There are many tutorials online giving you an idea on how to double boot Windows 10 and Linux, but they do not cover systems that come with Windows 10 pre-installed. These day’s systems come with Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 or higher version, have UEFI instead of BIOS, here it makes a thing a little different from the conventional way of dual booting. This article tries to explain how to dual boot easily.
Step 1: Make a backup
It is always good to back up your data, just in case if you mess up with the system, then will not lose the data.
Step 2: Install Ubuntu Linux
You can install Ubuntu using an installation disk or by creating a bootable pen drive.
1. For installation from disk, simply download an ISO from the Ubuntu website and burn it to DVD or CD.
2. To create a bootable Ubuntu USB drive, using software like Universal-USB-Installer or Rufus, use the below step.
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Download the software from the official site and then open it. The UI of this software will be like:
First, choose the distribution of your choice, select your chosen USB drive letter. Now your bootable pen drive will be created.
Step 3: Make a partition where Ubuntu will be installed
To install Ubuntu, you will need to make space for it. To make a partition on Windows, open the control panel and the search box, start type partitions. Click on the option called Create and format partitions. This will bring up the Disk Management screen.
Note: Don't partition the C drive as this can erase all your data.
In the Disk Management tool, right-click on the drive which you want to partition and select shrink volume.
Make sure that you clear at least 100 GB for Linux entirely. You can leave the free space as it is. It will be shown as unallocated space, We shall use it while installing Ubuntu.
Step 4: Disable secure boot in Windows 10 and 8.1
The new secure boot feature of Windows 8, originally intended as a security feature for rootkit viruses that prevents dual booting of Windows with Linux. To dual boot Windows with Linux, we must disable secure boot in UEFI.
Follow these steps to disable secure boot:
Window 8.1 and 10 Users:
- Go to Update and recovery ?Advanced startup ? click on Restart now
- Here you will be presented with some options to choose from in the next screen. Select Troubleshoot here.
- In Troubleshoot menu, select Advanced Options and select UEFI Firmware settings.
- Next, click on the Restart button to reboot your system in UEFI settings.
- Now, we need to disable the secure boot option to allow dual booting of Ubuntu.
Companies provide you with a different interface here. So just navigate your way around to find Boot options or Advanced Boot options. Here, if you find the Secure Boot option, is set to enabled, set it to disable.
Press F10 to save the changes and exit the UEFI settings.
Step 5: Installing Ubuntu along with Windows 10
Once you have booted in the live USB, you will be presented, with an option to install Ubuntu. Click on installation. You will be presented, with a few screen options to select the language check-in click on Continue.
The next screen is to choose which internet connection to use whilst installing Ubuntu.
When you click Next, you will be shown a tick list highlighting how prepared you are for installing Ubuntu.
Click on Something Else and click Next.
Be very careful with the next few steps.
Remember, we had created some free space beforehand? We shall use the free space now to create Root, Swap, and Home. Look at the image below. You will see a large portion of free space. This is where I put Ubuntu.
The free space is going to be split into 3 ways.
1. Ubuntu and will be 50 Gigabytes in size.
2. home partition and stores configuration files and your files.
3. for swap space and is used for intensive operations and suspending the computer.
Select the free space and click on the + sign.
It will provide you with an option to create the Linux partition. We are creating the Root partition. Anything between 10-20 GB is more than sufficient for it. Choose the size, select Ext 4 as file type, and (means root) as the mount point.
Clicking on OK in the previous step will bring you to the partition screen. Next, we will create a swap area. Like previously, click on the + sign again. This time, use the file type as Swap area. The suggestible swap size is double of RAM.
Similarly, create a Home partition. Allocate it maximum space because this is where you’ll save music, pictures, and downloaded files.
Once you are ready with Root, Swap, and Home, click on Install Now.
You will now be required to create a default user. Enter your name, a name to identify your computer, a username, and a password. You can also select whether to log in automatically or require a password each time.
A progress bar will now show you how far through the installation you are. You can also view a selection of messages telling you all about Ubuntu.
Once the installation is completed, restart the computer, to be welcomed by a purple grub screen. Enjoy Ubuntu along with Windows 10 in dual boot mode.
Conclusion :
These days when we want to work on different software based on its compatibility version we need sometimes windows and sometimes Linux Software programs as both are good at their particular functionalities. The article gives a brief on how to double boot Windows 10 and Linux. Mostly, we can use Virtual Machines to perform all tasks, but it requires significantly more computer resources.
