- This topic has 9 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated Nov 26-10:51 pm by seaken64.
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Joehair
Can someone provide a step by step guide to dual boot antix with windows 10? I installed windows 10 on my 500gb hard disk and left around 120gb for antiX. I tried to dual boot it and i got the live usb running but when i tried the custom install i couldn’t make a home partition because it said that i couldn’t make any more primary partition. I’m too afraid to just install it on a root partition without a home partition because i might mess it up cause i’m pretty new and don’t know what i am doing half the time. Can someone help me out here?
BobC
Ok, you must have a non-EFI boot, because those are limited to 4 primary partitions.
The easy way is to not create a separate home directory, then maybe you don’t need so many.
Always backup before messing with the drive if there is anything not easily replaced on it.
The hard way is before running the installer, partition all but the Windows areas as an Extended Logical partition using gparted, then create your partitions for root swap and home within the Extended Logical partition. I don’t have that on this machine, but here is a pic of that kind of setup from the web.
When you install grub tell Select MBR for type and install it to your main drive
I would bet you can find a step by step video someplace.
Okay so for the easy way. If i just install it on a root partition without a home partition it would be ok? I read somewhere that it’ll be hard to distro hop if you don’t have a home partition. Or could i install AntiX fully first and then install windows 10? I don’t have any important data on my pc so doing weird stuff to it won’t be a problem if i can just reinstall. Or is there a way for me to have an EFI boot?
- This reply was modified 5 months, 2 weeks ago by Joehair.
- This reply was modified 5 months, 2 weeks ago by Joehair.
sybok
Hi, this is a fairly common topic and (rather recent) internet searches will most likely apply as Windows/Linux dual boot is typically fairly Linux distribution agnostic.
Best search the antiX forum first (e.g. using the built-in search in the forum website) or use search with site:www.antixforum.com added.1) Which is first:
Install Windows first; installing as the second system may mess the boot/grub and you would have to repair it.2) Home in root or separate partition:
A single partition (home and root) + swap is not a bad option, you avoid the need for later resizing your home and root partitions if more space needed in one or the other.
Personally, I prefer to install a separate home partition; makes life/reinstall easier if your antiX system (residing in root ‘/’ partition) gets messed up by experimenting or making a silly mistake when learning.3) EFI:
EFI boot is possible; there are other posts on the forum mentioning/discussing EFI.Moreover, secure boot might also be possible…
Debian (on which antiX is based) has ‘shim-signed*’ packages (currently not installed in my antiX since I disabled secure boot in BIOS), but I am not sure if antiX kernels works with them.Info: My EFI secure-boot installation of *buntu failed to load unsigned kernel drivers for Virtualbox thus not allowing me to run it.
4) If you wish to mount Windows NTFS partition and write to it, more tinkering (on the Windows side: here’s looking at you, fast startup) will be needed.
5) Preferably do not delete any Windows partitions not to mess up the Windows recovery options/partition.
This caused me a Windows upgrade (e.g. 20H2 -> 21H2) failure in the past.
I fixed it by reinstalling Win which added another Win record into grub.Anyway, you may test if the Win recovery options work both before and after antiX installation.
As a part of backup, mark down your Windows activation key if you can find it (e.g. a sticker on your HW).
If something goes really wrong with your Win, you may download Win 10 installation media and re-install.Don’t try to use /home from one distro on another distro. You will have many problems if you do.
Always install Windows first. Eventually you won’t bother booting it. Mine hasn’t booted Windows yet this year.
Changing to EFI will require complete reload, I think.
I usually create Extended logical and split up my free space at 20 or 25 gb per distro so I can have a few loaded. Then I erase one I’m not using if I want to try another.
Distro hop? You will come back when you get tired of distros that are buggy, slow and need gobs of memory, or nobody helps. I know from experience.
junxian428
Two Hard Disks? During installation, select the empty one.. After that i guess when you boot AntiX there are two selections for booting either Windows or AntiX
seaken64
Hello @joehair, welcome to antiX.
I prefer the two drive approach when it is possible. But if you want to use only the one drive then you need to do some investigative work first.
First, how advanced are you? Do you know the difference between MBR and GPT? Do you know the difference between MBR and UEFI?
What is your equipment? Did it come with a version of Windows originally? If so what version?
If it came with Windows 8 or Windows 10 then you very likely have a computer that uses UEFI instead of the Legacy BIOS. If it came with something before Windows 8 you probably have a Legacy BIOS and MBR hard drive setup.
Having spent many years with BIOS and MBR it is what I am most comfortable with. It is certainly possible to use Windows 10 with a BIOS/MBR setup. But if your computer support UEFI and GPT then you will be best served if you use that paradigm instead.
If using MBR partitions – use an EXTENDED partition and then LOGICAL partitions to add antiX. I recommend at least 2 logical partitions, one for root (/) and one for swap. If you decide to put your /home in a separate partition than you will want to make three Logical partitions – root (/), /home, and swap.
If using GPT you can simply add partitions as needed, without the need for an Extended/Logical scheme.
If using MBR and BIOS then at the end of the antiX install routine chose to install the grub boot loader to the MBR. It will probably be the /dev/sda device, but may be labelled something else. Do your studying to learn the device names in antiX.
If using GPT and UEFI you should choose ESP for the boot loader. But be prepared for some issues that may come up with Windows 10 and UEFI. Read up.
BTW, there are a lot of threads on this topic already. You can do a search. Also, if you have not done so yet, login to the MX forum also. They have an antiX section and lots of discussions on booting and installing with UEFI.
Seaken64
- This reply was modified 5 months, 2 weeks ago by seaken64.
Two Hard Disks? During installation, select the empty one.. After that i guess when you boot AntiX there are two selections for booting either Windows or AntiX
I do like the two disk approach. It simplifies partitioning and using the antiX installer. Just be sure to choose the correct drive to install to and use the “auto” routine and let antiX set it all up for you.
After installation the grub boot loader will be setup and controlled by the antiX installation. Windows should be a choice on that grub menu. You will be able to boot either antiX or Windows.
But keep your antiX Live USB handy. Stuff happens and sometimes the boot loader does not get setup properly. You may also need to go into your computer’s setup pages (UEFI or BIOS).
BTW, you should not need a “sticker” any more to activate Windows 10. Windows 10 uses a hardware key and keeps your activation on their servers. If you reinstall it will recognize your hardware finger print and reactivate automatically.
Seaken64
sybok
@Seaken64: Thanks, I did not know that. Windows is getting “smarter” with each release. (Not quite sure how that affects HW upgrade – what is sufficient to affect the fingerprint, e.g. CPU upgrade.)
@sybok, I’m not sure of the exact pieces of hardware that can be changed before the activation key gets affected. I think you can change the drives and ram. Maybe even the CPU. But the motherboard will fail the hardware check, probably requiring a phone call to explain.
Seaken64
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