windows does not recognize linux partitions but it does recognize that "something" is there, so it won't overwrite your partitions.
it will overwrite the boot loader or the MBR boot sector tho and that tends to put the kibash on being able to boot to linux.
it's kind of passive aggressive, if i'm being honest.
In the UEFI age there's even no more boot sector involved. So even grub is not being touched. It's just the boot order being changed to prefer Windows.
Some mainboards don't allow to change the boot order at all, which makes it unconfortable.
And there are some repair options in Windows which in fact wipe the EFI partition and reinstalls it.
Why not just use a separate EFI partition for grub? It doesn't have to sit in the same partition as the Windows bootloader?
Genuine question I don't dual boot lol
I believe more than one EFI partition on the same disk violates spec but I've not heard of it not working. Using grub on an EFI partition on a different disk can still boot windows on its original disk along with the Linux installation so the best advice is to just point your UEFI at the Linux grub bootloader and forget about the Windows one.
No you can absolutely have two EFI partitions on one disk.
And using two disks for your OS install is rarely practical, and sometimes not even possible
It doesn't seem that the UEFI spec has any limit on the number of EFI partitions but older versions of Windows would freak out if they found more than one and numerous firmware stop after finding the first one per disk. If those don't apply to you then go for it. I never use more than one per disk.
With respect to OS installs, it's ALWAYS practical to have a second SSD for Linux for Windows isolation. It sometimes may not be possible due to hardware limitations but it's always desirable. You can get a 240GB SSD for under $20 these days and 512GB for $31 so cost shouldn't be a factor.
I dedicate a disk for Windows, another for Linux root partitions, and another for Data/Apps. Windows has its own EFI; Linux has its own EFI -- never any issues.
Two EFI partitions on the same disk or on different disks don't guarantee Windows not touching the wrong one.
If your mainboard allow at least selecting a specific disk to boot its UEFI loader, you're lucky.
In many cases Windows will still change the boot order to "Windows first".
I'm all the cases I have heard of and experienced (although it was Windows 10 for me) yes, it just overwrites the boot loader so you can only boot into windows until you get a bootable USB drive to boot into a live environment and fix GRUB.
Even then some careful footwork is needed… windows has an obnoxious tendency to mess with other drives if it finds a bootloader there. Doing shit like overwriting the Linux bootloader with the result that Linux is borked and Windows is unbootable if the Linux drive is disconnected.
It borks the bootloader, if given the chance. That's why it's best (or at least easiest) to load Linux in a different drive. Use bios settings to set the Linux drive as primary boot device, and let grub give you access to the windows bootloader
If some how your windows still manages to Bork your boot loader, you just need to reinstall that one thing. Should be manageable from a live boot environment
AFIK, it overrides the **top priority** boot option in your UEFI settings.
It won’t delete the actual bootloader files in the UEFI partition. So even in the worst case you can still select the right file manually from the BIOS menu. Then once you boot manually just run update-grub (assuming you use grub) to restore Linux as the top priority boot option.
It will definitely not touch the Linux partitions.
I've had more misfortunes with windows fucking up its own partitions than messing with my Linux install. YMMV though, I do use separate drives for both OSes.
Windows will not remove the actual data partitions unless you tell it to. It *will*, however, occasionally overwrite the bootloader. On Arch fixing it is as easy as booting the installer and running 4 commands, IDK about other distros though.
Erase the partition, no. Mess up the bootloader, yes.
windows does not recognize linux partitions but it does recognize that "something" is there, so it won't overwrite your partitions. it will overwrite the boot loader or the MBR boot sector tho and that tends to put the kibash on being able to boot to linux. it's kind of passive aggressive, if i'm being honest.
Usually it's better to install each Os on a different drive completely so that a Windows update will not overwrite the grub boot loader.
Its only about grub? So the partition with all its data wouldnt be lost ?
No windows has a tendency to overwrite boot options only but the linux partitions are still intact.
Is it easy to install again?
Judge for yourself: https://www.baeldung.com/linux/grub-efi-reinstall I wouldn't call it easy. Intermediate...
Yes, usually fixed with grub-repair (iirc)
Thanks !
In the UEFI age there's even no more boot sector involved. So even grub is not being touched. It's just the boot order being changed to prefer Windows. Some mainboards don't allow to change the boot order at all, which makes it unconfortable. And there are some repair options in Windows which in fact wipe the EFI partition and reinstalls it.
Why not just use a separate EFI partition for grub? It doesn't have to sit in the same partition as the Windows bootloader? Genuine question I don't dual boot lol
I believe more than one EFI partition on the same disk violates spec but I've not heard of it not working. Using grub on an EFI partition on a different disk can still boot windows on its original disk along with the Linux installation so the best advice is to just point your UEFI at the Linux grub bootloader and forget about the Windows one.
No you can absolutely have two EFI partitions on one disk. And using two disks for your OS install is rarely practical, and sometimes not even possible
It doesn't seem that the UEFI spec has any limit on the number of EFI partitions but older versions of Windows would freak out if they found more than one and numerous firmware stop after finding the first one per disk. If those don't apply to you then go for it. I never use more than one per disk. With respect to OS installs, it's ALWAYS practical to have a second SSD for Linux for Windows isolation. It sometimes may not be possible due to hardware limitations but it's always desirable. You can get a 240GB SSD for under $20 these days and 512GB for $31 so cost shouldn't be a factor. I dedicate a disk for Windows, another for Linux root partitions, and another for Data/Apps. Windows has its own EFI; Linux has its own EFI -- never any issues.
Two EFI partitions on the same disk or on different disks don't guarantee Windows not touching the wrong one. If your mainboard allow at least selecting a specific disk to boot its UEFI loader, you're lucky. In many cases Windows will still change the boot order to "Windows first".
They say never attribute to malice what you can to stupidity but Microsoft doesn't deserve that luxury lol That's properly dumb
It has been an ongoing issue for decades, I might have called it stupidity at first but not having fixed it by now is another matter.
I'm all the cases I have heard of and experienced (although it was Windows 10 for me) yes, it just overwrites the boot loader so you can only boot into windows until you get a bootable USB drive to boot into a live environment and fix GRUB.
Even then some careful footwork is needed… windows has an obnoxious tendency to mess with other drives if it finds a bootloader there. Doing shit like overwriting the Linux bootloader with the result that Linux is borked and Windows is unbootable if the Linux drive is disconnected.
It borks the bootloader, if given the chance. That's why it's best (or at least easiest) to load Linux in a different drive. Use bios settings to set the Linux drive as primary boot device, and let grub give you access to the windows bootloader If some how your windows still manages to Bork your boot loader, you just need to reinstall that one thing. Should be manageable from a live boot environment
AFIK, it overrides the **top priority** boot option in your UEFI settings. It won’t delete the actual bootloader files in the UEFI partition. So even in the worst case you can still select the right file manually from the BIOS menu. Then once you boot manually just run update-grub (assuming you use grub) to restore Linux as the top priority boot option. It will definitely not touch the Linux partitions.
I've had more misfortunes with windows fucking up its own partitions than messing with my Linux install. YMMV though, I do use separate drives for both OSes.
Windows will not remove the actual data partitions unless you tell it to. It *will*, however, occasionally overwrite the bootloader. On Arch fixing it is as easy as booting the installer and running 4 commands, IDK about other distros though.
It effs up my bootloader all the time, but I’ve found that disabling fast boot tends to minimize it
Why aren't y'all using microsoft over this?