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?

[Regulator]

Bkmk waiting for good answers...

[Kirkwood]

Can’t help you, but I’m interested to learn if you get this to work. I was thinking of doing this, but just never got around to it.

[AFreeBird]

I downloaded an evaluation, non licensed copy of 10 that I run in “Virtualbox” on my Mac. Works great. Before that I used to run Win2K in a Virtualbox SuSE Linux on my ThinkPad. It worked great too, except for some USB issues with my then new iPhone 3GS. I ran iTunes in the virtual Windows for sync purposes.

Virtualbox started out as shareware, and got scarfed up by Oracle. Free download

[dadfly]

it sounds doable (i’ve had ver of linux and windows booting on the same machine with vm’s), but i wouldn’t let w10 get a crack at the real machine.

[Bob434]

My present setup now is linux mint with windows 10 in virtual machine with photoshop and NIK color efex pro installed inside photosop- all are working well- and I just recently was able to map my second hard-drive so both linux and windows can access it (it’s where i save my photos after working on them in photoshop) Everything is working well- but like i said- I would really like to run a separate non virtual machine version of windows 10 just for games/windows software-

I’ve thoguht about trying out a ‘Hard-Drive switch” which physically switches hard-drives via a knob- and do things this way, but there’s so little room in my comptuer case that I’m not sure I could mount hte hard-drive solidly and securely enough- this might be the best way to do it if i can figure out how- but for now I’m just gonna use my main HD for both if possible

[Bob434]

Yeah, I’ve got a VMware windows 10 working fine- (it actually works really well- nice and fast- no problems that I’ve run across yet)- But I need a separate install (that i boot to) of windows 10 in addition so that it will run programs and games fully, and not bog down like they do in a VM

[AFreeBird]

Then you’ll have to partition your hard drive. One side for Linux and one for Windows. You won’t be able to switch between them without rebooting. Not sure about mint, but the SuSE boot loader was able to boot from either partition, back when I had a Windows partition.

[Bob434]

[[but i wouldn’t let w10 get a crack at the real machine.]]

What do you mean? That you only run wondows in a VM? I would need it to have exclusive access to the computer in a ‘clean environment’ in order to run full blast-

[AFreeBird]

Ping ShadowAce.....

He’s more current than me.

[taxcontrol]

Have you considered the following possible alternative:

Host os Linux 64 bit Mint
Guest VM 1 - Windows 10 for games and daily use
Guest VM 2 - Windows 10 for work / photo shop.

This way your base system can stay on and connected to the Internet without reporting any information to Microsoft.

In this configuration, I would recommend that you determine the most demanding Windows 10 memory requirement, add 2 Gig of memory and then double that amount to ensure that you have enough memory to run both instances and Mint at the same time.

There are some other optimization you should consider: Raid 0 for your primary drive - Recommend two IDENTICAL SATA drives

Hard wire your PC to your home router

Consider a high end graphics card that works well with Linux http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=category&item=Graphics+Cards

[Bob434]

[[You won’t be able to switch between them without rebooting.]]

That’s fine- I don’t game much or do much in windows (except for photoshop, which i can run in linux on VM)- but when i need to run games or whatever, I’d simply reboot into windows- no problem-

[[Then you’ll have to partition your hard drive.]]

Yeah, I was gonna allocate about 50-100 gigs for windows partition- 50 for linux, the rest of the 2 Terabytes for swap, home, data

[WhoisAlanGreenspan?]

I don't know about win10, but win7 and probably everything else windows insists on taking up the largest part of the hard drive even if its empty. That assumes it's the first os installed on a factory installed machine.

A thought might be to erase everything and install linux first. Then win10 can live there as a big file accessed by virtual box under linux.

Good luck.

[r_barton]

Installing Ubuntu/Linux Mint on UEFI System with Windows 8/8.1/10
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/62886-Installing-Ubuntu-Linux-Mint-on-UEFI-System-with-Windows-8-8-1-10

[Bob434]

[[In this configuration, I would recommend that you determine the most demanding Windows 10 memory requirement, add 2 Gig of memory and then double that amount to ensure that you have enough memory to run both instances and Mint at the same time.]]

My windows VM had about 10 gig of ram dedicated to it- (My computer has 16 total)- and still it’s too slow for games- I am testign with an old game (Dues EX human revolution) which isn’t too intensive- and it still runs too slow even on low graphics-

The problem with the VM is that it runs it’s own graphics driver i believe-

I’ve gotta pretty much work with what i have-

[AFreeBird]

Sounds good on the partition. Check with the Minto docs on multi boot partitions since this your current boot loader.

[dadfly]

i have no reason to ever run w10, so i know practically nothing about it from *experience.* but i’m not a gamer, so you have different req’s. there are just too many unregulated networks around me to install/boot up naked windows 10 with network hardware available.

[Bob434]

[[A thought might be to erase everything and install linux first. Then win10 can live there as a big file accessed by virtual box under linux.]]

I thought about that, but then apparently I’d run into windows corruptign the grub boot of linux- and I’m not linux savvy enough to know how to fix the grub bootloader- I had wanted to go this route- but it looks pretty complicated- I would love to have linux as main os- this would be ideal- if it wasn’t so complicated, I’ts the route I’d prefer

[dadfly]

forwarding to asking poster :). yeah, but you can partition your drives (with linux or other programs) to restrict windows ahead of time.

Greenspan:

I don’t know about win10, but win7 and probably everything else windows insists on taking up the largest part of the hard drive even if its empty. That assumes it’s the first os installed on a factory installed machine.
A thought might be to erase everything and install linux first. Then win10 can live there as a big file accessed by virtual box under linux.

Good luck.

[TomGuy]

I have been wondering about a similar laptop setup — Win10 and Linux/Mint/Cinnamon but with Win7 in the virtual window.

I have several software programs that will not run under Win10 and do not have upgrades. They are mostly utility programs, but there are no ‘modern’ equivalents. I had to finagle to get them to even run under Win7.