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I'm sick and tired of Windows 8 and have decided to take the chance to change my operating system for the first time, ever. I'm worried about my files though; I have no way to backup my files onto an external hard drive, and I possess no disk capable of holding that magnitude of data. If I download/install Ubuntu as a new operating system, will my computer's current files remain untouched? And is there any other worries I should be aware of before pursuing this change?

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In theory, you would back up your data and install Ubuntu. Installing any operating system is a major change to your computer and although not expected, there is no guarantee you will not have data loss.

For details see : Installing Ubuntu Alongside a Pre-Installed Windows with UEFI

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Short answer: don't do that: yes, you can lose your data. Even if you don't install Ubuntu.

Long(er) answer: you should backup your data (find a way. A bunch of cheap DVD+r discs --- double copy of each one). I do daily mirroring across two machine, weekly backup on an external disk, and bi-monthly backup on DVD. I used the backup at most a couple of way; it was well worth doing it.

In principle, Ubuntu could be installed alongside your operating system (if you have space on disk and if you can repartition it) without any data loss. But a lot of things can go astray (google is your friend for both cases), so I would never do anything so potentially disruptive without a good backup. And as I said, your disk could die even using only windows (or any other OS), or you can type the wrong command and wipe everything.

Just my 2c after 30+ years working on and with computers...

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