Got an old laptop from a friend I’d like to rejuvenate, the plan is to set up a light distro so it wouldn’t be as slow as it is right now with windows 10.

Now, I’m aware windows updates can fuck up a dual boot system, so i have a few questions about how to minimize the threat of that happening.

What i think of doing is running a few scans to check the disk, then setting up Linux Mint, because it is beginner friendly, and (relatively) light weight.

What I’d need help with is trusted guides and also tips for setting up dual booting, I’m sure I’ll need to do disk partitioning and I’ve done that before but I’d still want to make sure I’m doing it correctly.

Any help would be welcome.

  • @BlackRoseAmongThorns @daisyKutter Swap is a place on disk that gets used as a slow, temporary place to put memory when your RAM is full. Windows uses a swap file on an existing partition, while Linux generally uses a dedicated partition instead (although you can use a swap file if you really want to).

    Appropriate sizes for the swap partition are hotly debated. Twice the size of your RAM if you have a small amount, or the same size as your RAM if you have lots is a good approximation.