Twisted dual boot

earfrager

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I have been thinking of dual booting my Linux machine with windows. The problem is I cannot seem to find any guide in which dual boot is done with Linux being the initial software. I was wondering, is it even possible? If so, could you help me? If not, do I have any other options? I also tried on a VM and when I installed windows Ubuntu was gone never to be found, by me at least. Thank you, all, in advance.
 


Though you can technically install Ubuntu and Windows in any order, I would highly recommend that you install Windows first. This is because installing Windows on top of Ubuntu will likely result in messing up the MBR. When that happens, it can be very difficult to boot into Ubuntu, because the Grub dual-boot menu might disappear. It can be a little tricky recovering from that, which you can read all about here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecoveringUbuntuAfterInstallingWindows
 
Welcome to the forums,
option 1, using one hard drive then the normal score is to install windows first then Linux [windows does not give you the option to install alongside]
option 2 is to use a separate hard drive for your windows
option 3 is to run windows in a virtual machine [this won't work well unless you have a good amount of ram]
 
I run Windows and Linux and I recommend that you run Linux and Windows on seperate hard drives (if possible).

When you're setting up Dual Boot, you should install Linux first onto Disk 1 and then Windows onto Disk 2. In your BIOS, set your Linux OS to boot first, and this should allow you have a GRUB menu where you can select Windows or Linux, this is what I do.

Edit: Meant to say Install Windows first to make things easier.
 
Last edited:
I would also recommend installing Windows first. It's just too selfish and doesn't play well with others. :^D
 
Welcome to the forums,
option 1, using one hard drive then the normal score is to install windows first then Linux [windows does not give you the option to install alongside]
option 2 is to use a separate hard drive for your windows
option 3 is to run windows in a virtual machine [this won't work well unless you have a good amount of ram]
So I am rel as tively new to Linux aside from messing with some vm stuff this is my first installed distro. Here's the deal I have a Dell Inspiron that came with a 128gb SSD. It has the spot for it so I installed a 500gb HDD that runs my parrot security distro, and I love it. The sad is just sitting there unformatted and empty. I would like to put windows 11 on it for no other reason then Photoshop. I like inkscape but can't get used to gump. From what I've read so far it seems very hard to add windows to a linux computer. Your the only one I've seen who even suggests that I might have hope of using this ssd without reinstalling my Linux distro. That's wh it is I'm off asking you. How should I go about putting windows on my empty second drive. Oh and I should mention since it's the drive that came with the laptop it's technically my first drive. It's sda and parrot runs on sdb. Thank you for any input
 
on a multi disc setup, installing windows to the second drive is relatively easy, you just have to make sure you select the correct drive to install to
now the pitfalls
your chosen target drive must not have anything on it that is important to you, as it will be completely wiped
Windows doesn't like playing second fiddle to other distributions and will take over your machine, you will need to wrestle back control by, disabling Windows quick-start [fast boot] in the bios then forcing Linux to boot and re-build the Grub
along the way you may find other problems, example some Windows updates will break your Linux but it is feasible,
However for best results I always say install windows first then your chosen Linux
 
G'day and welcome to linux.org :)

This thread is over 12 months old, better starting your own Thread in Getting Started so there is no confusion.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
ADDENDUM
have you tried running photoshop through one of the Linux compatibility layers [wine, play on Linux or bottles] not all programs for Windows will work with one or other but many will.
 

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