I have EOS installed in a nvme drive, want to create a partition and install windows besides it. I’ve read it’s dangerous and can corrupt linux. How can I do it in a safe way?
Its very well known that if you want to dual boot with a Windows System the Windows system must be installed first. Windows does not respect your current setup and will overwrite whatever it wants to install Windows.
If you must have Windows My recommendation would be to purchase a separate nvme device remove the drive the EndeavourOS is installed on, Install the new nvme and then install Windows and just switch between the two when you really need to.
If you can’t do a nvme and can do a USB external then you need to install EOS on that and install windows on the nvme.
I have done it in the past but I cannot guarantee that this method still works.
Shrink the partition of your current system.
Leave the space you want to use for Windows unformatted/unllocated.
Remove the boot,esp flag from your current system’s EFI partition.This will make Windows installer not recognize it as an EFI partition. It will create a new for its own boot manager.
Start the Windows installer and let it install on the unformatted/unallocated space.
As I said, I have done it in the past but I don’t know if this will work now.
If you want to try this, you have to make a good backup of all your personal data. If something goes wrong and your Linux system is damaged you can always reinstall and with a little work get it back and running. But if you loose your data there is no getting back.
Also, make a live usb from the iso of your current Linux system to have as a safety net.
Last time I did a dual boot with Windows was Windows 7 and I had an update that killed my dual boot and I had such a time getting back my grub but was at last finally successful a few months later it happened again. That was the last time Windows existed on any system I owned. I Angrily expressed my disapproval to Bill Gates however I was in My office at the time and He was apparently off smelling Cow farts so he did not hear any of my complaints. But F’em I complained anyways
I suppose it was a Legacy (MBR) installation back then. For such installations, the bootloader/bootmanger would overwrite the MBR of the disk. While of course Grub would give a dualboot option in its menu, Window’s bootmanager would totally nuke Linux’ bootloader. One way or another there was a fix at hand if one knew their way around this.
With UEFI installs, things are different. Still I have “heard” about cases, where upgrades to Windows would overwrite the EFI partition. And if it is shared, that would cause an issue of course for Linux to boot. But there is an easy fix for that too if you have a live usb.
What there is no fix for, is loss of personal data. And that’s where a good working backup steps in to save the day.
I’ve heard several horror stories of Windows Overwriting the /efi and also removing Linux Option from the UEFI so while what you say may be technically true Others experience make me question that especially knowing the company behind widows. There are a few threads on the forum about this if you care to search it. I personally will not have that Spyware on my system.
With all this said only one post has come close (if not infact) answering the OP’s question.
Install Windows. If Windows will overwrite UEFI / whatever, make sure you have USB with Endevour OS to boot into live CD, arch-chroot and reinstall UEFI / whatever
No need to reinstall Linux. And no need to be scared, if you read first and prepare yourself.
