I'm new to Linux and tried installing it on my Lenovo ThinkPad T460 because the laptop runs unusually hot even when idle. I wanted to keep Windows 11 Pro for school and work, while using Linux for gaming. The laptop has an Intel i5-6300U, 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, and a roughly 127 GB SSD.
Fedora installed and boots successfully, but I can't figure out how to start Windows anymore. While partitioning, I changed the Windows partition size to about 85 GB, so I'm worried I may have damaged or removed something important. I also tried Ubuntu and Bazzite from a 64 GB USB drive, but they complained about insufficient storage.
Do I need to change something in the BIOS or boot menu, repair the Windows bootloader, or reinstall Windows? Also, would upgrading the SSD or anything else make more sense for this laptop?
4 Answers
Open Fedora’s disk utility or run lsblk and check whether the original Windows NTFS partition is still there. If it exists, your files may be fine and only the boot entry or bootloader needs repair. Don’t format, delete, or resize anything else until you know which partition is which. The Windows recovery installer can usually repair the EFI boot files, but back up anything important first.
A 127 GB drive is pretty cramped for both Windows 11 and Fedora. It can work if you leave enough free space for each system, but updates and games will fill it quickly. An SSD upgrade would help much more than changing the RAM or display system. The T460 commonly supports a larger 2.5-inch SATA SSD, though you should verify the exact drive and caddy configuration before buying one.
Fedora may be a heavier choice on an older dual-core laptop with 8 GB of RAM, but the hardware should still boot it. A lighter desktop such as Xfce or LXQt may feel faster, but switching desktop environments will not fix a missing Windows boot entry. Also, Linux being installed on the USB drive is unrelated to the USB’s capacity once you are installing it onto the internal SSD; the 64 GB stick is already more than enough for normal installation media.
First, check the firmware boot menu rather than reinstalling anything. On a ThinkPad, press Enter repeatedly as it starts, then use F12 for the temporary boot menu, or F1 to enter BIOS setup. Look for a Windows Boot Manager entry. If it’s present, select it and see whether Windows starts. Fedora’s boot menu may also have a Windows option, depending on how the installation was configured.
The Delete key usually isn’t the key for ThinkPads. Enter, F12, and F1 are the ones to try on this model.