You Don’t Have to Ditch Windows—Dual-Booting Linux Is Easier Than You Think

With Windows 10 going away soon, many of us are considering jumping ship to Linux. Thankfully, you don’t have to ditch Windows entirely to start using Linux; running two OSes is easier than you think.

Why Dual-Boot?

If you want to start using Linux but can’t entirely give up on Windows, dual-booting your PC or laptop with Linux is by far the best way for you to run both OSes without giving up performance. It does take a restart to switch between them, but as long as you’ve got an SSD as your boot drive, boot-up times aren’t going to be a problem (at least on Linux).

Dual-booting is also completely reversible. If you decide you want to fully switch to either OS, all you have to do is delete the partition that the other OS is on. Remember to back up any important files and data before you clear drive partitions, though, as the deletion is permanent and will destroy all data related to the deleted OS.

You could instead use a virtual machine to run Linux without leaving Windows. However, if you’re considering switching to Linux full-time, you’ll want to test hardware compatibility and performance before making the switch. VMs are convenient, but they don’t provide the best performance. Not to mention, you’ll likely have to deal with complications when it comes to passing your hardware through from the host OS to the VM.

I use Linux for programming and development. While it has pretty much all the programs I use daily, switching to Linux means I would have to give up Adobe programs and my ability to play games natively. In such cases, dual-booting gets you the best of both worlds.

Installing a Second OS Is Easier Than You Think

Installing an OS isn’t something you do daily, so it’s only natural to think it’s a complicated process. However, modern Linux distros are surprisingly easy to install. All you need is a bootable USB drive with the Linux distro you want to use, some space on your storage drive, and a free afternoon.

To make it simple, I’m dividing the installation process into three easy steps:

1. Creating a bootable USB drive with your Linux distro of choice.
2. Making space for Linux on your storage drive.
3. Installing and setting up Linux.

The first choice you need to make is deciding what Linux distro to use. I left Windows 11 for Linux, and my distro of choice was Linux Mint. It’s incredibly easy to install and use, and most of your hardware will be supported.

There are other beginner-friendly Linux distros you can pick if Linux Mint doesn’t entice you. While we’ll proceed with Linux Mint here, the dual-booting process will be mostly identical for nearly every Linux distro, so these steps will still apply.

Creating a Bootable Linux USB Drive

We’ve covered how to install Ubuntu on a USB drive in the past, and the steps for Linux Mint are identical. You’ll need to download an ISO file of the latest Linux Mint version, along with Rufus, to start.

While the files are downloading, grab a USB 3.0 (or above) flash drive with at least 8GB of space on it. Make sure the drive doesn’t have any important data on it, as this process requires you to format it (erase it completely). Once everything’s downloaded, fire up Rufus and follow these steps:

1. Select your USB drive under the Device dropdown.
2. Make sure the Boot selection dropdown is set to Disk or ISO image. Click the Select button next to the dropdown and select your downloaded Linux Mint ISO file.
3. Once Rufus is done loading the ISO file, all other options should populate automatically. Leave the other settings to their defaults and click the Start button to start creating the bootable USB.
4. Depending on the ISO file you downloaded, Rufus might ask whether you want to write the ISO as an ISO image or a DD image. Select the Write in ISO Image mode option to proceed.

That’s all you need to get a functional bootable Linux USB drive. The next step is to create space on your storage drive where you can install Linux.

Making Space for Linux

How you make space for Linux on your system depends on how many storage drives you have and how much space is available. I have two separate drives in my laptop: one running Linux and the other Windows. However, as long as you have enough storage space, you can run both OSes from a single drive without any issues.

I recommend having at least 100GB of space dedicated to a Linux Mint install, but you can get away with as little as 25GB. You don’t need to create an additional partition yourself to install Linux; you can set this up later during the Linux installation process.

That said, in case the distro you’re using fails to detect the pre-existing Windows installation, you will need to create space on your drive for Linux. Additionally, the Fast Startup feature in Windows tends to mess with Linux partitions created on the same drive, which can cause problems for either OS down the line and could even prevent your PC from booting.

You can disable Fast Startup to remedy the issue. But if you want to take all possible precautions, you can use the Disk Management tool on Windows to shrink one of your partitions and create unallocated storage space for Linux. Just follow these steps:

1. Right-click the Start button or press Win + X, then click Disk Management from the resulting menu.
2. Click the partition you want to shrink, right-click it, and select Shrink Volume…
3. Enter the amount of space you want to shrink (in MB) and click the Shrink button. For example, to clear 100GB, enter “100,000”.

After this, you should see a black space labeled Unallocated, which you’ll use to install Linux.

Installing Linux

Before you can install Linux, you need to know which keyboard key lets you enter the BIOS on your PC. This can vary between manufacturers and even between different models, but a quick Google search or check of your PC’s manual will have the answer.

Generally, keys like Esc, F2, F10, or F12 are used to open the BIOS. If you need help, see our detailed guide on entering the BIOS in Windows 10/11. Once you’ve found your BIOS key, follow these steps:

1. Shut down your PC and connect the Linux bootable USB drive you created.
2. Start the PC again; as soon as you do, keep pressing the BIOS key until you see your BIOS. Find your boot menu and select the bootable USB drive.
3. You should now boot up in Linux Mint. Double-click the Install Linux Mint icon on the desktop to start the installation process.
4. Follow on-screen instructions to choose your language, keyboard layout, and other settings. Make sure to select the Install multimedia codecs option when prompted.
5. Under Installation type, select Install Linux Mint alongside Windows Boot Manager. You’ll see a slider that lets you allocate disk space between Windows and Linux Mint. Alternatively, if you want to use a dedicated space you created, select Something else and choose the partition you made.
6. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish the installation.

Once everything is installed, you’ll be prompted to reboot your computer. You should now see a boot menu that lets you choose whether you want to boot into Windows or Linux every time you start your PC.

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From this point on, whenever you want to switch OSes, simply reboot and select the other OS from the boot menu. That’s it: you’ve got a dual-boot PC!

If you’re confused about switching between Windows and Linux, you don’t necessarily have to give one OS up to use the other. Dual booting is far simpler than it used to be, and you can enjoy the best of both OSes on a single machine.