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I have a drive with ubuntu 12.04 currently on it.

Can I and if I can then how, install Windows 7 on that same drive without removing the ubuntu installation? (being able to use both)

Please notice that I already have ubuntu 12.04.

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    Sounds stupid, but did you already make a backup?
    – don.joey
    May 10, 2013 at 10:59
  • Suppose you have to make a partition for win7, and after install you have to run Ubuntu and fix GRUB to make a correct grub menu. Think it will boot directly to win7 after installation. Use Ubuntu Live to fix the GRUB... May be wrong here, therefor a comment :P
    – aXept
    May 10, 2013 at 11:05
  • @Private Why I need to? haven't tried nothing yet..
    – Dan Barzilay
    May 10, 2013 at 11:07
  • @aXept how do I make that partition correctly? sorry but I have no knowledge in the subject
    – Dan Barzilay
    May 10, 2013 at 11:08
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    askubuntu.com/questions/2596/comparison-of-backup-tools
    – don.joey
    May 10, 2013 at 14:16

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First you need a partition to install to. If your hdd has enough space, use GParted to shrink your existing partitions and create a new NTFS one. Do this while running from a livecd/usb It's a really bad idea to modify mounted partitions.Also, it is always a good idea to backup your data first.

Now that you have a suitable partition, go ahead and install win7 as you would otherwise and select the said partition as destination. The windows installer will mess up your MBR and boot loader so after completion of the installation process you need to repair grub. There are some fine tutorials in this site. Just search for "repair grub"

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  • I'll try that, thank you, do you know of a good backup tool?
    – Dan Barzilay
    May 10, 2013 at 11:40
  • There are plenty of backup tools but my favorite is Clonezilla. I have a dedicated 1GB flash drive with it in my pocket. It can handle almost any type of partition plus it supports compression. Of course you can use GParted that comes pre-installed in all Ubuntu liveCDs, but to my knowledge it does not support compression and copies partitions in block mode, which is somewhat less efficient than file mode. It really boils down to which program you feel comfortable using.
    – hmayag
    May 10, 2013 at 17:36

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