Installing windows and unix on two hard drives on the same computer

Question

I know this might be a noob question, but I need to install windows and a Unix system on the same machine. I've got two hard drives, so I can install one on each. Just not sure if maybe I would be better installing a VM with Linux on my windows system.

I'm not sure what is the best thing, all I need in the long run is access to writing C programs for Unix.

Any help would be nice. Thanks.

Answer 1

Whether or not you should install them separately is a tricky question. If you have an older computer with limited resources, definitely steer away from VMs and install one OS on each drive. On the other hand, if you have a newer machine with lots of RAM (minimum 4gb if you're running Windows 7 with a VM) and a decent CPU, then you should be fine using a VM for casual programming.

Given that you have to install both OS's either way, personally I'd go with one on each drive (as long as you're not short on drive space). It's easier to set up, and you get the full power of the computer for both OS's. If you're still doubtful, read on.

If you're looking to do serious C programming on the Linux machine (not just develop for Linux, but actually develop on Linux), then I'd go for separate OS's, regardless of your computer's capabilities. That way you'll get full use of all your resources when compiling etc. Also, if you have any thoughts of using Linux regularly, then it makes sense to give it its own drive.

If you only ever work in Windows (including development), you only need to test the execution of your programs in Linux, you don't have any intention of doing anything else in Linux, and your computer is good enough, then you can save yourself some disk space and use a VM.

Tip on dual boot:

If you decide to install them separately, make sure you install Windows first. That way during the Linux install grub/lilo can detect it and automagically add a Windows bootloader entry for you.

Answer 2

Using a VM will allow you to use both machines, real and virtual, at the same time.
This might be preferable for cross-system development, but harder on physical resources.

Separate hard disks only allow booting one OS at a time, and accessing files from the other OS might need some extra work.

A VM is not as flexible as a real machine, and you may encounter problems (for example) for resizing its virtual hard disks.

It all depends on the type of development that you will be doing.