You can use partitioning software to create a virtual drive on your hard disk, essentially forming a “second HD” to install the new operating system. Many computers already have an additional partition named “Backups,” usually created by technicians to store important data. If this partition isn’t in use, you can install Debian on it. Another option is to create a new partition on your original hard drive and name it “Debian,” “OSINT,” or any other preferred name. Learn how to do this below:
See a step-by-step guide here.
Note: At minute 4:14, you will change from NTFS to ext4 (which is recommended for Linux)
An alternative is to acquire a new hard drive for installing Debian. On the internet, it’s possible to find hard drives at affordable prices. In this case, you’ll have two disks, keeping one with your current system and using the new hard drive exclusively for your investigations. It’s a good option to keep sections separate, avoiding inadvertently accessing sensitive information during your investigations.
Here, you’ll have a computer or laptop solely dedicated to your investigations, which can be an excellent choice. Additionally, you can acquire the necessary parts on Aliexpress. Personally, with less than $600, I managed to assemble a reasonable desktop computer equipped with 64GB of memory, a 128GB SSD for Debian, and a second 1TB hard drive for documents, backups, and virtual machines. With a 1TB hard drive, it’s possible to test various virtual machines without overloading the machine’s performance.
I believe the third option to be the most advantageous, especially if, like me, you spend more than 14 hours a day working. Having a good computer is essential in this case. Additionally, during your investigations on projects, it may be necessary to simultaneously access personal accounts and other day-to-day activities. If this happens and you inadvertently access services that could reveal your identity, everything will be compromised, resulting in the loss of anonymity.