Talk:Dual boot with Windows

Configure Internal HDD as External Drive

In Dual_boot_with_Windows#Disable_Fast_Startup_and_enable_hibernation there's a Note stating "You can avoid this issue for a drive by mounting a drive as an external drive in Windows and ejecting the drive in Windows before hibernating." Does anyone have more details on this? Some questions I have:

• Can this be set for a shared partition on the same disk? For example a partition schema like [Recovery, ESP, C-Drive NTFS, D-Drive NTFS, Archlinux] is somewhat common partition schema for using the the "D-Drive" partition to share data between Windows and Linux. Can D: be configured as "an external drive"?
• Is the "ejecting" step before hibernation something that must be done manually or does Windows do that automatically?
• Can the ESP partition be marked as External so that Windows doesn't leave the partition mounted during Hibernate?

Bobpaul (talk) 16:31, 28 May 2020 (UTC)

Does Arch really need access to ESP partition during updates?

In Dual_boot_with_Windows#Fast_Startup_and_hibernation most of the concern with Windows/Linux hibernating seems to be due to the shared use of the EFI System Partition. And if one is using systemd-boot or another boot loader which requires the Kernel lives on the ESP, then absolutely, one needs to share the ESP between Windows and Linux.

But many Bootloaders, such as GRUB, only require the Bootloader lives on the ESP. And I believe for GRUB, the only time Arch needs to write to the ESP is when the `grub-install` command is executed (which is not implicit during a GRUB package update).

It seems that, at least for GRUB, it should be sufficient to define the ESP in /etc/fstab, but configure it for noauto to prevent it from mounting on startup. One could then cautiously mount it (after ensuring Windows is not hibernated) before running grub-install, which should be rare.

Does this sound like a reasonable configuration or am I making some incorrect assumptions? Bobpaul (talk) 16:51, 28 May 2020 (UTC)

I just did a Dual-Boot installation following https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3D_qzw94v8, where he creates a second EFI partition for Linux. Seems to work. This should also solve the problem with hibernation, no? Mauro3 (talk) 07:28, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

Linux before Windows

This section and its subsection UEFI firmware I found unhelpful and confusing when installing Windows after Linux (Windows 10 specifically). What I did find helpful was documentation from Microsoft, but it, too, isn't the best as it's verbose and only refers to disk partitioning. This Microsoft documentation can be summarised into a concise table listing new partitions to add and accompanied with thorough and easier to follow steps covering the whole installation process, under a new Windows 10 (with GRUB boot loader) section. I can contribute what worked for me to make the installation process clearer and quicker. What might be a problem however is the section not being general enough for other boot loaders or older versions of Windows. Petarturukalo (talk) 05:52, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

I found this section to be helpful. It gave me confidence that it is generally possible. I just successfully went through the described process to install a Windows11 along an Arch Linux installation. However, the explanations are unspecific about the correct order of events: The Windows Setup reboots several times. After the first reboot, remove the Windows Install Medium (USB-Stick) and boot into Linux. A new directory at /boot/efi/Microsoft should be present. Now add an Boot Entry in the Grub menu. Consider activating the os-prober functionality. Then reboot and select Windows to proceed with the installation. Rangerjo (talk) 19:08, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

Fast Startup and hibernation needs clarification

Hi there. I hope you enjoy your day.

I was suggesting someone do dual-boot as he couldn't ditch Windows entirely, then this section of wiki mentioned by someone else "https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dual_boot_with_Windows#Fast_Startup_and_hibernation" where he insisted that hibernate can cause a problem by itself. I read the warning and links mentioned there. I feel it is not as clear as it should be and might throw off novice people.

Here is my suggestion for that warning with a bit more detail but not too much.

How do you feel about it?

Warning: Data loss or filesystem corruption can occur when dual-booting between Windows and another operating system, like Linux, if either OS hibernates instead of fully shutting down. When a system hibernates, it saves the current session to disk and assumes no other system will modify the files or filesystem. If you then boot into another OS and access or change files on a shared filesystem (such as NTFS, which both Windows and Linux can read/write), the original system may restore outdated or inconsistent data upon resuming from hibernation. This can lead to corrupted files or lost work. Be especially cautious, as Windows may enter a hybrid shutdown mode (a form of hibernation) even when "Shut Down" is selected. See the section on Windows settings for how to ensure a full shutdown .

I FIGHT FOR USERS (talk) 13:31, 23 May 2025 (UTC)