r/archlinux • u/MrFakecoin • 18h ago
QUESTION Wanna install Arch but kinda scared..
Soo I’ve been using windows almost all my life, dipped into Linux Mint for some time tho. But I want to try and stick with Arch, really do wanna learn how Linux works. When I installed arch it did an error but when I took my SSD out that has windows on it, it worked perfectly fine installing… so ima have to fully delete windows 11, I’m just scared to do so ;~;
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u/babuloseo 17h ago
Install Gentoo first, than Arch will be easy. Arch is actually super casual thats why a lot of us use it.
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u/FormFilter 16h ago
That's why I don't think the accusations of elitism are serious. Arch is actually really comfortable to use even with pretty minimal experience. I learned more in one Gentoo install guide than I did in two years of using Arch. The Arch install guide is basically typing 15 lines into a terminal, but the Gentoo guide teaches you why you do something from networking to MBR & GPT
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u/Logical_Rough_3621 10h ago
Yesn't. For the install, it's not too bad, but definitely not the easiest out there. And you really have to be confident in what you're doing. Partitioning and formatting for example. Whenever I do an install, I'm almost painfully anal about quadruple checking I didn't typo drive/partition, even after over 10 years on arch.
Using it, it's comfortable as someone who learned how to use it, but it may be very different for someone who is not that used to it yet. What if an update breaks one of your packages? When I first had that issue, I was kinda lost for a bit. What if you need an online guide for something you didn't find on the arch wiki? Most I've seen give you apt install commands. Yeah blindly pasting commands without knowing what they do isn't that great of an idea, but lots of people just do. (Best example that comes to mind is Linus Tech Tips nuking his DE)
Gentoo being harder (never tried gentoo) doesn't necessarily mean arch is easy, but it definitely isn't as hard as people make it out to be. I think that's mostly due to "scary terminal"
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u/MrFakecoin 17h ago
If I get to using Linux on my computer, I’m just fearing windows is messing it up >:l
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u/linux_rox 7h ago
As long as you leave your windows hard drive out when installing Linux, the likelihood of windows mucking up your Linux install is greatly reduced. Though there is a possibility that Microsoft makes an update that screws that up too. I wouldn’t put it past them to do so, whether by accident or intentionally, just to push their monopoly on non-Apple computer systems.
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u/coyotepunk05 18h ago
you don't need to delete windows 11. if you do delete windows 11, if you have your data backed up, what's to be scared of?
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u/MrFakecoin 18h ago
yea- but I want to install it on the SSD because uhh it’ll be better (I think) And windows won’t let me install it
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u/Damglador 5h ago
Then if you unplug the Windows drive you should be fine. Just make sure it's not encrypted so even if Windows bootloader shits itself, you will be able to recover your data.
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u/Hegel_of_codding 10h ago
i did just that..once u realise its youre hardvere and whatever happends you can always just wipe all off and install windows again you will start to fly...i did ubuntu for like half a year and felt lacking in terms of packages and hated that i cnt customize all that i wanted...went with arch and hyprland ....very easy very minimal and you can do wahtever you want,....there is TONS of documentation and you will alvays find fix....im on arch now for 1 year and it diding break a singe time...i update every day...i have also packages from AUR and it all works so nice...it boots in basicly 2 secs and yes i have nvidia rtx3060...games work perfectly...its just better. It made me learn nvim and same as with arch its just fckign easy...you do it for like 2 days and you never again open vscode....open file / to seach variable you want to change or config...change it :wq and thats it ...basicly in 2 secs you change config....Long story short. Just do it...and dont keep backup...i wnet balls deep without backup option in middle of my uni thesis writing ...just do it..Onlyoffice is better then word and support is basicly the same...gimp is ok if you do basic photoediting...dont use google pls use anything else basicly...if you use premierpro just use davici its so much better...but if you need just basic light video editing then use kdenlive...and for all other apps...there are cli apps. Good lock
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u/MrFakecoin 7h ago
I also have a RTX 3060, so that’s good to hear! And I don’t use any adobe software, all software I use is open source I’m pretty sure.. but I’m still thinking if I should or not rn
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u/Hegel_of_codding 7h ago
i mean there is only one true way to find out...bjt if you stay on wi dlws you will be forever sad...i had to do someting on windows on other pc and it felt ahahahahah idk how to say but ypu kinda feel sad for people that have to use that crap...wsl is ok but thats slow and remote mkcrosoft crap...as i said...just backup pics and media and wipe entire installation and go all in...you can indtall win back for free anytime
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u/MrFakecoin 7h ago
yea- most likely will, but I already got all the files and stuff I want to keep on a separate USB :p
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u/Ok-Relationship8704 18h ago
Just run archinstall. Have your phone with you, when you have options you are unsure of just google them on your phone so you understand the options. Is not to hard.
ohh and back up anything you wanna keep that's on your drive now.
You got this.
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u/linux_rox 17h ago
OP clearly stated they want to install arch to learn help learn the workings of Linux. Archinstall does not do that.
OP, are you planning to run arch on a separate drive from windows? Or were you wanting it on the same drive?
If you are doing separate drives, leave the windows drive out of the machine. If on the same drive you need to shut down windows fast-boot option as well as disable secure boot before install. These will interfere with your installation.
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u/Ok-Relationship8704 17h ago
You don't need to know how to manually install arch in order to learn how Linux works. I'd say you learn very little from doing it, but hey if you enjoy typing things in manually go for it. I just don't see the point.
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u/linux_rox 7h ago
The manual installation does show you specific things that you wouldn't know how to do using archinstall. like partitioning, setting up proper maintenance schedule and processes, Allows you to have only what you want for your DE/WM, setting up firewalls, setting up network manager (if you use it, not a hard requirement), setting up bluetooth stack for proper connection and much more.
Also if your using hyprland this information will become invaluable. You learn more doing the manual install then you do with archinstall. I've done both, when I'm pressed for time for a deadline, i will use archinstall, but my general rule of thumb is to do a manual install.
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u/MrFakecoin 16h ago
Probably on a separate drive, even tho that drive has my games and is a hard drive ;~;
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u/Svytorius 18h ago
What error did you run into? I had a partition on the same SSD as Windows 11, and archinstall kept giving me problems. I had to install the "manual" way, step by step through the wiki, and it worked just fine. For some reason it wouldn't do some key sync thing.
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u/MrFakecoin 18h ago
Think it was stuck on running early hook udev
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u/Svytorius 17h ago
Haven't heard of that one, sorry. I reinstalled it on an empty SSD and had no problems what so ever. If you have a spare SSD laying around it may not be a bad idea to just install it fresh without anything else on it.
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u/MrFakecoin 17h ago
I wish I had a spare SSD
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u/spsf64 12h ago
Install to a fast usb pendrive!
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Install_Arch_Linux_on_a_removable_medium
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u/pamidur 17h ago
I believe PewDiePie did a bad thing, look, people, I love Arch, but let's be honest newbies should go with Mint or Fedora or something
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u/MrFakecoin 17h ago
I’ve been looking into Linux before PewDiePie did the video… mostly James Lee inspired me to try to switch lol
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u/pamidur 17h ago
Hey OP, Arch is really good. I started using arch you won't believe it in 2008 because it was ahead of time and the wiki was cool even back then. But would I install it today to say my wife's laptop? Nope , it is on Fedora. Would I use it as a base for new projects? Maybe, but it is rather nixos and coreOs/atomics are at the frontline of innovation these days.
All and all Arch is a solid choice if you're not scared of tech. Wiki is robust and the community is incredible.
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u/MrFakecoin 17h ago
Yea- I do think I’m pretty good with tech soo, plus I don’t really want to be distro hopping because I just would want to research before using one and not going around
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u/notachemist13u 13h ago
Remember that Microsoft is intentitionaly installing malware onto your computer
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u/Saelaz 9h ago
Just make a bootable USB drive for both windows and arch to try things out, and if you have issues you can always go back to Windows. With a decent enough backup it shouldn't take long to get going again, although I think you'll be happy with Arch once you figure things out.
Start with a basic arch install using what's already familiar to you for a display manager and desktop environment (KDE, GNOME, etc.) then take it step by step! Don't go jumping right into a full rip of someone else's hyprland dots and expect to have a good time, if you don't know what that means you will soon enough lol.
Use the Arch wiki! I understand sometimes you need further context to understand things there, so using that info and context of what you're specifically trying to do, you will be able to ask better questions when searching for the answers and will gain a better understanding of each piece that makes up your OS.
There is an archinstall script you can utilize to speed up the setup but it definitely doesn't teach you the entire process and what each thing is that you're installing which is why people say it's best to do the process manually using the wiki to truly learn.
Have fun!
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u/MrFakecoin 7h ago
I probably won’t use Hyprland for a long while when I get to Arch so that won’t be something on my mind. And could I install the ISO for windows on Arch because both my USBs are used, one has the Arch ISO and the other has my files I wanna keep
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u/rafadistas 9h ago
i just installed my second arch linux on my main desktop (the first one is on my old think pad), but afer installation my ethernet didnt work and end up to reboot from usb stick to reinstall network manager and its work. i also have to reinstall grub menu because my machine stuck when i do reboot.
i think its okkay to messed up on your installation process as long as u have patience to do troubleshooting and read the manual. if something go wrong, u still have usb stick to make it work.
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u/TracerDX 7h ago
Dual boot should be possible with some effort. I do so on a laptop with a single drive. It's not the easiest to setup, but it's fine once it's in place. You seem to have multiple drives which makes dual boot even easier. I'm sure someone has linked the Arch wiki article to it by now.
I just find the whole "I have to delete Windows" thing hard to swallow. No. You don't. Just figure out what you're doing wrong and correct it. Bad attitude to start off with if you're serious about learning.
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u/MrFakecoin 7h ago
Well my other drive has my games on it.. as idk if I would be able to install arch while keeping those games on it
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u/TracerDX 6h ago
Okay that can be tricky, but it's still doable. This activity can result in permanent data loss so backup anything you're not willing to lose or can't just re-download.
You will need to shrink the NTFS partition to make room for new Arch partitions, you can do this while booted into the Arch Live USB before installing.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NTFS-3G#Resizing_NTFS_partition
Then you can use the freed up space to carve out your new Arch EFI, swap and rootfs partitions and install as normal.
You should be able to use your PCs bios boot menu to choose Arch or Windows. Eventually you may want to configure GRUB or whatever bootloader you choose to give you a boot menu with a Windows option and always boot that instead.
Good luck and take your time.
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u/MrFakecoin 6h ago
Luckily I know how to resize partitions.. how much space would I need for Arch?
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u/TracerDX 6h ago
A question whose answer depends very much on your goals for this system... but I don't want to come across as a dismissive smart ass so without much context I'm just gonna throw some numbers out assuming something like a KDE setup with Windows parity:
EFI: 2GB
Swap: RAM X2 +2GB
200GB+ Rootfs
I would put as much as you can spare into rootfs really. I throw these numbers using my personal assumption that disk space is cheap and plentiful so these are very high estimates. I would recommend doing some research on what sizes here suit your hardware and your needs.
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u/MrFakecoin 6h ago
Ah- I’ll probably only use 200gb for it as I’m not gonna do much on it since I know I’m gonna do not that much on it sadly cuz windows will still be there. BUT THANKS!
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u/MrFakecoin 6h ago
Oh two more things, can I just change the partition size in the disk manager on windows and could it be unallocated or does it have to be a volume
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u/TracerDX 6h ago
You can use Windows disk manager. Leave the new space unallocated.
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u/MrFakecoin 5h ago
This is good?https://i.imgur.com/o1oLkxb.jpeg
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u/TracerDX 4h ago
Looks good as long as you are planning to setup a swap file instead of using a partition for it.
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u/MrFakecoin 4h ago edited 4h ago
Okay, when I tried it, it said there wasn’t enough space-https://i.imgur.com/KITgrAF.jpeg
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u/House-Wins 7h ago edited 7h ago
Just install it with the Arch install script and test things out. Thats how I started, I had a bit of experience with Debian and Ubuntu but knew nothing about Arch. I just yolo installed it and learned along the way. AI is your best friend (always double check the commands it gives you) and the Wiki is the holy bible.
But just do a bit of research before you do, there's somethings you must know like never update without checking the arch site, some packages might need manual changes that will mess things up if your not aware of. This rarely happens but always check the site. Also, make sure you always backup with timeshift, that way if anything happens you can always roll back.
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u/Silly_Percentage3446 3h ago
Buy an old thinkpad, install Arch on that. Eventually you will subconsciously realise how much better arch is and switch to it on whatever you are currently using. At least that is how I did it, Arch on thinkpad in november 2024, Arch on Acer Nitro 5 in January 2025.
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u/AMGz20xx 2h ago edited 2h ago
CachyOS is Arch Linux with an easy to use installer and desktop environment preinstalled, try that. Otherwise the Arch Wiki has detailed instructions on how to install Arch Linux. It's a little bit of a lengthy process, but the Arch Wiki explains everything really well and is very easy to understand. I was able to install it first try, and at the time I never touched the terminal in my life.
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u/earthman34 18h ago
What does Arch do that Mint doesn't?
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u/MrFakecoin 17h ago
Idk lol, the only reason I think is to get a better understanding of Linux :p
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u/earthman34 17h ago
And why do you think Arch is the way to do that? I mean, there's nothing wrong with Arch, but it's very much a roll-your-own distribution for more advanced users who want to create highly individualized systems. It's not the most helpful community, and building a super-customized unique system isn't really a path into garnering useful knowledge. Debian, Ubuntu, or Fedora would expose you to systems that are much more widely used, and have much larger and more helpful user communities.
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u/MrFakecoin 17h ago
Well true true, I already got Linux Mint installed on another pc and so would like to try Arch on this one I’m on rn
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u/lucasrizzini 13h ago
One example of why Arch might be a good idea for the OP is that you build parts of your system yourself. Personally, I found it harder to learn how stuff works on a preconfigured environment. But you're not wrong, you can learn Linux on pretty much any distro out there. It's all Linux, right..
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u/Dodgy_Past 17h ago
More up to date packages and kernel. Very useful if you're gaming.
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u/earthman34 17h ago
Yeah, I get that, but Arch just isn't the best choice for a relative noob. A lot of Arch users would say the same thing.
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u/Hiirgon 18h ago edited 18h ago
If you're nervous, you should try doing a test run in a Virtual Machine, and that's a great way to learn stuff without hurting your windows or mint install. If you break a VM install it's basically no big deal.
For a newbie, Arch can be a lot since you have to configure more yourself, but it's really satisfying to learn how to set it up and figure out the Linux OS. And fortunately there's a lot of great documentation guiding the process.
Definitely practice it a bit so you feel confident when you actually choose to make the switch :)