This is what made me switch to Linux full-time. I’m not surprised this is still a thing 10+ years later
Oh that’s why my Linux instance suddenly stopped working. I will have to look into this
I wish it could be so, I need both for work. I have always required a laptop with two separate hdd slots, but Windows tends to mess up everything anyway, and then Linux get the blame for being unstable. I also have a fun thing where the RTC becomes out of sync because win and Linux handle time differently. This can mess up 2FA among other things, so that’s great😅
I think Windows will have to go on a VM instead because it is so unstable.
You can set Windows to use UTC for the hardware clock (or have Linux use local time shudder). Just need to set a registry key:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation]
"RealTimeIsUniversal"=dword:00000001
Yup! Windows did an update and hosed your boot record. I don’t even use the same partition for the Windows and Linux boot sectors and Windows still breaks it occasionally. My solution was to just not log into Windows anymore.
Same here. I tried the dual boot life for a while but eventually I gave up. On Windows, of course.
I will eventually need to log back into Windows next time I want to design something in Fusion 360, since there aren’t any stable solutions for Linux, but that’s literally the only thing I need Windows for.
I was dual booting because of rocket League.
The well epic did an epic and so I stopped. My computer is set to boot to the kubuntu drive. I have to make it boot to windows if I need that drive.
I miss drinking and tanking my MMR with buddies… but windows. :/ lol
Good to know I’m saving myself a pain in the ass
I’ve almost filled a dual boot SSD and I’ve got an NVME drive sitting there waiting to be installed and I haven’t done it yet because I wanted to move just the Linux partitions onto the NVME and leave the windows on the SATA SSD and its just complicated enough and fraught with just enough danger that it’s not fun.
For the life of me I’ve no idea why, I literally can’t remember the last time I booted into windows, certainly not since the last shenanigans with fusion 360.
I have in fact never had or seen this problem, and I’m quite bewildered by so many people having it. Do your normal windows updates do it? Or transition between major Windows versions? Or is it just a Win 11 problem?
I’ve pretty much always used a dual boot Win/Linux laptop, since around Vista, and I’m on 10 now (but only use it for a few games; all important things in Linux).
I’m not sure how it is now, but when I was still dual booting I had the same problem until I got a separate drive for Linux instead of just using different partitions of the same drive.
Funny enough, I think the only time I’ve run into bootloader problems on a single drive, it ended up being Linux that broke my Windows boot. Typically Windows leaves my EFI partition well enough alone during updates.
Do your normal windows updates do it?
They can. As Windows does updates it typically checks to make sure everything is working. This includes making sure it will boot after an update.
Or transition between major Windows versions?
If it’s not a feature enablement update, then yes it can happen. In place upgrades actually reinstall Windows. This includes boot.
Or is it just a Win 11 problem?
Happens with 8, 10 and 11. Since these are UEFI compatible.
The problem starts with how you install. If you do Windows first and then Linux when sharing an EFI partition, Windows doesn’t like this. A feature of Windows is PCR7. Since Secure Boot is a requirement now for Windows 11, this is more of a problem than it was. PCR7 binding happens when the entire boot chain has been authenticated using Microsoft’s CA. This can interfere with BitLocker automatic encryption for Home. If it’s already been enabled before you install Linux, you could lock yourself out of the Windows install if you don’t know where to retrieve your recovery key. People typically install Windows first and then Linux because majority of Linux installers are smart. They detect Windows and create an entry so as to preserve booting.
When an update or upgrade takes place and Windows does its checks, it may decide “I don’t like this EFI configuration” and then completely “repair” it. Not realising that it was that way on purpose.
The solution I’ve found is to manually create boot files for each, and then use rEFInd. Writing a manual configuration that simply loads the bootloaders on the Linux and Windows partition. That way neither are aware of the other.
So I’m a recent Linux user (as I created a duelbooting system this week for the first time) and I did as you said in this comment and downloaded rEFInd. Is that all you have to do or is there more to the part “manually create boot files for each”? If so would you mind giving me a brief rundown on how to do the same?
I installed Windows and Linux via command line from their installers. I did Windows first, then Linux. Each OS has its own SSD (This is where I manually created boot files for each). I booted into Windows to complete the install then did the same for Linux. Once that was done, while still in Linux, I created an EFI partition on a shared data drive. I placed refind on that and configured it. With all of that complete, I boot into firmware settings and set refind as the default.
For this to work without issue, you need at least two drives. I have three to make it even easier.
If Windows and Linux share the same drive, set up a manual partition layout with two EFI partitions. You’ll end up with this:
EFI || EFI || WinRe || Windows || Linux
The first EFI partition is for Windows, and the second is for Linux. Complete the OS installs and use a second drive for a third EFI partition to set up refind. Again, configuring it and then setting it as the default.
Usually people have issues with this when they don’t create the partition free space for the linux partition inside windows first
Windows update went way further than deleting Grub on my laptop. It completely wiped my Linux partition, and I’m not alone in having Microsoft blow up my system:
This is the truest meme I’ve ever seen.
This just happened to me on my laptop like a week ago. I can still Systemd boot into Pop!_Os so I haven’t looked into fixing it yet.
You just need to boot from a live USB, chroot into the OS, and rebuild the boot sector. Pop has a great document on how to do it. It takes maybe 5 minutes.
Thanks! I assume this is the guide? I’ll have to try this out this weekend. I had looked at this earlier but moved on when it started mentioning grub since I use refind boot loader. Probably the same process nonetheless!
