I'm considering replacing Windows with Pop!_OS on my desktop. I use the computer for both gaming and college work, and I have some basic troubleshooting experience but am still learning. I'm especially unsure about installing the operating system safely, handling multiple drives, NVIDIA drivers, and possibly switching to an AMD graphics card later.
1. Should I physically disconnect my HDD and secondary SSD before installing Pop!_OS on my primary C: drive, or is carefully selecting the correct drive enough?
2. Can I install the operating system onto a USB flash drive and later transfer it to my internal drive, or is the USB normally just used as temporary installation media?
3. Does Pop!_OS provide NVIDIA drivers during installation, and how soon are driver updates usually released after NVIDIA publishes them?
4. If I later replace my NVIDIA GPU with an AMD card, will the existing NVIDIA drivers cause problems, or can they simply remain unused?
2 Answers
For the installation, the usual process is to write the Pop!_OS ISO to a USB drive, boot from that USB, and install the system directly onto the internal SSD. After the installation finishes, reboot and remove the USB. The USB is mainly an installer or live testing environment, not something you need to transfer later.
You can disconnect the other drives if you want an extra layer of protection, but it is not strictly required. Make current backups and double-check the drive selected in the installer. Some firmware settings also let you disable individual drives, depending on the hardware.
Pop!_OS has an NVIDIA-specific image that includes the necessary proprietary drivers. If you replace the NVIDIA card with an AMD card, the NVIDIA driver should not interfere because the hardware is no longer present; you can also remove the unused packages afterward if desired.
You may be overcomplicating the driver part a bit. The NVIDIA and AMD drivers do not normally prevent you from swapping graphics cards. You can replace the card, boot with the AMD GPU, and remove any leftover NVIDIA packages later if they are no longer needed.
For the USB, think of it as: write the ISO to the flash drive, boot from it, install the OS to the chosen SSD, reboot, and remove the flash drive. It is not normally installed to the USB first and then moved to the internal drive. Also, Steam and Proton can be installed on Pop!_OS, but they are not necessarily the same thing as being included by default in every installation image.
Thanks for explaining that. I was mainly worried that changing from NVIDIA to AMD would require reinstalling the whole operating system.
That clears up the USB installation process and the GPU situation. Is Pop!_OS generally a good choice for someone new to Linux who wants to game and use the computer for school?