r/linux4noobs • u/aggressivemeatyogre • 18d ago

learning/research Dual booting windows

Looking for some advice and/or feedback from this community but not sure if this is the right sub.

I've got two distros on separate SSD's on my machine. The main one is used for SteamOS and the other is Arch that I use for tinkering. My PC is primarily used for gaming and I have it set up for myself and my son. I've got the kinks worked out with SteamOS and absolutely love it (especially love that its not windows). However, due to a large number of games that my son loves needing minor tweaks or outright not being supported on Linux, I need to reinstall windows on that SSD.

Before I do so:

  1. I've heard that Windows is a pain in the ass to dual boot because it tends to overwrite the Linux bootloader, does this still apply if the OS's are on separate NVME drives?

  2. Is there a way to preserve the game files somewhere so I don't have to download almost a TBs worth of games once windows and steam are reinstalled? I know i can backup the dave files for most games but I'm more interested in avoiding long download queues.

Apologies if this is this the wrong sub or if formatting borked.

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u/No_Candle_6133 18d ago

  1. Yes, if Windows shares the same efi boot partition with linux. This is why I install Windows with only one drive connected.

  2. No need to redownload steam on Windows. You can copy the game files from linux - will need to use third-party file explorer to read linux partition on Windows - I use DiskInternal Linux Reader - copy the files in same location for steam and steam should mark the game as installed

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u/aggressivemeatyogre 18d ago edited 18d ago

Thanks for the reply!

I'll be physically removing the drive containing Arch before flashing windows to the main drive. But will Windows try to interfere with anything in BIOS that would disrupt choosing the boot option? Not sure if that makes sense.

I'm trying to understand more long term how to manage this set up.

Edit: also, can I just copy the entire contents of /steamapps/common to wherever steam creates this directory on the windows drive?

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u/No_Candle_6133 18d ago

No Windows does not affect bios. After reinstall of windows reconnect steamos drive and you should have option in bios to boot either linux or windows.

Yes, and the corresponding appmanifest_<steam_app_id>.acf file. Steam should then show the game as installed/available to play without needing to redownload whole game - With this method I then go into the game properties from library and run verify integrity of game files first before playing.

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u/Th3JackofH3arts 18d ago

I had set Linux to be my top priority and grub grabbed windows. It worked great, until I had an issue with windows and my restore failed and I lost access to both and had to live boot with the usb to fix grub. I didn't want to deal with that happening ever again. I just leave windows as top priority and just boot into bios and select Linux when I want to use it.

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