Dual Bootin' Linux Windows 10

Me | Feb | Me

[Bob434]

Ok good linuxian folks, Here's what I'd like to do IF possible-

Dual boot windows 10 and linux mint cinnamon BUT have windows 10 run again in linux under a virtual machine (yes I know it sounds redundant, but i have a reason for this setup if possible)

I'm not sure if I coudl install windows 10 twice on one machine or not, but let's for now just assume i could- (windows 10 is 'free' and you can download the iso for it and use it without activating it legally- the iso is direct from MS- and while I don't like windows 10 because of all the spyware crap- I plan on using it just for windows programs/games and not allowing it to access Internet)

The reason I'd like to run a second windows 10 in virtual machine is so that i can toggle back and forth between host os (linux) and guest (windows 10 in virtual machine)- there are myriad reasons for wanting to toggle between the two without having to do a reboot- downloading stuff, grabbing files, checking stuff etc-

The main os, Windows 10, which linux will install beside, will be barred from accessing Internet and it will just be there to run games, programs etc-

I work with photoshop- and I've tied running it under wine, play on linux, and in virtual machine- It works best in virtual machine, (although it's a little slow) so I would need the virtual machine windows 1o for the purpose of running windows apps- but it's too slow for things like games (and I would assume apps like Cad software- etc)

Would this kind of setup even be remotely possible? (First os windows 10- second os linux mint with guest virtual machine windows 10 again) and if so, how would you recommend allocating/partitioning the hard-drive? Should i partition a separate 'data' partition too?

[JFoobar]

Install this.

http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/5.0.14/virtualbox-5.0_5.0.14-105127~Ubuntu~trusty_amd64.deb

Open this with what you just installed ^
http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/5.0.14/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-5.0.14-105127.vbox-extpack

Set up your repository for upgrades later. Add this to your software sources.

deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian trusty contrib

Run this at command prompt.

wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

apt-get update

And yes, you can run windows while you have a windows partition, but I promise you that you won’t want to. Dual booting is going to get real old when you realize how fast the virtualized OS is. It’s 2d/3d native enabled, and can optimize for SSD access/speeds.

In any case, that’s how you do it. Good luck.

[TomGuy]

Hard-Drive switch

Interesting. I had trouble with my desktop a few months ago. Ended up buying a new HD and installing my Win7 image to keep all my programs.

The old drive got scattered in a power surge (even though I have a APC). The shop got it working again and I used it to upgrade to Win10. I didn’t really care for Win10.

Now, I manually have to power down, switch drives, and power back up.

I didn’t realize — never thought about it — that there were Hard-Drive switches. Am looking on Newegg now.

[existtoexcel]

Unfortunately, slave drives are racist...

[Bob434]

Aye- but it’s not fast enough for gaming- I have the 3d enabled in vmware- and it’s not enough- I tried virtual box, and i couldn’t figure out how to share drives etc- so switched to vmware

I wouldn’t be dual bootin to windows often- only when i need horsepower for game or software- My main os (Linux) runs windows 10 in vmware fine- and i can run smaller older- really old games) fine- the virtual machines just don’t seem to have the umpf to run more moder games

[Bob434]

[[Now, I manually have to power down, switch drives, and power back up.]]

Yuck- (That’s what I’m doing right now as I’m makign switch over to linux- i have to keep manually connecting frives for now to gather files etc- )

I’m not sure how they work- but they aren’t too expensive- (but look kinda complicated to install)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hard+drive+switch

[Bob434]

my extra drives are indentured servants

[Baseballguy]

I windows 10 native and have multiple ubuntu vm, windows xp in vurtial box.
I read somewhere you cant load a dual boot on a HD that has windows 10 already. You would have to be a real geek to get it right without loosing any of your documents.
the reset on windows is great to flush your system and start over without re-installing. Windows>settings>Update&security>reset this pc.

[Johnny B.]

For what it's worth, this is an advertised feature of VMware when running on Macs. I would imagine that it could work on a Linux/Windows host.

Probably the biggest problem would be the Windows Activation "feature". Your physical machine and your VM machine would look like two different computers, and would require two licenses. I'm not sure how "friendly" Windows is to constantly finding itself running on a computer with the "wrong' activation license.

Good luck!

[Darth Reardon]

I really hope you meant RAID1 (with Grub loaded on both).

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

Why not just run it as a virtual machine?

[bicyclerepair]

Here I have Mint and my other windoze OS’s on different PCs all on a kvm switch.

[sean_og]

I would break free from Windows if you can. A nice version of Linux is
Knoppix. It is packed with everything you need and more.

[Regulator]

Thanks, will look into that.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Put your VM’s on external drives and run them via USB3. Makes everything super easy. Speed diff is not substantial depending on your hardware. (I am posting from a mint external drive. Speed tests I have run on this setup come in within 10% of running internal SATA.)

[minnesota_bound]

I put Windows 10 on a laptop (primary pc is a desktop).
I found out my CorelDraw X3 which came out in 2006 will not install so I installed my Windows 7 that had been on the laptop in Oracle VirtualBox (free) and then installed CorelDraw X3 in there : )

CorelDraw X8 may be coming out this March when I tried X7 I noticed not much has changed. X7 was $500 if I bought it which I won’t as X3 is really all I need.

[Paal Gulli]

Just because the host hardware is 64-bit does not mean you can run a virtual 64-bit guest OS. You also have to have a 64-bit CPU that supports virtualization, which not all do. In the case of Intel it’s called VT-x and AMD calls it AMD-v, so check your slug’s specs. You still can do a 32-bit install without a virtualization-enabled CPU, but not 64-bit.

Also, I will never again dual-boot from a single hard drive on a PC I expect high availability from (never on my “daily driver”). Windoze and Linux just don’t get along, and locking the both of them in (essentially) the same room pretty much guarantees that, sooner or later, a turf war will erupt. The result of which, if you’re lucky, will be that only one of the OS’s boot records will get hammered, which can be fixed by booting off of a repair disk (or thumb drive w/same) to repair the damage.

I only ever dual boot on multiple HDDs any more, and do not rely on anybody’s boot manager but select the proper HDD at boot-up through Bios Boot Select. That minimizes the contact between the two OSes, and with it the possibility for domestic violence.

Creating a Win10 virtual disk on the original hardware should look the same to M$ as just another a re-install, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

[Bob434]

[[Why not just run it as a virtual machine?]]

Well becasue it won’t run games and software that is more intensive very well- if i coudl run the games on it ok, this would be the best solution- as i could then just toggle back and forth between the linux host and windows guest- and play games and run my photoshop program-

[Bob434]

[[You would have to be a real geek to get it right without loosing any of your documents.]]

Well everythign right now is brand spankin new so to speak- no real documents to worry aboutl osing oranything- I’ll be starting everythign from scratch really- newl inux install, new windows install- so it won’t be aq big deal for me if it doesn’t work- linux installs pretty quick- I can be up and running in about an hour or so per install (i woudl just have to get thignsl iek email set back up, mouse gesture program, a few tweaks to the os etc- it’s all pretty quick htough)

[Bob434]

[[I would break free from Windows if you can.]]

Unfortunately gimp doesn’t compare to photoshop and NIK tools and onone software for photography- plus the kidsl iek gaming- and whiel soem games do run ok in wine, not many do- windows has a lot of faults, especially now with all the stinkin spyware crap they install- but it really does do thigns liek progams, software and hardware compatibility very well

[Bob434]

[[Put your VM’s on external drives and run them via USB3]]

Doesn’t really solve my problem- I want windows on a clean boot to run windows programs and games at full speed- which it won’t if i run it on a vm