I previously had Windows 10 and tried to dual boot it with Linux, but the setup went badly. I eventually switched entirely to Linux Mint Cinnamon. Now I'm wondering whether I can install Windows again and dual boot from my existing Linux installation, rather than installing Windows first and Linux afterward. I have two drives that are each larger than 100 GB and would probably prefer installing each operating system on its own drive.
3 Answers
The computer actually boots through a boot manager such as GRUB, which can provide a menu for choosing Linux or Windows. If Windows is installed on the same drive after Linux, it will usually replace GRUB with its own bootloader. You can then use a Linux Mint installer or rescue drive to repair and reinstall GRUB. With separate drives, you may instead select the desired drive from the firmware boot menu or add Windows to GRUB afterward.
Using separate drives is generally less troublesome. Before installing Windows, back up anything important and make sure you select the correct drive during setup, since Windows can overwrite partitions or boot files. Also, use a currently supported Windows release rather than an outdated one, and expect to install drivers and adjust account settings after the installation.
Yes, you can do this. The easiest and safest setup is to install each operating system on a separate drive. Keep Linux Mint on its current drive and install Windows on the other one.
That clears things up. I’ll probably use the two drives and keep the operating systems separate.