Windows 10: Dual boot Windows with Linux

lx07, thank you, I managed to successfully install rEFInd and now it boots first.
I guess the problem was doing it through the LIVE USB. it worked after I did that in a real installation.
I still do encounter some problems:

1) From some reason, rEFInd shows me some previously deleted OS at the booting options.
I currently only have Ubuntu and Windows. But I previously had openSUSE, and deleted it.
I also removed it from the UEFI boot entries using some Linux commands. So how does rEFInd still show them? and how can I remove them?
2) Is it possible to delete rEFInd? I don't find any how-to on the official rEFInd website as to how to delete it? (I installed it via Ubuntu and not Windows)

Thanks again

 

1. It will scan for anything it thinks is a bootloader. Without knowing exactly what you did it is hard to say but if you've deleted openSUSE completely (there are no partitions containing it on any connected disks) but still see boot options for it, chances are you've got a leftover boot loader in the EFI System Partition (ESP), and deleting those files may be in order.

Mount the ESP and have a look in the /EFI and /EFI/boot directories. If you find any directories like /EFI/opensuse/ or /EFI/boot/opensuse/ directory then just delete them.

Code: Q:\>cd EFI Q:\EFI>dir Volume in drive Q is EFI Volume Serial Number is C866-15EC Directory of Q:\EFI 09/21/2015 02:14 PM <DIR> . 09/21/2015 02:14 PM <DIR> .. 09/21/2015 02:14 PM <DIR> APPLE 09/21/2015 02:14 PM <DIR> refind 09/21/2015 02:14 PM <DIR> tools 09/21/2015 02:14 PM <DIR> opensuse <<< delete that whole directory if you have it 09/21/2015 02:14 PM <DIR> Microsoft 09/21/2015 02:14 PM <DIR> Boot[/quote]
2. You don't really need to uninstall it as it is very small. What you could do is reset your default boot manager to something else. For example, in Windows you would enter bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi to reset the windows bootloader as default.

If you do want to uninstall it just delete the /EFI/refind directory (same as openSUSE or anything else you don't want in the ESP). Here are the removal instructions: The rEFInd Boot Manager: Uninstalling rEFInd

 

Not sure if you are using Macrium. If you do then just restore the EFI System partition, uncheck everything else and you can do it while Windows is running.

 

I'm not using Macrium, so I guess that you can only remove rEFInd from the OS you installed it from? In my case, if I installed it from Ubuntu, I can only uninstall it from Ubuntu somehow? I will figure out and post an answer here if I find *Smile

 

No, it makes no difference. You just need to delete the directory from the EFS - it doesn't matter what OS you use for this. Just mount the ESP (if it isn't) and delete the refind directory.

If you want to do it in Linux then something like this Code: sudo rm -r /boot/efi/EFI/refind[/quote] In windows, something like this Code: diskpart select disk 0 select partition 2 (probably but you should check it) assign letter=s exit s: rmdir s:\EFI\refind /s /q[/quote] Restoring the partition using Macrium would overwrite the whole ESP with what was there before (and thus also effectively delete the same directory).

 

Thanks, what exactly is the meaning of "mounting the ESP"? Isn't it always mounted? If not, how do I do that on Linux? *Biggrin

 

Usually it is in Linux (and usually at /boot/efi ) but it isn't in windows. If you are trying to delete why not try the command above and see what is says. You'll get an error if it isn't found.

In which case you can check here Managing EFI Boot Loaders

 

Hi there.

Unless you really need to mess around with specific hardware why even bother with dual booting. Choose what OS you want to be your PRIMARY OS (i.e the one you most use) and then create the other OS as a VIRTUAL MACHINE. Easy enough to do with things like VBOX / VMWARE.

These days the overheads of using a VM are fairly minimal so I'd leave Dual Booting unless you really have to do it.

Cheers
jimbo

 

My laptop is not so good, and I tried VM but it's just too slow

 

Not sure what do you want with Linux.
This may not be an option to you, and you probably knew that already......................
You could burn the Linux to a DVD and run it as "live CD " mode. You don't even have to install it into the computer.

 

It is not mounted on OS X by default either.
Just a little piece of information. *Biggrin

 

Running an OS in a VM is ok for basic tasks but if you want to do more complicated things like running a CAD program, it is not an acceptable experience.

 

Since I got rEFInd to work with Windows and Ubuntu, I will be leaving it like that without removing it,
but I will keep the Code: sudo rm -r /boot/efi/EFI/refind[/quote] in a safe place for later *Smile

 

Excellent news *Smile

One thing to be aware of is Windows sometimes likes to take control of the boot manager.

If you do an upgrade to a new version of Windows it may well reset the default boot manager in the firmware to be \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi (which is the Windows boot manager). This is nothing to worry about and doesn't mean anything is broken or your Linux install is lost but you'll boot straight into Windows instead of seeing the rEFInd screen at startup.

To set it back to rEFInd you can either re-install rEFInd or (more simply) from Windows command prompt enter bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi

 

Hi there

I have to totally disagree here --CAD runs fine in a VM - enable hardware acceleration and 3D in the VM -- even a laptop with a decent i5 or even i3 CPU will be OK. VM's these days can run at almost 100% Native speed - especially if you have enough RAM and CPU power - and even better if you can stick the VM on an SSD.

Some really intensive GAMING might not be suitable for a VM - although that's improving - especially if you can set a VM up to use the separate graphics GPU card directly (Pass through) .

If the VM can't cope with your CAD it's probably because you either have very SLOW HDD's (will kill any system) or you haven't set up the VM properly.

I run a whole slew of different types of hardware on VM's - for instance a record VINYL creating studio on an XP VM, an old HP plotting machine, an archtects blue printing machine and a dedicated 35 MM negative scanner to digitise old negatives (quite a CPU intensive application) on VM's without any problem.

@mibaup glad you got your problem solved. Don't discount though in the future the power of using VM's. !!

Cheers
jimbo