I'm looking to set up a dual boot system on my HP Victus laptop, where I want Windows installed on my internal SSD and Linux on my external SSD. The goal is to ensure that Windows boots up automatically even when the external SSD is disconnected. Any tips on how to go about this?
4 Answers
Just a heads-up, make sure your post title is more descriptive in the future. It really helps get better responses!
Definitely follow a similar process as mentioned. I've got an HP laptop running Windows 10 on the internal HDD and Fedora on an external SSD. When I need to update Windows, I just unplug the Fedora drive, which makes everything way simpler. Dual booting from a single drive was a nightmare for me, so this keeps things nice and clean!
Using an external drive can work just fine! What Linux distro are you planning to use? In my experience, distributions like Fedora or Ubuntu run beautifully off external SSDs. I have a setup where I run various distros from different external drives, and it’s been hassle-free as long as each drive has its own boot partition. I suggest you go with a self-contained setup for the best results!
A solid method to achieve this is as follows:
1. Create a bootable USB for your Linux distribution using Rufus.
2. Remove the internal Windows SSD from your laptop.
3. Connect the bootable USB and the external SSD, then install your Linux distro on the external drive. This way, both drives will have separate boot partitions, and you won’t need to mess with any boot settings later.
4. Reinstall the Windows SSD.
With this setup, you can select which system to boot by hitting "Esc" or "F9" at startup. I've done this multiple times and it works perfectly!
Yep, Linux distros operate well on external drives. I’ve installed and run many different distributions from my external SSDs without issues. Just ensure each drive has its own partition for a seamless experience!