I will be doing a clean install of Core on a Lenovo T540p (disk wipe). I've done 2 complete malware scans (Bitdefender & MalwareBytes) and have backed up all my files on an external drive. I've also made a list of all apps I want to reinstall afterwards. Is there any other prep I should do before proceeding? Thanks!
Doing a clean install implies to me that you don't intend to have Windows on this computer. If that's correct, then you'll have an easier time if you disable secure boot in your computer's BIOS, and fast boot as well.
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The most important thing is always to have a backup of your data. Once that's done, you can decide to do things like creating dedicated partitions if you want.
When you're done with the installation you can check this thread:
Some things may be slightly out of date but it's good to have a rough idea of what's possible.
If you're not very familiar with Linux, just take it slow. The system should work fine for most use cases out of the box. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
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Turn off Secure Boot and Fast Boot in BIOS. Check if Your BIOS is in UEFI or Legacy Mode. If Your USB Stick is 32GB or smaller format it to FAT32. If You create the Bootstick on a Windows Machine, I would recommend Rufus to do that; it is a good Tool. Depending if Your BIOS is in UEFI or Legacy Mode, choose on the Option ''Partition Sheme'' GPT for UEFI Mode or MBR of Legacy.
Take Your Time for Installation and set up the System after the Installation.
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Thanks, Locklear - exactly the kind of thing I was looking for! (I'm guessing that would be done right before the final Windows shutdown?) And yep, giving Windows the forever boot, haha... 
Thanks, zenzen! Great info. My only question for now is, for an individual with simple needs (other than perhaps a larger than average music collection) and a 500 GB SSD drive, what (if any) would be the advantages of partitions?
The biggest advantage of partitions is that if something goes horribly wrong with your install down the line, having your data in a separate partition from your operating system gives you the freedom to wipe the operating system partition and not touch your data.
You can do it any time, really, as long as it's before the Linux install--unless you're using Bitlocker encryption, in which case don't touch it until you're 100% ready to get rid of Windows. Turning off Secure Boot while Bitlocker is on will lose you your data unless you have the recovery key.
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The main purpose is simply to contain data into a limited space in the drive.
For example, if your ever growing music collection fills up the entire drive, you may find one day that your computer won't boot properly or is unable to install new updates. By creating a partition for user data, only your partition would fill up, without affecting the rest of the system.
Another example may come from misbehaving processes that end up writing a ton of logs uncontrollably, which over time can lead to a similar result, or Yet another example when installing too many applications using Flatpak packages. This is a special package format that has one particular downside in that it takes up a lot of space in the drive.
There's is also another advantage of having a dedicated partition for your personal files: if you need to re-install Zorin OS or another Linux distribution, you can do so without having to erase your personal files. This makes it much easier when "distro hopping" or re-installing just for the sake of having a fresh start.
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If there is any chance you may want to go back to Windows, make sure you have used media creation tool to give you a Windows installation USB.
FYI. Some basic Zorin pre-installation advice here: Before you install
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Hi and Welcome.
Don't forget to download the Unofficial Manual from here:
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I agree with having this on hand, however using the ISOs available from Microsoft on a Ventoy drive will also work. Speaking of, I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned yet. @FreeLilBird, despite the recommendation on Zorin's install page, avoid Balena Etcher for making your install USB. It's caused a lot of problems for a lot of people. Use Ventoy or Rufus. Their UIs aren't as friendly, but people here will happily walk you through use if needed, and they won't damage your USB drives in a way that requires extra steps to repair. (I had to help a friend of mine undo Balena Etcher's damage just two days ago.)
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Thx Locklear. Unfortunately I've already used balena to make my stick :(. But I was successfully able to use the "Try Zorin" option with it - is that a good sign or no? How can I tell if it's damaged? What would u suggest at this point? Can I wipe it & start over? I do have another stick I can wipe & use if necessary.
Thanks everyone for the fantabulous replies & resources - most excellent. One question - when exactly are partitions created? I would like to do this, but it's something I know zero about, so I would really appreciate any input on how many/which partitions I need (I don't use hibernate), size of each on a 500 GB SSD, etc. TYSM!
If it worked and you got to the screen to try or install Zorin, then you're in luck and it went fine. You might need to do some stuff if you try to reuse that USB and can't, but you can worry about that later.
The size and number of your partitions really depends on your use case. Manually partitioning can get a little complicated so I'll defer to someone who uses that option; I typically only manually partition things post-install, but you're going to want to do it during the install process probably.
(I partition post install because I'm pretty tolerant of total system breakage and reinstall. Everything @Zenzen said above was true, and it will help with your reliability. If you have the patience, wait for advice from someone who knows what they're doing with partitioning at install.)
Here is a help site from Zorin for manually partitioning:
You can create the partitions during installation.
I haven't used this function for installing because it is more difficult than the automatic installation (and I reinstalled my OS few times at the beginning of my Linux journey to find out what are the differences between the distributions, desktopenvironments and which one is running well on my old system... so it wasn't worth to me spending more time on it and making mistakes). I prefer a separate data partition for personal datas offside the partitions of the OS. It can also be created after the installation.
Maybe you want to wait until Zorin 18 is released until you make the install or until you adapt everything to your wishes because it will contain much newer packages and some settings may not work when you upgrade to 18.
Edit: Sorry, the link is not helpful.
The Zorin help site doesn't show partitioning Zorin as single boot with separate boot, root and home partition (and swap).
You can create them at any time, including during the installation of Zorin OS. Since you mention that you are going to wipe the drive entirely, I assume you already have your data backed up elsewhere?
If so, you can follow the instructions from this post to install Zorin OS with a dedicated partition for your user files:
How much space to allocate to each partition is up to you, as it depends on how many files you have, software you install, etc. For a 500 GB drive you can allocate about 200 GB for the system and the rest for the home partition (steps 5 and 6, respectively). That should give you a good balance to get started at least.
And no, you don't need to worry about what Flatpaks are. It's just particular way of packaging software that has a few caveats here and there, sometimes useful but sometimes annoying to work around.
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You don't need to create the Partitions manually. That can all make the Installer automatically. You will come to an Installation Screen what offers the Options:
- Erase disk
- Something else
The Erase Disk Option - like the Name says - erase the Disk and then install Zorin on it and creates automatically the Partitions. So, You don't have to do anything.
IF You should want to create them out of the Experience, choose the ''Something else'' Option. Then You get a Partition Table. To keep it simple, You have to create 2 Partitions:
- An EFI-Partition in FAT32 Format with 512mb
- For the Rest, You take the Mount Point
/and format it inext4
But as I already said: You don't have to do it that Way. You can let the Installer make that automatically.
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Thanks, @Ponce-de-Leon... good to hear I don't have to do it manually! So with the automatic creation during install, it just creates 2 partitions, correct? An OS partition and a personal data partition? And with this option, I don't get to choose the size of each, but can change them later if I want?
Yes to two partitions, no to a personal data partition. It'll create the necessary EFI partition @Ponce-De-Leon mentioned and one big partition at /. (/ is the Linux equivalent of "My Computer" in a sense: literally everything is under it, even external devices.) Your personal data will go in /home/username, (obviously replace username with your actual username) but that's just a directory (aka folder), not a partition. If you want to partition for your data after the fact, you have a couple of good options and some bad ones.
The good options are:
- Make a partition after install and set it up so that it goes under
/home/username--literally inside your home folder, even though your home folder isn't a partition itself. This is the simpler option. You mentioned a large music collection, so you might make yourself a big partition and have it go in/home/username/music - Make one or more partitions after install and move your home directory to one of those partitions, and possibly your music collection to another one.
- Manually partition during install after all, using the advice above, but also setting up home and music partitions at that time.
The bad options would be to create your partition and put it in a strange place. Normally, you don't want to make folders under / outside of home unless you have a reason. The Linux directory structure has very specific purposes for its folders. That said, it's normal for external devices like USB drives to mount under /media or sometimes /mnt.
(If some of the above seems confusing, like having a partition underneath something that's not a partition, I'll explain it this way: In Linux, basically everything is represented as a file--even your computer's hardware. I used the word "mount" above. That means telling the computer to access a storage device like a hard drive or SSD, and make its files available. You can mount a device as though it were a directory, almost anywhere. To compare it to Windows, instead of having two hard drives called C: and D:, you'd have C:, but the second hard drive would be C:\drive2 or something.
So for my example under home, you'd mount your music partition at /home/username/music, and music wouldn't be a REAL directory under /home/username, but a reference to your partition.)
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Just a reminder that you don't need to create additional partitions, it's just something that you can do. If you find it confusing or overwhelming, choose "Erase Disk" option during the installation, and let it do its job. You can always do this at a later point or re-install from scratch, if you find that you need to create additional partitions.
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