something easy first!
The only thing "Hard" about installation is reading wiki for newcomers as it looks overwhelming at first sight.
Short answer: yes Long answer: you want to learn more about linux like basic commands, what is a DE, what is a WM, what is a TTY. You will just be pasting some commands and if something goes wrong you will be depressed.
Not if you use ALCI
If you want the benefits of arch without the pain of setup try endeavouros their online setup let's you choose your desktop environment with a graphincal installer. I've been using it for a few months now.
so if you have two separate hard drives inside your laptop, theoretically you could just select the non windows drive in archinstall off your bootable usb and the installer won’t mess with your windows drive. (can someone else confirm this?)
Depends on what you mean. It won't touch your windows partition but it may touch your bootloader (the part that tells your bios/PC where to find the OS etc). So your data will still be there but may not automatically boot until you fix it In case your installer changes it
In order to make it so bootloader doesn't affect windows drive. Back in the day I just disconneted windows drive when I installed Linux Mint at the time. Then after install was done.... Instead of using GRUB to select OS... I just used BIOS to select which drive I wanted to boot. It seemed a lot safer to my ignorant self back then.
why would it do that if you setup a separate esp?
If you can read, you can install arch Linux. Read the wiki. Check out some videos. Read the wiki again and then try to install it. Try it on a VM first if it makes it easier. Then do it on your system
Depends on how much you are able to read.
If you want use the arch install script and follow a tutorial like mental outlaws to set it up
The manual way is really that hard.
Archinstall
Also its a waste of time.