do i need to format my whole hard disk in case of dual booting kali with windows 10? and if i want to have kali linux as my only operating system then do i need to boot again ?? or somehow just format my windows system? in that case also do i need to format my whole hard disk?

You won't want to format the entire disk if you want to keep windows. Use windows Disk Management to shrink one of the windows partitions to make unallocated space on which to install your Linux system.

You might read the link below to the Kali site, especially the section "Is Kali Linux right for you". As they say, it is very specialized and designed for use for computer forensics and is a very poor choice for a basic Desktop system.

http://docs.kali.org/introduction/sh...use-kali-linux

It would be more practical to create a Kali usb as explained at their site below, particularly if you want to use it to learn computer forensics.

http://docs.kali.org/downloading/kal...sb-persistence

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Hi, welcome to LQ,

If you want to dual boot, you will obviously want to keep the windows. Like Yancek said, you need to shrink the Windows partition and then create your Linux partitions (for / and swap) in the unallocated space.

Now, if you want to have only the Linux on the machine, then you can delete all partitions, except EFI partition. Then make a new partition table. But generally, it is safer to keep the Windows in a corner, just in case. I use Linux all the time on 4 different machines, but I kept the original Windows there in a corner in a shrinked partition. You never know.

Concerning the Kali Linux, I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner. There are better Linux distros out there to learn. Try looking at Mint, Debian, CentOS, Slackware.

Do tell us what your decision is. Someone can guide you through the installation process.

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