this is why we don't dual-boot with Windows anymore. Linux only. No computing device in my household runs on any version of Windows
this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
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Windows 11 is just unusable junk. Makes Vista and ME look like masterpieces
It's unusable MALICIOUS junk
I went nuclear, when gaming was still hit or miss (only wine existed) since I only installed windows to update my BIOS. I advise to use a separate harddrive and do not do as I did: Used gparted to separate space for windows in my data drive, installed, updated the BIOS, used gparted to recover my initial state. I was sweating the whole time, but all of my data was intact.
I haven't had this problem. I use two hard drives and when I boot windows I boot it off the drive its installed to.
This is the correct way to "dual boot" if you must
I do every year or so if I have to.
please don't equate cats with windows
It's really funny when you have grub configured with linux as the default. Then when you select windows it's 50% chance it'll update something and reboot, bringing you back to linux lmao. I guess they don't really want me to use it.
I mean honestly you should be updating your Linux partition as well probably much more often than you already are. It's not the windows has more updates their updates are just automated whereas you have to actually trigger mostly updates on Linux.
Hell yeah, accessibility text!
I did not realize the beer McConaughey was drinking in True Detective was a real brand
Product placement matters.
My Windows partition at work went unused for several months before I wiped it.
At home it took about two weeks before I reclaimed that space!
Part of what got me off my ass to actually switch to Linux is that my Windows partition is on a 120gb drive. I don't need to claim it, my games are on 2 2tb drives that are Linux based, and 1 1tb shared drive that I mostly use just 1 of the games on, plus a basic "other" drive. I haven't been back in Windows for months, but I haven't confirmed all my games work in Linux yet.
Biggest priority is getting all the hotas buttons working for Elite.
No, slopOS is not a cute cat.
This is why I no longer dual boot and removed windows all together.
The correct fix
I run Win10 IOT in a virtualbox to run one app once a month for a few minutes, that I haven't found a replacement for.
Realized I hadnβt booted Windows on my personal PC in 6 months and said yup time to nuke it all together
Recently booted Windows to install a BIOS update with a Windows only installer and realised it had been about a year since last boot. Think it may be time to reclaim that space.
Most mobos usually have a bios flash utility in the bios setup itself, so you don't need to rely on the windows installer. You just need to stick the update on a USB stick (extract the binary file from the zip).
Sadly that's only common for desktop PCs, with laptops it's a lot less common. But many can be updated from within Linux nowadays
Hmm I wonder if you could boot into a recovery version of windows to run the bios updater in that case. Like a recovery partition that isn't even on the main disk.
I'm in school. I 100% need windows for proctored tests. Institutions that offer online schooling are slowly building infrastructure around Microsoft 365 and underlying tech that depends on windows.
I get it. I main Linux too but you 100% need windows in remote learning. So it's dual boot.
There are two or three work functions that can only be done on Windows when working from home. So it gets its own Windows 10 VM with just enough resources to perform those functions, installed with a local account and ShutUp10 to remove all the automated "feature" updates. If something goes wrong, I can nuke it and lose nothing.
I use winboat so I can have Windows programs in a seamless window on Linux. Still a VM, but less annoying to use in comparison to a full RDP session (which is possible if needed)
Put it in a tiny box and starve that fucker.
I like it.
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I built a computer in 2012 with the idea of having 3 OSes to boot from: Windows 7, Mac OS 10.7 (hackintosh), and CentOS.
I partition the drive into three main parts, and install each OS on one each. Except that I had to do it again, because Windows 7 lost its absolute shit that it wasn't on the first partition. Just threw an absolute shit-fit that it didn't come first.
So I re-do the installations, let Windows be first in the partition order, Mac OS second, CentOS third. The next problem was that I couldn't download any drivers on Windows, because it couldn't recognize the absolutely bog-standard network controller on my motherboard. So I boot into Mac OS X, which (with a couple of quick kext edits) already recognized all of the hardware on the mobo despite none of it being Apple or Apple related, download the drivers for windows, throw them on a FAT partition I set up to exchange data between the OSes, and finally get Windows running in about 4x the time it took to get Mac OS running on the exact same built-for-windows hardware I'd cobbled together.
And of course I fire up CentOS, and it was pretty much, "I got this" right off the bat.
I've been using Windows and Mac OS since the late 80s, and linux since about 1999, and I still have never encountered a more fussy OS than Windows.
If you do want windows do this....put windows on a sacrificial drive.... Promise to yourself that there's just garbage in there so it doesn't matter... Install Linux on another drive. Have your computer start from the Linux drive thru grub. Set up grub to recognize the windows drive. No, no matter how hard that bitch ass OS tries to update your godly Linux install, it won't find anything. Fuck you Microsoft! Knowledge is power. Now go out there and compute.
I'm going to call out rEFInd for dual booting, since it doesn't require you to configure anything and finds and recognizes bootable partitions at boot time. Less stuff to mess up, less work when you want to add/remove an OS.
You forgot step 2. Throw sacrificial drive into trash.
pls dont, HDD prices are on the rise as well. Just full format π
Nah emphasize sacrificial; you gotta reach in and rip out its beating heart like that one guy from Indiana Jones
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Maybe we should speak to them in a language they actually speak. In this case, I am thinking the proper language is class action lawsuit.
I mean, that's what happens when you install spyware; it infects things...
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Everyone saying you need two harddrives needs to know: all you need are 2 efi partitions: one for windows one for linux.. You can have them on the same drive. It's nonstandard, but I have never found a machine where it doesn't work.
Considering Bill Gates made it, you can expect it to be grabby and invasive.
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Dumb windows
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