Can Linux Still be Installed on Windows??

neotux

raccoondad you still don't install Linux 'on' windows, windows doesn't run Linux, that wouldn't make sense.

It wouldn't make sense but in a sense you could "install" Linux in Windows with WSL.
I think it supports graphical interface now as well since some Windows 10 version.

raccoondad

neotux It wouldn't make sense but in a sense you could "install" Linux in Windows with WSL.

True and the same applies for VMs (I'm not sure if Windows Subsystem for Linux is like Wine, actually converting syscalls from the Linux Kernel to its equivalent Windows syscalls or if its just a VM), regardless their mention of UEFI secure boot suggests they are actually installing a Linux kernel and distribution and attempting to run it as the OS, in which case windows wouldn't be a factor, just UEFI/BIOS

nandohyphen1

raccoondad you still don't install Linux 'on' windows, windows doesn't run Linux, that wouldn't make sense.

Yeah I know that. I install Linux on a computer that was previously running windows. Not install it on Windows. I'm installing Linux on a Windows computer. Just a figure of speech.

nandohyphen1

neotux Not all Linux distributions support Secure Boot.

Do you know which ones?

23Sha-ger

nandohyphen1
I think you are just lazy. I will explain.
Get the distro you want to install. Check if it fits you. Then ask a search engine how to make that distro work with secure boot.
Most likely it will. If you have specific questions you can't find, we can assist. But do basic homework.

neotux

nandohyphen1

nandohyphen1 neotux Not all Linux distributions support Secure Boot.

Do you know which ones?

It would be easier to answer which one do support Secure Boot out of the box.

To my knowledge, the following distributions and their derivatives have support for Secure Boot:

Debian
Ubuntu
Fedora
openSUSE

These are the major players. There might be others out there that I am not aware of.

Another popular distro, Archlinux, doesn't have support out of the box. You could enable secure boot for it but you would need to use the terminal and command line tools. Depending on your skills, this may or may not be a trivial task.

If you want to have an Arch ISO with secure boot enabled, then you would need to build it yourself.

With Linux Mint, being based on Ubuntu (it has a Debian-based edition as well), you will get Secure Boot out of the box. I don't think you can go wrong with this one.

nandohyphen1

23Sha-ger

I think you are just lazy

Alright. Think that if you want. I'm doing research. All I want is people's opinion's on if they have installed Linux with secure boot enabled.

Get the distro you want to install. Check if it fits you. Then ask a search engine how to make that distro work with secure boot.

I'm planning on doing Linux Mint. I've done a fair bit of research and I am planning on trying it.

23Sha-ger

nandohyphen1
I hate AI answers, but here I will totally agree with it:

Linux Mint has Secure Boot support, and while it's not always mandatory, it is recommended for modern versions to enable it for enhanced security. If you encounter issues, especially with graphics drivers like Nvidia's, you may need to disable it or enroll the Secure Boot key during installation.
Secure Boot with Linux Mint
Supported, but can have complications: Linux Mint officially supports Secure Boot, and recent versions (21.3 and later) are generally compatible and can be installed with it enabled.
Nvidia drivers: A common point of complication is with Nvidia drivers, which may not work correctly with Secure Boot enabled because they are not signed for it.
Installation: On older versions, or if you experience issues, you may need to disable Secure Boot to install the OS. For recent versions, you can often leave it enabled during installation.
After installation: You can enroll the Secure Boot key after installation to resolve issues. The command sudo /bin/sh /sbin/update-secureboot-policy --enroll-key can help with this, according to the Linux Mint Forums.

xxx

nandohyphen1 All I want is people's opinion's on if they have installed Linux with secure boot enabled.

I have done so.
1x Thinkpad with secure boot on
1x Thinkpad with secure boot off
Both work fine.

For wine look here: https://www.winehq.org/
I doubt iTunes will work.

nandohyphen1

23Sha-ger Thank you. ;)

PixelDrift42

nandohyphen1 I installed windows and dual booted like a week ago, microsoft cant change your UEFI/BIOS settings for you, that's somthing you will always have control over, if you have the patience, i'd say dual boot windows and linux, you can use the partiton tool in windows to shrink the windows partition which makes free space, then install linux onto that free space, there a few things to keep in mind with this:

You're going to have to disable secure boot before installing linux, otherwise secure boot prevents booting into the USB install medium
if you're going to dual boot, install windows FIRST then linux, from personal experience it's much easier this way
disable hibernating in windows
From my experience it's better to use the BIOS/UEFI boot menu to pick what OS to boot instead of a dedicated bootloader

nandohyphen1

Oh darn, I just thought of something. As much as I dislike Apple, I still use iTunes. A lot. I know I can install Wine on Linux and then iTunes, but will this work? Anything I'm reading says iTunes may or may not work - and I can't install Linux to find out since this computers currently my last Windows computer that I currently have. Will it work? Or am I better off using an old iPhone basically as an iPod and buying music on iTunes on that and then transferring it to my phone/ computer?

PixelDrift42

nandohyphen1 Honestly i think you'd be better off using a VM and trying out linux first to see if you even like it and what apps are/aren't compatible, this way you don't have to go through the windows reinstall and lose all your data in case you don't like it

neotux

nandohyphen1

nandohyphen1 Anything I'm reading says iTunes may or may not work - and I can't install Linux to find out since this computers currently my last Windows computer that I currently have. Will it work?

nandohyphen1 I already use Linux on 2 of my computers (Arch and Mint) and I love it.

You have already two Linux systems and one of them is Arch. Running Arch, I suppose you are past the new beginner stage on your Linux path.

I'm sure wine can be installed on any of your Linux systems and also I am certain that there are many tutorials out there describing how to install iTunes in Wine.

So I wonder why not give it a try yourself before committing your third and last computer to be Linux only.

By the way, you could always keep your last machine as a dualboot.

Another option could be to run Windows in a virtual machine in your Linux systems.

nandohyphen1

PixelDrift42 I already use Linux on 2 of my computers (Arch and Mint) and I love it. Never want Windows again. :)

nandohyphen1

xxx I have done so.
1x Thinkpad with secure boot on
1x Thinkpad with secure boot off
Both work fine.

For wine look here: https://www.winehq.org/
I doubt iTunes will work.

Thanks :)

nandohyphen1

Started to try and install Mint on my laptop but ran into an issue during installation. It said ' This computer needs RST disabled to continue installing Mint. Scan this QR code on another device' (or it said something similar)

https://documentation.ubuntu.com/desktop/en/latest/reference/intel-rst-during-ubuntu-installation/

https://documentation.ubuntu.com/desktop/en/latest/how-to/reconfigure-windows-to-use-ahci/#reconfigure-windows-to-use-ahci

So my main question is, I've never done this before (disabled RST) and so will it mess up Windows? I'm going to dual boot this computer and even though I've backed up my important files, it would be a big pain to wipe windows as well. Is this easy to change (from RST to AHCI) and will it wipe Windows? Thanks

nandohyphen1

Anybody? I'm so close to having Mint installed and I'd like to have it done today if possible.

nandohyphen1

I found this
https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/enable-ahci-after-win-10-installation.html
So I guess I can just follow the steps and hope my system doesn't get wiped? Reason I'm hesitant to just try it is that even though I've backed up my files and can restore them if my computer does get wiped, it would still be a pain to restore everything, and anything I read on it is mixed - some say it wipes the computer others say it doesn't. So I don't know...

nandohyphen1

Thought I'd post an update on this. I've successfully installed Mint and Windows as a dual boot. I thought I bricked my system at one point, but thankfully I didn't. And now that I've done it once, I'm quite confident I could do it again! :)

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