how to install linux alongside windows 10

But it’s essential to always have backups of your important files in case anything bad happens. If you plan on installing a lot of Steam games or otherwise using it as your main system, you may want a lot more space.Īt this point, Linux installers should be fairly mature and capable of resizing Windows NTFS partitions without breaking anything. It’s up to you how much space you want for Windows and Linux-if you’re just using Linux to fiddle around, you may not need a massive amount of space. Typically, you’ll be resizing your Windows partition to make room for Linux, and any room you allocate to Linux will be taken away from Windows. You will have to choose how much space to reserve for your Linux system. Do not choose the option that will overwrite your Windows system with the Linux one.įor example, Ubuntu’s installer offers an “Install Ubuntu alongside Windows” option that will handle this for you. Be sure to choose the option that installs the Linux system alongside Windows, or choose the manual partitioning option and create Linux partitions alongside the Windows ones if you’re comfortable with that. Launch the installer, and follow the instructions. Boot it on a PC already running Windows-you may need to mess with Secure Boot settings on a Windows 8 or Windows 10 computer. Download it and create USB installation media or burn it to a DVD.

It’s just like installing a Linux distribution normally-you should see an easy option to select.įirst, choose your Linux distribution. The dual-boot installation process is fairly simple with a modern Linux distribution.

But it’s best just to install Linux after Windows. You can always just reinstall Linux, too. The Ubuntu wiki has instructions for repairing your boot loader, if you need to.

You’ll have to repair the Linux system’s boot loader before you can boot back into your Linux system again. When you install Windows after Linux, Windows ignores Linux, doesn’t know how to resize its partitions, and overwrites the Linux boot loader with its own. The bootloader shows both Linux and Windows options on a dual-boot system.

How to install linux alongside windows 10