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I want to create a bootable image of Ubutnu on my external 1TB hard drive (Seagate).
The problem is, I have important files on it (about 200GB), and mounting an ISO file to it, as you know, requires a complete format.
Is there a way to create a new partition on the hard drive, and using it to mount the Ububntu ISO file to it, and keep my files untouched in a separate partition, and then boot my computer from that partition?

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That is one of the standard install options. You carve out a new partition in the free space on the drive. A few warnings:

  • Backup the contents of the external drive because it is easy to accidentally wipe it.
  • If it is a Windows drive (formatted NTFS or one of the FAT formats), do a complete defragmentation including free space first to ensure that none of the snippets of your files are in an area that will become part of the new partition.
  • After carving out a new partition, Windows will sometimes get indigestion over the change. You can generally fix this by running chkdsk /f which will clean up any corruption.
  • Read up on partitioning to understand the options.
  • For the Linux partition, you will want to format it as one of the Ext formats (Linux uses additional file attributes that deal with file ownership and relies on the Ext file system for that)
  • Make sure you specify that the Linux partition will be a boot partition (it is one of the items you specify when you define the partition).
  • Linux can read and use the Windows file systems but Windows cannot recognize the Ext file systems. If you want Windows to be able to access files on the Linux partition, install a program like Ext2Fsd, which adds those file systems to Windows.
  • If you want a dual boot (when you start up, you will get a menu to select whether to boot Windows or Linux), install the bootloader (GRUB) on the C: drive, which will usually be identified as "sda" in Linux. If you don't want to modify your C: drive, install the bootloader on the external drive (probably identified as "sdb" in Linux unless you also have other physical hard drives). To boot Linux in that case, you have two choices. Go into the BIOS settings and make the USB drive (assuming it is connected via USB), a higher priority than the internal drive in the boot device selection order. In that case, it will default to booting the external drive whenever it is plugged in. The external drive will contain a boot selection menu, so you can select Windows from there if you want (dual boot without modifying your C: drive). The other option is to have the C: drive a higher priority and use the boot selection option that flashes briefly when you start up (typically F12 or Esc), to select the boot device.

Edit: Tried to comment on your response but it was too long for the comment box so I'm adding it here.

Sure, you can do it without backing up your data if you want to risk potentially losing it all (and I speak from experience doing that). There are a couple of inexpensive options to protect your data. One is to purchase an extra hard disk. You can find 200GB to 500 GB drives for under $50. If you will be using it just for backup, you don't need the latest, super-fast technology, just the cheapest name brand drive you can find.

Depending on the nature of the files, you may be able to compress it to a much smaller size in an archive, like a ZIP file, and save it on a reasonable number of DVDs. You won't reduce the size significantly for images, multi-media files, downloaded software, or compressed backup files. You can save a lot of space with things that are "documents" (documents, spreadsheets, etc), or where you have huge numbers of small files.

If your C: drive has 200 GB free, save a copy there temporarily. You can also reduce your risks by combining strategies. Temporarily copy stuff that won't compress much to C: and ZIP compressible stuff onto DVDs. At least look at the contents on your external drive and triage. Determine what you could replace externally if necessary (like downloaded software), what is critical that you could not replace or do without (back that up somewhere), and what you are willing to take a chance on losing.

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  • Thanks for the help, fixer1234. I can't backup 200GB, is it doable without backing up my data? Sep 10, 2014 at 17:20
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    My reply was too big for the comment box, so I added it as an edit on the previous post.
    – fixer1234
    Sep 10, 2014 at 18:19

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