Never mind

Never mind. Fifteen Characters

Yes, you can do that, but instead of physically removing the hard drive you might want to connect one externally and boot from there. This will affect performance but you will be able to try it out, and you don't need an entire drive just a simple USB stick.

Note that this method is meant for a test run and to launch the installer. It won't be as performant and all files created will be gone on the next reboot. If you want a more lasting experience you can consider a dual-boot method, where you install ZorinOS alongside Windows and choose which one you'd like to use on startup. The downside of course is that you'll have less disk space available and it's a bit more complicated to setup.

A third option, if you already have an additional drive, you can clone your Windows drive onto the external one. Then, install ZorinOS as usual. If it doesn't work out for you, use the external drive with the Windows image to clone it back, as if nothing ever happened. Note that for this method to work the external drive must be of at least the same size as the one installed in your computer.

Or, if you really just want to replace drives physically, that's also perfectly fine.

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Alternatively, use Rescuezilla to backup your Windows 11, or use a Windows dedicated backup tool such as Acronis, or try the free ones, from Easeus or Paragon.

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Swapping drives is how I started getting into it - long, long ago lol

Today, you can still do that - but, with Secure Boot, you'll have to toggle that. That's about the only thing I can think of, really. Or just leave it off, that works as well :wink: But, if you're in an environment where that might be an issue, that might be an issue.

Secure Boot - prevents random booting from external devices, other than the signed HD / SSD in the system - or the boot volume. It's still possible to set this up with Linux but, can be a little difficult with driver installs.

So, if you're in an environment where you may have potential thieves of information - disabling Secure Boot can be an issue for sensitive information. But, Secure Boot is normally a Windows thing, usually auto-set by the installer when doing the install. I have used Secure Boot with Linux, specifically Zorin 16.3 - and have Nvidia GPU, so that was always a pain to update.

That's all :+1:

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I did a guide for dual booting that works well, then installing Refind for your boot source once in Zorin is installed - allows you to easily choose where to boot, and also the choice to go into bios or even window advanced settings - can be configured many ways.

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