Posted on 02/29/2016 3:05:35 PM PST by 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?
[[I installed my Windows 7 that had been on the laptop in Oracle VirtualBox (free) and then installed CorelDraw X3 in there]]
That’s basically what I’ve done- photoshop runs ok in a VM- it still has soem problems though running in a VM- and I tried runnign it under wine- Nope- nothin doin- I coudl barely run the photoshop, but no way was i gonna get my other photoshop programs like NIK and onone to run inside photoshop and inside a VM-
mine must be capable of it as I’m running 64 bit windows (and also 64 bit linux in VM’s too as I try out different versions)
Yeah- the ‘play nice together’ issue will likely break down at some point- but I really don’t plan on using windows 10 much- and all my important stuff like finished photos, documents etc are all kept on a separate internal hard-drive- Basically all I’ve got o nthe main drive are the OS’s- (although i gotta look into partitioning the linux so that there’s a separate ‘data’ section to- to separate it from the /home partition- supposedly that’s safer than dumping everything into the /home directory-
[[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’s kinda what I’d like to do if i could figure out how to mount another hard-drive in the cramped case (My system is an HP with a smallish ‘full tower’ but the problem is it has only the exact number of sata connections for the periphrials that i have already- and I’m kinda maxed out there- woudl need another power supply- with more connectors, or run some splitters cables- but not sure what kind of effect that would have-
Like i told another poster- I’m not too worried abotu losing anything- I have several backup strategies- I take the drive out once every couple of months and do a sector by sector raw copy with a disk duplicator onto another disk for backup- then i also move all my important files to an external usb drive- , and I also have my important files on a separate internal hard drive- so even if windows did eventually assault linux- it wouldn’t be too difficult to get back up and running- I don’t doo much important work o nthe computer- more just a hobby really- so i can afford to take some chances-
[[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.]]
Yeah, I’ve got it running in a VM- which is fine, it runs pretty good- and I’m learning how to share folders and drives and such with the linux system- but again- i just need a clean separate install, not vm of windows to run games and such- If i had another comptuer, I wouldnt’ even worry about it and just use tat other one for gaming, perhaps for photoshop too— but i don’t-
[[Probably the biggest problem would be the Windows Activation “feature”]]
Windows 10, at least for now, allows you to download the iso and install it without activating it (ther’s even a way to remove the annoying ‘activate now’ watermark they insist on putting down by the clock)- They want windows 10 on as many pc’s as possible, which is why they are allowign htis I guess- then when they htink they’ve reached the ceiling, they will likely do an update that requires all unactivated installs to activate- (which is why I don’t plan on allowing Internet access for the windows 10 install- but they probably have some time limit built into windows to where it iwll require activation at some pointp0 but for now it’s free)
[[Your physical machine and your VM machine would look like two different computers, and would require two licenses.]]
That’s what i was wondering about- my goal is to install windows on the main drive, install linux, then install windows again in a VM (for the purpose of toggling back and forth between the windows VM and linux host)
This allows you to use your existing Windows partition as a VM disk without having to re-install/take up tons of disk space.
No, I meant Raid 0 as it has better read write performance over Raid 1.
http://www.diffen.com/difference/RAID_0_vs_RAID_1
Ahh, I know this problem. VM graphics performance can be significantly improved using a technique called VGA passthrough. It does require that you have two video cards to fix the problem (one can be the integrated graphics) but essentially you allow the VM full access to the card. Here is a good description of the technique.
Some demo videos of similar techniques:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37D2bRsthfI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16dbAUrtMX4
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By way of ShadowAce's Tech Ping!!
I’ve got a couple of dual-booted Win7 + Ubuntu machines, working fine — the Ubuntu boot manager (basically GRUB) does a fine if somewhat overly-complicated job. I’ll end up trying to do that with Win10 + Ubuntu at some point, but haven’t yet.
This allows you to use your existing Windows partition as a VM disk without having to re-install/take up tons of disk space.
That would probably work for any sane OS. However, I suspect windows would freak if it was booted in a vm, then from bare metal, because it would suddenly see itself running on another computer. If one were to only run from the partition as a VM, you'd probably be OK, but switching back and forth would probably make it lose it's mind.
Well, there is that.
Dual booting is very easy. You need a separate drive/partition for each OS. Hard drives are cheap enough so I’d just get another one. You can also boot Linux off a USB stick.
I wouldn’t use Photoshop in a VM unless you have a huge pile of memory to allocate to it.
All of my machines dual boot Linux and Windows. There is a nice thing about two drives. You can use one to rescue/backup the other.
I also use an external to backup everything.
Install Windows and then Linux. Linux will handle the boot management.
I have this exact setup but with W7. A have a beefy machine dual booting windoze and linux and there is a windoze VM inside the linux one. No issues whatsoever. (Full disclosure - I almost never use the non-VM windoze machine but it is there nad working). The only caveat of which I’m aware is that I’ve never dealt with UEFI. It can be a pain but it can be gotten around I do believe.
As Appy Pappy said you do have to install windoze first and then linux. Windoze will crap the bed for you if you do it the other way round.
I guess the other point about the whole thing is that the two issues are completely separable (aside from the windoze licensing issues). The fact that you have on the same physical box a virtual and a non-virtual instance of windoze is a completely irrelevant detail - unless you get into licensing legalities vis a vis Redmond. But from a pure technical perspective one doesn’t know about the other and has no reason to care.
You can even share HD resources between the two real instances (I do) and the host could then choose to share these with the guest (I don’t but I could).
[[I wouldn’t use Photoshop in a VM unless you have a huge pile of memory to allocate to it.]]
I have 16 gig of host memory, and allocate 10 gig to the VM-
I woudl love to use another HD but not sure how I’ll mount it in my machine’s cramped quarters- I do have antoehr HD as a secondary one inside the machine which i use strictly for backup/storage
Thanks Dayglord, I’ll check out that link- looks promising-
[[It is possible with VirtualBox (and virt-manager under Linux) to point to an existing partition/disk to use as your VM.]]
That sounds cool- it would solve two problems- one, I wouldn’t have to install two copies of windows (as i mentioned in my original post for the purposes i laid out), and two, it would do away with hte possible conflict of having to activate two copies of windows, or have the second one complain because a copy is already present o n the computer- (I don’t know if the secodn copy would complain or not as I haven’t tried it yet- but with your method it would do away with any possibility of it)
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