Install Notes for Dual Booting

George Koffas | Oct 8 2021

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---- STEP 1: Windows & BIOS Investigation ----

Before creating partitions for Linux, we need to look out for some things in Windows.

The most problematic ones are:

• BitLocker-enabled disks
• MBR vs GPT-partitioned disks
• FastStartup | this can be disabled from inside the Windows environment

In the BIOS, we need to check out for:

• SecureBoot
• UEFI vs Legacy Boot Mode | this is basically the same as the MBR vs GPT problem

For each of those, we have a solution:

BitLocker

Using PowerShell

$BLV = Get-BitLockerVolume
Disable-Bitlocker -MountPoint $BLV

Using CMD:

manage-bde -off <drive letter>:

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MBR vs GPT

Run System Information and check the BIOS setting

OR

Using CMD:

diskpart
list disk

and check whether the Gpt option has an asterisk (*)

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FastBoot

Using CMD:

powercfg -h off

to disable FastBoot

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SecureBoot

Enter the BIOS settings of the host machine, and go to Boot Options. From there, disable SecureBoot.

NOTE: while some BIOS have it enabled, in case your BIOS doesn't, ALWAYS enable Virtualization. This option can be also found in Boot Options.

After setting these, press F10 to Save and Exit.

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UEFI vs Legacy (CSM)

Refer to MBR vs GPT. Having an UEFI BIOS means the disk is partitioned in GPT format, while having a Legacy BIOS means the disk is most likely partitioned in MBR format.

For further reading, this article summarizes everything you need to know.

IMPORTANT : If your disk is GPT partitioned, but it already has an EFI partition, DO NOT CREATE A NEW ONE on the next step. Only create one if the disk has no other installations (see Appendix).

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---- STEP 2: Create Linux Partition for the distribution ----

1. Open the Disk Management tool

2. Right-click on the volume to partition, then select "Shrink Volume"

3. On the prompt that pops up, select at least 20 GB + sizeof(RAM) to reserve for the new partition (this includes space for the root and swap partitions).

4. If it is not possible to reserve at least this much, there are some things to try before giving up and going for a VM installation (see Appendix). If all else fails, do not follow the following steps and proceed with a VM installation.

5. After reserving a partition for Linux, insert your Bootable USB stick and reboot the system.

6. Enter BIOS. The button that does so differs between manufacturers, but it is always one of

   • F9
   • F10
   • F11
   • F12
   • F2

7. On the Boot Options menu, change the Boot Order to start with the inserted USB stick, then hit F10 to Save and Exit.

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---- STEP 3: Install the distribution ----

1. Follow the instructions of the distribution. Always remember to connect to an available network to download proprietary drivers.

2. When you get to the installation way, select "Something Else" (in Ubuntu) or Manual.

3. If you're installing Linux in the same disk as Windows:

   • Select the free space and create the necessary partitions: / (root), swap, and (optionally) /home.
   • swap needs to be at least the size of the system's RAM.
   • / needs to be at least 20GB.
   • If you don't create a separate partition for /home, you can use all the remaning space for the root partition. Otherwise, use it for /home.
   • If the disk has an MBR partition scheme, selecting "Logical" instead of "Primary" partition type is recommended. If the disk has GPT partition, it generally doesn't matter.

4. And you're done! Now you can lay back or start another install.

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---- STEP 4: Post-Installation ----

After rebooting, make sure you can successfully boot both Windows and Linux. If one of them doesn't boot, you have made a mistake and need to trace-back.

• If Linux is not booting, either delete the associated partitions and redo the whole process, or consult someone else.
• If Windows is not booting, consult someone else.

Make sure to run sudo apt update and sudo apt upgrade (this might take some time depending on network and hardware capabilities), and also install the students' preferred software (e.g. Kate, or even the KDE-Plasma desktop).

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---- APPENDIX ----

Regarding GPT | MBR

• If you're installing Linux on a separate hard drive from Windows, that hard drive will need to have an EFI partition. The way to create one is the following:

  1. When creating partitions during installation, create at the start of the empty space a primary, EFI System Partition (ESP). Its size should be 512 MB at max.
  2. Continue with the rest of the steps (i.e. create the root, swap (and optionally /home partitions).

• After the partition setup is complete, select the disk that Linux is on (the whole disk, not a partition of it), as the bootloader installation media. Then proceed to install.

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When shrinking a volume fails

• If during the partitioning of the drive to install Linux, you can't seem to receive enough space by the OS, you can try the following:
  1. Using CMD: Cleanmgr. On the GUI prompt that pops up, select ONLY the hibernation file and all restore checkpoints.
  2. Run the Rstrui.exe executable to see the state of System Restore for each drive.
  3. On powershell: Disable-ComputerRestore -Drive "<drive-letter>:\" to disable System Restore (don't worry, we will re-enable it after partitioning)
  4. Disable the Pagefile: Open up System in Control Panel, then Advanced System Settings \ Advanced \ Performance \ Advanced \ Change \ No Paging File
  5. Disable hibernation: We've already done that when disabling FastBoot
  6. Check the C:\ directory, and if there's a pagefile.sys file, delete it, if not continue.
  7. Reboot
  8. After rebooting, run thourgh cmd: defrag <drive-letter>: to defragment the drive you want to partition. NOTE: This process might take a while, so don't interrupt it at any cost.
  9. Reboot, and try to shrink the volume again.
  10. If you have enough space, good! You can continue on with the installation, but before you do so, we need to restore some of the stuff we disabled. In order to do that:

Re-enable the Pagefile (by using the exact same methodology)

(OPTIONALLY) Re-enable System Restore : In Powershell: Enable-ComputerRestore -Drive "[Drive Letter]:"

Reboot

• If after following these steps, you still don't can't get enough disk space, follow the steps in [x] and continue with a VM installation (these are out of the scope of this document so they will not be covered).

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Intel RST is enabled, but doesn't show up in BIOS - Issue #1

On older laptops, Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (RST) is enabled for the disk drives, which can pose problems when trying to dual boot. If the option to disable it doesn't appear in the BIOS settings, then proceed with the following steps to switch from RAID/IDE to AHCI configuration.

1. Open cmd as Administrator.
2. Enter the following command:

bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal

• If that command doesn't work, try this alternative:

bcdedit /set safeboot minimal

3. Reboot and enter BIOS Setup.
4. Change the SATA Operation mode to AHCI.
5. Save changes and exit by pressing F10. Winodws will now automatically boot to Safe Mode.
6. Open cmd as Administrator once again.
7. Enter the following command:

bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot

• Alternatively, try

bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot

8. Reboot once more and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled. You can check if that's the case by going to Device Managemer > IDE ATA/ATAPI Devices, and checking if AHCI is mentioned.