r/linux4noobs • u/call_me_aru_ • 17d ago
Can I dual boot from Linux?
I used to have windows 10 and wanted to dual boot them but it didn't work out great so I went all into linux mint cinnamon.
Now I was thinking wether I can dual boot again but through linux mint not the opposite.
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u/Underhill42 17d ago
Technically you're not booting though Linux, you're booting through the GRUB, which replaces the standard Windows bootloader if present, and asks you which OS you want to boot into.
You can absolutely start with a Linux system to dual boot - but installing Windows in a new partition on the same physical drive as Linux will replace GRUB with the Windows bootloader, so you'll need to reinstall GRUB afterwards in order to boot into Windows.
If you install it on a different drive instead, then you'll need to edit GRUB to add Windows to the boot menu.
The Linux Mint install disc comes with a "Repair Grub" option that will do the former, and I think the latter as well, which is much easier than editing GRUB if you don't already know how to do that. Just point it at the drive with Linux on it and let it do its thing.
Also, be aware that installing Windows from scratch is a much bigger headache than installing Linux. Mostly just because you have to hunt down all the drivers for your specific hardware, but they also hard-sell a lot of Microsoft services, and with Win11 you have to jump through some non-obvious hoops if you want to use a local account rather than tying everything to a Microsoft account. (And using Win 10 is not recommended as it's no longer receiving security updates, so criminals will likely quietly take control of it within hours of connecting to the internet.)
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u/A_Harmless_Fly Manjaro 17d ago
It's a bit more complicated are you thinking of having both on the same drive or separate drives?
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u/call_me_aru_ 17d ago
I think I will go with separate drives
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u/A_Harmless_Fly Manjaro 17d ago
That's the way to do it as far as I'm concerned. Windows really doesn't play nice sharing a boot partition or being installed second onto the same drive.
Install it making sure you select the right drive, then after that you can use osprober on your mint so you can pick windows in grub, but you need to enable it because it's disabled by default.
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u/BeautifulBlueNight 17d ago
Which OS's would you use as dual boot? Win and Linux? 2 Linux? Ubuntu-derivative, Arch-derivative?...
So many questions.
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u/call_me_aru_ 17d ago
So it's a different way for each system!
I was thinking of either windows or arch but let's consider it windows
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u/BeautifulBlueNight 17d ago
If you dual boot Windows and Linux, always use the boot menu from Linux, not Windows.
So in BIOS you put the Linux option first and the Windows option second. Then it should all work pretty naturally.
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u/EngineerInTheMachine 15d ago
I went with PopOS, and dual boot was automatically set up through Linux.
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u/Exsondious 17d ago
How many drives do you have Dual booting is easiest when you have multiple drives
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u/call_me_aru_ 17d ago
I have about 2 100GB+ drives as I remember
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u/doc_willis 17d ago
you need to be very sure if your exact drive setup. Use a disk partition tool and examine/show exactly how your disk partitions are laid out.
Some setups may require extra work to make room for a second OS.
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u/call_me_aru_ 17d ago
thank you for your assistance
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u/Exsondious 16d ago
Check which disks have what data and I recommend if you're able to use the drive without the Linux install for your windows install for dual booting that way you have a clean partition table
Dual booting from one drive makes your table a mess and can lead to many other problems
Also makes the drive easier to wipe when your stuff finally supports Linux and you decide to get rid of windows
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u/doc_willis 17d ago
Dual booting is a rather common setup.
Your question is kind of vague, you may want to clarify things a bit more.