Okay, so you have Windows 10 on you PC and wish to Dual boot it with a Distro of Linux? With certain hiccups Microsoft have put in a relatively easy task, things are a little different with Windows 10. This is mainly due to the UEFI issue. For this tutorial, I will be using Linux Mint as the second OS. You may choose any Distro of your own choice. So, shall we begin?
Pre-Requisites:
- Windows 10 Installed PC
- A Distro of Linux mounted on a USB or burnt on a CD/DVD
- EasyBCD Installed On your Windows
Creating space for Linux
Go to disk management and shrink C: or any other drive on your Hard Disk to create around 20GB or more unallocated space. In the end, it should look something like this:
Setting up BIOS:
- Now that you have created enough space for your Linux Distro, Go to BIOS by Pressing F1, F2 or Delete key (Whatever your Motherboard manufacturer require)
- After you get into BIOS, Change your First Boot Device to your USB or CD ROM as per the medium of your Linux image
- Now select ‘Legacy + UEFI’ as your Boot Mode
- Last step would be to make sure that you have Legacy USB Support Enabled (If you are using a Pen Drive). And then Save & Exit
Installing Linux Mint
Now that you have created enough space for Linux and setup your BIOS settings, you have to install Linux. As soon as your PC restarts after Saving BIOS setting, you will be greeted with this screen:
Choose Start Linux Mint. After the OS starts, click Install Linux Mint.
Go through the setup, choosing your Language until you reach this screen:
Here, select Something Else and continue. Now you will have something like this:
Here you have to double click on the free space and create a partition, selecting root (‘/’) as mounting point and leaving some space for Swap (2GB Minimum). After that, again double click on the free space and create a Swap partition. It would be something like this –
Main Partition:
Swap:
Now select the main partition you created and click on Install Now. You will be greeted by a popup like this:
Click on continue and carry on with the setup. After you have finished the installation, you will be asked to remove the media and the system will restart. After restarting, your system will boot onto the GRUB menu. It would look something like this:
Select windows Recovery Environment to boot into Windows.
Windows Boot Menu
Now to get to Windows Boot Menu every time you startup and set Windows 10 as Default, you will need to install Easy BCD. Just register there to get a Free Non-Commercial copy and install it.
Now, Launch EasyBCD and ‘Add new Entry’ for Linux:
Now save the settings after choosing the default OS and count down timer:
After that, go to BCD Backup/Repair and Re-Create/Repair the Boot files:
And after everything is done. Just close EasyBCD and restart the System and you will be greeted by Windows Boot Menu:
I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and had a successful Dual Boot. If you came across any problem or wish to share any insight then please feel free to comment on the comment section below. Have a great day!
