How To Dual-Boot Linux and Windows

8/17/23, 12:18 AM How to dual-boot Linux and Windows | Opensource.
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How to dual-boot Linux and Windows

Set up your computer to boot into Windows 10 or Ubuntu 18.04
as needed.
By Jay LaCroix (Alumni)
September 23, 2020 | 11 Comments | 12 min read
532 readers like this.
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https://opensource.com/article/18/5/dual-boot-linux 1/27
8/17/23, 12:18 AM How to dual-boot Linux and Windows | Opensource.com
Linux is a great operating system with widespread hardware and software support, but
the reality is that sometimes you have to use Windows, perhaps due to key apps that
won't run on Linux. Thankfully, dual-booting Windows and Linux is very straightforward
—and I'll show you how to set it up, with Windows 10 and Ubuntu, in this article.
Before you get started, make sure you've backed up your computer. Although the dual-
boot setup process is not very involved, accidents can still happen. So take the time to
back up your important files in case chaos theory comes into play. In addition to
backing up your files, consider taking an image backup of the disk as well, though
that's not required and can be a more advanced process.
Prerequisites
To get started, you will need the following five items:
1. Two USB flash drives (or DVD-Rs)
I recommend installing Windows and Ubuntu via flash drives since they're faster than
DVDs. It probably goes without saying, but creating bootable media erases everything
on the flash drive. Therefore, make sure the flash drives are empty or contain data you
don't care about losing.
If your machine doesn't support booting from USB, you can create DVD media
instead. Unfortunately, because no two computers seem to have the same DVD-
burning software, I can't walk you through that process. However, if your DVD-burning
application has an option to burn from an ISO image, that's the option you need.
2. A Windows 10 license
If Windows 10 came with your PC, the license will be built into the computer, so you
don't need to worry about entering it during installation. If you bought the retail edition,
you should have a product key, which you will need to enter during the installation
process.
3. Windows 10 Media Creation Tool
Download and launch the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool. Once you launch the tool,
it will walk you through the steps required to create the Windows media on a USB or
DVD-R. Note: Even if you already have Windows 10 installed, it's a good idea to
create bootable media anyway, just in case something goes wrong and you need to
reinstall it.
4. Ubuntu installation media
Download the Ubuntu ISO image.
5. Etcher software (for making a bootable Ubuntu USB drive)
For creating bootable media for any Linux distribution, I recommend Etcher. Etcher
works on all three major operating systems (Linux, MacOS, and Windows) and is
careful not to let you overwrite your current operating system partition.
Les Pounder, CC-BY-SA 4.0
Once you have downloaded and launched Etcher, click Select image, and point it to
the Ubuntu ISO you downloaded in step 4. Next, click Select drive to choose your
flash drive, and click Flash! to start the process of turning a flash drive into an Ubuntu
installer. (If you're using a DVD-R, use your computer's DVD-burning software
instead.)
Install Windows and Ubuntu

You should be ready to begin. At this point, you should have accomplished the
following:
Backed up your important files

Created Windows installation media
Created Ubuntu installation media
There are two ways of going about the installation. First, if you already have Windows
10 installed, you can have the Ubuntu installer resize the partition, and the installation
will proceed in the empty space. Or, if you haven't installed Windows 10, install it on a
smaller partition you can set up during the installation process. (I'll describe how to do
that below.) The second way is preferred and less error-prone. There's a good chance
you won't have any issues either way, but installing Windows manually and giving it a
smaller partition, then installing Ubuntu, is the easiest way to go.
If you already have Windows 10 on your computer, skip the following Windows
installation instructions and proceed to Installing Ubuntu.
Installing Windows
Insert the Windows installation media you created into your computer and boot from it.
How you do this depends on your computer, but most have a key you can press to
initiate the boot menu. On a Dell PC for example, that key is F12. If the flash drive
doesn't show up as an option, you may need to restart the computer. Sometimes it will
show up only if you've inserted the media before turning on the computer. If you see a
message like, "press any key to boot from the installation media," press a key. You
should see the following screen. Select your language and keyboard style and click
Next.
Click on Install now to start the Windows installer.
On the next screen, it asks for your product key. If you don't have one because
Windows 10 came with your PC, select "I don't have a product key." It should
automatically activate after the installation once it catches up with updates. If you do
have a product key, type that in and click Next.
Select which version of Windows you want to install. If you have a retail copy, the label
will tell you what version you have. Otherwise, it is typically located with the
documentation that came with your computer. In most cases, it's going to be either
Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro. Most PCs that come with the Home edition
have a label that simply reads "Windows 10," while Pro is clearly marked.
Accept the license agreement by checking the box, then click Next.
After accepting the agreement, you have two installation options available. Choose the
second option, Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
The next screen should show your current hard disk configuration.
Your results will probably look different than mine. I have never used this hard disk
before, so it's completely unallocated. You will probably see one or more partitions for
your current operating system. Highlight each partition and remove it.
At this point, your screen will show your entire disk as unallocated. To continue, create
a new partition.
Here you can see that I divided the drive in half (or close enough) by creating a
partition of 81,920MB (which is close to half of 160GB). Give Windows at least 40GB,
preferably 64GB or more. Leave the rest of the drive unallocated, as that's where you'll
install Ubuntu later.
Your results will look similar to this:
Confirm the partitioning looks good to you and click Next. Windows will begin
installing.
If your computer successfully boots into Windows, you're all set to move on to the next
step.
Install Ubuntu
Whether it was already there or you worked through the steps above, at this point you
have Windows installed. Now use the Ubuntu installation media you created earlier to
boot into Ubuntu. Insert the media and boot your computer from it. Again, the exact
sequence of keys to access the boot menu varies from one computer to another, so
check your documentation if you're not sure. If all goes well, you see the following
screen once the media finishes loading:
Here, you can select between Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu. Don't install just yet;
instead, click Try Ubuntu. After it finishes loading, you should see the Ubuntu desktop.
opensource.com
By clicking Try Ubuntu, you opt to try out Ubuntu before you install it. Here, in Live
mode, you can play around with Ubuntu and make sure everything works before you
commit to the installation. Ubuntu works with most PC hardware, but it's always better
to test it out beforehand. Make sure you can access the internet and get audio and
video playback. Going to YouTube and playing a video is a good way of doing all of
that at once. If you need to connect to a wireless network, click on the networking icon
at the top-right of the screen. There, you can find a list of wireless networks and
connect to yours.
Once you're ready to go, double-click on the Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS icon on the
desktop to launch the installer.
Choose the language you want to use for the installation process, then click Continue.
Next, choose the keyboard layout. Once you've made your selection, click Continue.
You have a few options on the next screen. You can choose a Normal or a Minimal
installation. For most people, Normal installation is ideal. Advanced users may want to
do a Minimal install instead, which has fewer software applications installed by default.
In addition, you can choose to download updates and whether or not to include third-
party software and drivers. I recommend checking both of those boxes. When done,
click Continue.
The next screen asks whether you want to erase the disk or set up a dual-boot. Since
you're dual-booting, choose Install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10. Click Install Now.
The following screen may appear. If you installed Windows from scratch and left
unallocated space on the disk, Ubuntu will automatically set itself up in the empty
space, so you won't see this screen. If you already had Windows 10 installed and it's
taking up the entire drive, this screen will appear and give you an option to select a
disk at the top. If you have just one disk, you can choose how much space to steal
from Windows and apply to Ubuntu. You can drag the vertical line in the middle left
and right with your mouse to take space away from one and gives it to the other.
Adjust this exactly the way you want it, then click Install Now.
You should see a confirmation screen indicating what Ubuntu plans on doing. If
everything looks right, click Continue.
Ubuntu installs in the background, but you still have some configuration to do. While
Ubuntu tries its best to figure out your location, you can click on the map to narrow it
down to ensure your time zone and other things are set correctly.
Next, fill in the user account information: your name, computer name, username, and
password. Click Continue when you're done.
Once the installation finishes, reboot your PC.
If all went according to plan, you should see a screen similar to this when your
computer restarts. Choose Ubuntu or Windows 10; the other options are for
troubleshooting, so I won't go into them.
Try booting into both Ubuntu and Windows to test them out and make sure everything
works as expected. If it does, you now have both Windows and Ubuntu installed on
your computer.
This article was originally published in 2018 and has been updated by Seth Kenlon.
Tags: LINUX WINDOWS
Jay LaCroix
Jay LaCroix is a technologist from Michigan, with a focus on Linux
and open-source software. Using Linux since 2002, Jay has been a
die-hard fan ever since. He is currently a Senior Solutions Architect
and freelance consultant and enjoys training and empowering others

to use Linux and to make the most of this amazing software.
More about me
Contributors
Seth Kenlon
11 Comments
These comments are closed, however you can Register or Login to post a
comment on another article.
Greg Pittman | May 23, 2018

No readers like this yet.
I used to have at least one dual-boot machine at all times. The biggest
downside is when you need some file from the other system. If you didn't think
to save it to some removable media, you have to reboot, then reboot again.
With a virtual machine, you can have both systems running at the same time,
and use an ssh/sftp client to transfer files from one to the other. The tricky part
is apportioning resources to your machine -- disk space is not so hard, but how
much memory, how much of your processor(s) to spare; I can't say that I feel
like I've figured that out completely. I don't know if it's a feature of the VM or not,
but I find that Windows 10 seems to be constantly churning my processors,
even when no program is running. It seemed better with Windows 7.
DarkMatter | May 24, 2018

"I don't know if it's a feature of the VM or not, but I find that Windows 10
seems to be constantly churning my processors, even when no program is
running. It seemed better with Windows 7."
----
Articles like this on ZDNet reaffirm my convictions on avoiding Windows 10

like the plague:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-april-2018-update-problems-
use…
That being said, I would simply use a stable Linux distro (MX-Linux 17.1,
Ubuntu Mate, Netrunner, etc.) and install VirtualBox or VMWare
Workstation. Then I would have a shared folder so that any Windows app
data I need to access is available from there. Works extremely well.
However, if you really need to have Windows installed on your machine, I'd
stick with Windows 7 Professional SP1. That's the very last, GOOD
Windows you will ever find. Install it on a 40 or 50GB partition and only use
when you absolutely NEED to "go there" for a particular app. If you take
that route, simply create a Fat32 or NTFS data partition so that you can
access it from Linux. Problem solved.
I only need Windows 7 if I'm doing hardware stuff (rooting Android devices,
etc. due to better driver support). Even my girlfriend loves Linux and
prefers it over Windows 7.
These days, I'm seeing casual Windows users generally getting fed up
with the task of running Windows on the desktops & laptops - especially
after updates. I predict 2018 will see even more converts than previous
years. Why?
Because Desktop Linux is now ready for prime time.

me | August 16, 2018
Hello;
If you have your windows data on a disk, then when when booting into
Linux, simply mount that disk from Linux to access the data. Linux can
mount NTFS drives and can read/write to NTFS disks. I do this all the
time. When done with Linux, reboot to windows, and your updated data
will be there on that disk.
freedomscribe | May 23, 2018

I've seen an article describing a dual boot system, with a separate data partition
that is accessible by both Windows and Linux. What do you think of that
approach?
DarkMatter | May 24, 2018

It is a very good approach IF you can't run said app in VirtualBox or

VMWare Workstation.
If you take that route, create a Fat32 or NTFS data partition and store your
"shared" data there.
If you really need to install Windows on the hardware side, go with
Windows 7 Professional SP1. Avoid 8 & 10.
Just my 2 cents.
Sky | May 29, 2018

If you install Ubuntu or any other linux first and then install windows then you
may need to install grub again or windows installation will make windows'
bootloader as default bootloader and that will directly boot to windows without
asking.
JJ | May 29, 2018

Nice article thanks.
What if you machine initially came with Windows 8 installed and you upgraded
to windows 10, but now I want to install Ubuntu and run Windows under a VM.
How do I get the Windows 10 product key for the install?
william | July 9, 2018

I'm new here and want to get into Linux. I've read quite a lot about it and I'm
ready to try it on for size.
David Stubbs | July 28, 2018

Article would benefit by addressing the notifier...
The installer has detected that the following disks have mounted partitions:
/dev/sda/
Do you want the installer to try and unmount the partitions on these disks
before continuing? If you leave them mounted, you will not be able to create,
delete, or resize partitions on these disks, but you may be able to install
to existing partitions there.
john44deurne | August 5, 2018

this would be great but what if linux(any version and brand) spits pci errors, cpu
locks and wound boot and if you do a linux network install it goes well but at
boot time the same issues, is there a solution for?
msi gp72m 7rex leopard pro laptop, intel i7 with graphics onboard and geforce
gtx 1050 ti as extra video processor
Premkumar | August 20, 2018

I had windows 10 genuine and I installed Ubuntu 18.04 alongside windows. All
the setup has gone good. After I restart my pc I can't able to access ubuntu ie I
can't find the boot menu which which is I have to start. It is by default windows
10 is getting turned on. What should I do to access ubuntu? Hi
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8/17/23, 12:18 AM How to dual-boot Linux and Windows | Opensource.

How to dual-boot Linux and Windows

By Jay LaCroix (Alumni)

September 23, 2020 | 11 Comments | 12 min read

532 readers like this.

Image by: Opensource.com

1. Two USB flash drives (or DVD-Rs)

3. Windows 10 Media Creation Tool

4. Ubuntu installation media

Download the Ubuntu ISO image.

5. Etcher software (for making a bootable Ubuntu USB drive)

Les Pounder, CC-BY-SA 4.0

Install Windows and Ubuntu

Backed up your important files

Click on Install now to start the Windows installer.

Your results will look similar to this:

Once the installation finishes, reboot your PC.

Tags: LINUX WINDOWS

and freelance consultant and enjoys training and empowering others

Greg Pittman | May 23, 2018

DarkMatter | May 24, 2018

Articles like this on ZDNet reaffirm my convictions on avoiding Windows 10

Because Desktop Linux is now ready for prime time.

freedomscribe | May 23, 2018

DarkMatter | May 24, 2018

It is a very good approach IF you can't run said app in VirtualBox or

Sky | May 29, 2018

JJ | May 29, 2018

Nice article thanks.

william | July 9, 2018

David Stubbs | July 28, 2018

Article would benefit by addressing the notifier...

john44deurne | August 5, 2018

Premkumar | August 20, 2018

What's new in GNOME

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike

ABOUT THIS SITE

Opensource.com aspires to publish all content under a Creative Commons license

Copyright ©2023 Red Hat, Inc.

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