Learn how to install Windows 7 and Ubuntu on the same hard drive so you aren’t restricted to the limitations of one or the other.  With this guide, you can dual boot the opposing operating systems and run them in perfect harmony on the same computer.

What You’ll Need:

• Windows 7 installation disk
• Ububtu 9.10 installation image
• Finally, don’t forget to back up your data beforehand.

How it Works:

To put it simply, most of this guide is straightforward and easy to follow. It’s nothing too daunting and even if you’re a little intimidated by the proposition of potentially frying your PC, there’s plenty of screenshots and accurate instructions to keep you on the right track.

Windows 7 is installed first and the hard drive is then configured to accept Ubuntu. Once Ubuntu is installed, the remainder of the guide is telling you how to get them to work together without causing crashes or a complete meltdown of your computer.

More Windows and Linux Projects:

• Free Windows 7 by Hacking XP and Vista
• How to Hack Windows, Mac and Linux User Passwords
• 5 Awesome OS Transformation Packs

• More details about this project
• Hide a hard drive in a power strip
• Recover dead hard drive data

Instead of storing your games on their usual CDs, store them on an external hard drive and then load them at your convenience without having to even get off the couch.  Plus you could even grab some “backup copies” from online and store them on your drive too.  The setup process is really quite simple and easy for anyone to follow.  Also, if you don’t have a Wii, you could always just use an emulator to play them on your PC.

• For more outstanding Wii projects, including infrared head tracking, see all of our wii hacks.

Not enough? See our other dead hard drive projects:

• Turn a hard drive into a sander/grinder
• Prevent a dead hard drive – automatically backup your data
• Make a dead hard drive clock

When was the last time you backed up your important files? Last year when your friend called in tears after the Blue Screen of Death ate his thesis?  We thought so.  Learn to set up a program called SyncBack which automatically generates password protected zip files of your important documents.

Benefits:

1. It’s free and pretty easy to use.
2. You can choose to save them to an external hard drive or upload them to an FTP server.
3. Schedule nightly, weekly, and monthly backups so you don’t have to lift a finger.

No, don’t just bookmark this post and do it later. Do it now! Before it’s too late!  If you need assistance automating backup, see a full guide to using SyncBack

Related Projects:

• How to recover dead hard drive data
• Encrypt your entire hard drive
• Turn a dead hard drive into a grinder

Legend has it that if you put a dead hard drive in a freezer, pull it out and plug it in, it should run long enough to recover the data. Is it true? Indeed, it seems so.

While freezing the drive for a while extends life momentarily, the real trick is to run the hard drive while it’s in the freezer. Just throw in a water tight bag first, of course. Works pretty well with other gadgets including iPod hard drives too.

Evidence:

• Two techs encounter an uncooperative drive, this is their epic recovery story.
• More stories of how freezing a hard drive brought it back from the dead.

Note, this only temporarily extends the life of the device, allowing you to recover data before it completely dies.

More Hard Drive Hacks:

1. Encrypt your Entire Hard Drive
2. Salvage Rare Magnets from a Hard Drive
3. Recover lost Hard Drive Partitions