Why do some folks say you should back up your computer before installing Linux and make sure you have the Windows recovery disk.

For some people Linux can mess up installing Linux and you will not be able to boot into Windows or Linux?

At the worst, if one inadvertently clicks on the wrong thing during partitioning or select the wrong drive when using dd to create a bootable usb your data is gone, your windows is gone. At the least if one decides they don't want linux on your computer and go the wrong way about deleting linux, your left with an unbootable computer. Therefore the need for a windows recovery disk and the backing up of data. Also some installers will do the opposite of what you think they would do and play havoc on your system. However, if your one who never makes mistakes then no need to take said advice.

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You should back up whatever data you have that is important to you before installing any operating system, also before modifying partitions. It doesn't matter if it is Linux, windows or some other operating system. Since the vast majority of windows home/personal computer users don't install their OS, but it comes pre-installed, it usually isn't a factor.

It usually isn't the Linux installer for whatever OS but the person who is doing the installing that creates problems.

You should always have a windows recovery disk available if you are making any significant partition or system changes to windows, at least if you want to keep it.

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Beware UEFI ... Hide in your VirtualBox
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=222084
https://linuxquestions.org/questions...rtition-555857
https://linuxquestions.org/questions...9;s-4175558237
https://linuxquestions.org/questions...ost-4175495876
&on&on

I second what yancek said.

You should back up crucial data before installing any OS or making any significant changes, such as changing partition sizes.

Installs can go wrong. Heck, you could have a power failure during mid-install that leaves your computer a whimpering invalid with a damaged brain.

Actually, you should back up crucial data to external media on a regular basis. (It's not a backup if it's not on external media.)

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i was going to say "to cover their a**es", but really it's this:
you need to be aware that you are doing this on your own risk.
many people aren't, and a common joke on linux forums is "i'd demand a refund if i were you"!

I'd go so far as to say NEVER take advice from someone that DOESN'T advise you have a full (and more importantly) TESTED backup before doing anything major with O/S or disks.

Always be prepared to lose (and not complain about losing!) anything you don't have backed up on different media AND off-site.

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When, in fiction or life, has anyone ever said" OH NO, My world is ended because I HAVE A BACKUP!"?
You may regret the time to take a backup, but never as much as you will regret NOT taking the time for making a backup if you discover you NEEDED one!

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In answer to your latter question, "Yes" the system could be "bricked" which means it would not boot into any OS.

One perspective is instead of having a backup, being prepared to contend with those types of catastrophic occurrences.

In other words, let's say you have a completely throw away system. Something which was not even yours in the first place, and also nothing where it has data you care about at all. So you can figure, what would be the big deal, and in fact your preference would be wipe that system entirely.

Meanwhile, something bad could happen with any attempted install. There are a variety of reasons why this might happen.

What might you need to do in these cases?

• You may need to get on the web and search, or pose questions on a site like LQ
• You may need to download and burn an image for a USB or other type of media
• You may need to get into the BIOS setup menu for your computer, and you may need to upgrade the BIOS for your computer

These are a few possible things which you may need to do in order to recover from a failed install.

Therefore you may need extra media, USB, DVD, or other. You likely will need a second computer to be able to download information or search for answers.

It is perfectly fine if you knowingly intend to wipe a system.

However since you've not given much background on your knowledge and experience, or any particular circumstance, then people have no idea. Therefore a good recommendation is to tell people to make sure they have backed up their data before they attempt any changes to their OS.

the short answer is: the installation process itself (including Windows, Linux, whatever) makes changes on your system which cannot be reverted (unless you have a good backup).

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It's not as bad as that! If you really don't give a damn about the data (because it's not yours) and know you don't want to use the present OS ever again, all you need to be safe is a System Rescue CD or pendrive. You can always boot from that and salvage your system.

If you think something like "oh, it will never happen to me", that's what I thought the first time I used the dd command. And guess what, well, I did wipe out one of my hard drive's, everything on it was lost.

But (from memory), I DID have a backup, yay!

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Hi,

Backup of a system is important at all times, not just for installation/modification of a system. Backup & restore advice given to a MS Windows user who is venturing into a unknown world can be a means to restore to the point of the backup after making a mistake during modifications which can be very unsettling. Especially to someone who is not familiar with proper admin techniques.

Linux Complete Backup and Recovery HOWTO
Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

Because shrinking your Windows partition without data loss, re-partitioning the drive, and installing a new boot loader are all "dangerous" operations. If anything goes wrong, it could brick the system to the point that you can't boot into any OS and lose any and all data contained on all of your partitions. I'm very experienced with Linux, yet when I went to install Linux in dual boot next to Windows 10 on a new laptop recently, the installer borked the process bad enough that I had to completely reformat and reinstall Windows three times. Yes, you read that right, the OpenSUSE installer broke the bootloader to the point that I had to reinstall Windows from scratch, three times in a row. After the third wipe and reinstall, I gave up on OpenSUSE on that laptop and installed Mint instead, which went just fine. If I hadn't made a backup of Windows before this, I would have been hosed.

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Did you find out why it would not install the installer? And Why you had to use the Windows recovery disk to format and reinstall Windows three times!!!!!