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The situation of my disks and partitions:

disk 1

  • 260 MB --->EFI system Partition
  • OS(C:) 118.48 GB NTFS --->Boot ,Page File, Crash Dump,Primary Disk Partition
  • 499 MB --->Recovery Partition

disk 2

  • DATA(D:) 833.85 GB NTFS --->Primary Disk Partition
  • New partition(F:) 48.83 GB NTFS --->Primary Disk Partition
  • unallocated 48.83 GB

EDIT: disk1 and disk2 are both GUID (GPT)

Where will the boot loader be installed if I choose "install alongside windows 10" option and let ubuntu install on the partition i prepared for it (F:)? I am afraid of messing up my windows 10...... Or what method is the best for the situation of my laptop? Can any pro teach me how to deal with this situation? Thx a lot!

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It depends on how you boot the installer. If you boot it in EFI/UEFI mode, it should go on the EFI System Partition (ESP). If you boot it in BIOS/CSM/legacy mode, it will probably go to the MBR of /dev/sda, but might conceivably go to the MBR of /dev/sdb. Either way, that's probably not what you want....

Backing up, in a dual-boot scenario, it's important that both the OSes boot in the same mode (EFI/UEFI vs. BIOS/CSM/legacy). You've summarized your disk data rather than provided screen shots or cut-and-pasted program output, so it's impossible to tell the partition table type on /dev/sdb, and although /dev/sda is probably GPT (judging by the presence of an ESP and the Windows C: partition), I can't be 100% certain of this. The partition table type is important because Windows ties it to the boot mode -- Windows installs to MBR disks only in BIOS mode and to GPT disks only in EFI mode. Thus, you should check this detail, and if there's any doubt in your mind, post more details to clarify the situation.

Once you know your Windows boot mode, run the Ubuntu installer in the same mode. This can be difficult if you're unfamiliar with booting modern EFI-based computers. See my page on the CSM for advice on this mater, focused on forcing an EFI-mode boot.

Also, note that the "install alongside" option is often missing on EFI-based computers. You should be sure to disable Fast Startup and disable hibernation in Windows. (Note that many EFIs provide a feature with a name like "fast start." This is unrelated to the Windows feature that you must disable.) Disabling these Windows features may cause the "install alongside" option to appear, but if not, you should follow instructions to use the "something else" option.

Finally, the "install alongside" option will not know to use the partition you've created in Windows, so if you want to use something like that, you should delete that partition so that there's sufficient free space on the disk. IIRC, the Ubuntu installer will then show another option ("install in free space" or something like that); however, I'm not 100% positive of that. You might need to use the "something else" option to create partitions in that free space, and definitely to install to a partition you created in Windows.

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  • I would make sure Disk 2 is gpt partitioned. Some even disconnect Windows drive to make sure Ubuntu install is only on the second drive. If second drive is MBR, use Rod Smith's gdisk to convert to gpt. Or fully back up your data in the NTFS partition on Disk 2. rodsbooks.com/gdisk/mbr2gpt.html
    – oldfred
    Feb 2, 2016 at 23:47
  • Rod Smith thx for your reply, I just checked that disk1 and disk2 are both GUID (GPT). Sorry for insufficient information.
    – Nate Lo
    Feb 4, 2016 at 11:21

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