Windows 11, Linux Mint Dual Boot Bootloader

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sandi1987
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Sandi1987

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I have installed Windows 11 on NVMe SSD and Linux Mint on second Partition on the same SSD. Will Windows Updates remove GRUB Bootloader and how to restore GRUB?
 

My Computer

System One

I have Windows 11 dual booting with Rocky Linux on my Beelink mini-pc and I have never had Windows Updates remove Grub. When my machine boots, I can hit F7 to bring up the boot menu and pick either Windows or Linux from the list.

When I just turn on the computer, it boots up and shows me Grub, which gives me the option for Rocky, or the option for Windows. I can go into the BIOS and in the EFI menu, I can choose whether I want to see Rocky in the list or not. If I disable Rocky here, it boots straight to Windows, but I always still have the option to hit F7 and pick Rocky...I just don't see Grub.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink SEI8
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8279u
    Motherboard
    AZW SEI
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Plus 655
    Sound Card
    Intel SST
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus ProArt PA278QV
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    512GB NVMe
    PSU
    NA
    Case
    NA
    Cooling
    NA
    Keyboard
    NA
    Mouse
    NA
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Mini PC used for testing Windows 11.
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900x
    Motherboard
    Asus Rog Strix X570-E Gaming
    Memory
    64GB DDR4-3600
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GeForce 3080 FT3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ. ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV 27” WQHD
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2TB WD SN850 PCI-E Gen 4 NVMe
    2TB Sandisk Ultra 2.5" SATA SSD
    PSU
    Seasonic Focus 850
    Case
    Fractal Meshify S2 in White
    Cooling
    Dark Rock Pro CPU cooler, 3 x 140mm case fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Keyboard
    Corsiar K65 RGB Lux
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Defender.
Most versions of Grub give you the option at install time to check for other OS'es on the disk and add it to the boot menu so if your default boot is the linux disk you can select windows from the grub menu. (Install Windows BEFORE your Linux install if you want that option enabled). With Windows if you have the blue standard boot menu you can select GRUB by going to the other options->other device and it will find grub.

If you only have I windows install on the hdd you can force display of the boot menu by adding a dummy line with bcdedit. There might be other ways but that's quick and easy - but don't boot the dummy entry !!!! it will fail of course.

I usually have several windows install on vhdx files so no problem with the boot menu.

I assume you when creating / install your linux system you have created an efi partition of sufficient size and install the boot loader to that partition- just use cfdisk or whatever on linux to create the efi system partition.

If you've installed linux Before Windows then I'm not sure how that would work - re-installing grub again on Linux and the bootloader on the windows partition should in theory "reconnect" the os'es again - not sure as I've always installed Windows before Linux on any dual booting system. If testing then backup Windows image before starting so you can always recover if it goes horribly wrong.

It's IMO far better to have a capable boot option when you power on the system than have to go into the system's bios to select the boot disk. especially in cases where you have 3 different Linux distros and 5 different windows systems !! on the same hdd / ssd device.


Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
Is it possible to create only Linux Partition Backup with Clonezilla not Windows 11 Partition on the same NVMe SSD in Dual Boot? For Windows 11 i want other Backup (only Windows Partition).
 

My Computer

System One

Sandi1987 said:
Is it possible to create only Linux Partition Backup with Clonezilla not Windows 11 Partition on the same NVMe SSD in Dual Boot? For Windows 11 i want other Backup (only Windows Partition).
Click to expand...
Why use clonezilla

easier method -- you need either 1) gparted (bootable copy) or 2) any LIVE linux distro -- and backup storage medium
then

from 1) simply boot gparted - select the partitions you want to copy and paste to available / free space on the output device -- does windows partitions too !! -- note though this copies as is so doesnt make a classical backup image file but clones the original so is useful for cloning disks etc

from 2) boot the live linux distro -- and from command line do as su or sudo lsblk

say the linux partition you want to copy is on /dev/sda1
then just run as su or sudo dd if=/dev/sda1 of=<any file name on the output media> bs=2048M status=progress

For linux also if you want to backup DATA files e.g user stuff in /home then use rsync command or it's GUI version grsync.

clonezilla is not very reliable IMHO. gparted. grsync and dd command win every time.

Note - it's not normally a good idea to copy / manipulate linux partitions from within a running system which is why I recommend using a bootable device like gparted or a live linux distro. Partition locking etc isn't the same as on Windows.

The problem also for copying a partition from linux to unused space on the windows partition on the same device is that windows doesn't recognize most linux file system so that's why I've suggested a separate storage device for backup. You can copy windows partitions to linux thogh as linux can read / write ntfs / fat32 etc.



Cheers
jimbo
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
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Hey Sandi1987,

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