How to install Linux and Windows 10 together on the same computer quickly and easily? step by step guide

So much Windows What Linux They are two of the most important and used operating systems today. Therefore, it is very possible that you will find yourself interested to test or start using the penguin system. To everyone’s advantage, this operating system can be install alongside windows without any problem.

In this case it is install both OS on different partitions of the computer, being older the windows partition. In the case of data can be placed on another partition so that it can be used on both systems. This will be essential for a user just starting out with Linux.

Having both OS on a single computer is very important, especially considering the complexity of use that Linux requires. Bearing all this in mind, here we are going to explain how you can start installing them together and using them on the same computer.

Why install two operating systems on the same computer? Benefits

Today there are many users who implement this mode of communication on their computers. two OS. Usually when this is implemented it is a distribution between what is Linux and Windows. As install two windows systems on a PC or install some of these two systems on a MAC can cause some serious drawbacks.

be able to have a dual boot can be of many advantages at times, as this would be like having a output alternative alwaysalthough it is also important to mention that this can become something complicated or unnecessary at times. But if you look at the good things, it’s worth it. Therefore, here we present the main benefits of having dual-boot.

An extra system in case of problems

As we already know, neither of these systems is totally reliablesince at any time they could present some trouble and damagepreventing us from continuing to do machine use.

Therefore, if we have this modality, we can save a lot of time looking for a solutionsince we would simply have to move to the other OS while looking for a solution to the damage caused in the other. But this will not prevent the use of the PC.

Access your information if Windows crashes

It has happened to many people that they have a large amount of information and files on your computer and Windows crashes and everything disappears or it is impossible to access them, which becomes a big problem since the most advisable thing would be format the computer. This can be translated into a loss of important and valuable information.

But in case you have a dual bootyou will have two partitions, which share all the information, that is, if some of them fail you can easily extract all files and data and this way avoid major losses. In addition, it becomes a safe and easy solution to achieve.

You can try a new OS

One of the reasons for this association is because users decide to start try what is the penguin system, since it is a bit complex to use. Therefore, using it with the help of Windows can make this task easier for you, since any inconvenience or problem you have can be passed on to another and continue with your completely normal activity.

Use different programs

Today there are many programs that are only compatible with a single SW, then by having two you have the opportunity to acquire a greater number of softwares on your PC. Also, you can use one of them to only use important programs for the work areawhile the other for install games or entertainment applications.

What do I need to install Linux and Windows on the same computer?

if we want install linux on a windows computer, we will have to take into account some details for the installation. The first of it is download ubuntu from its official page, here you choose the version you want to download to your computer.

It is also important that a disk partition for installation, One advantage that exists today is that most the disks are large and have at least 500GB, this allows you to leave 100 GB for Windows and 100 for Linux or a bit more for Windows and the rest of the disc for the data, in this case would be 300GB.

Note that Linux can be easily installed with a partition of up to 20GB and all the rest divide it for windows and data. It is also important that before start the process one is made backup of all information stored on the computer.

Download Ubuntu from official page

Steps to install Linux and Windows 10 on the same computer quickly and easily

Linux It is an operating system that is very easy to configure, and it can also be installed on any compatible computer, since it does not affect any other OS other than this one at any time. installed on the PC. It runs as a LiveCD, that is to say that it does not affect anything equipment operation or performance.

Bearing this in mind, and the benefits of having a dual-boothere we are going to explain the entire process to install Linux and Windows 10 on the same computer. To do this, follow each of the steps that we will teach you below:

We prepare the partitions

the first thing will be prepare the partitionsin this case the w10 team that we use for the example has occupied much of the capacity of the 256 GB SSD with a single partition. However, it presents a free space which will allow to carry out installing Ubuntu 16.

Therefore, if the computer has an additional partition that can be unused or has a second SSD or hard drive, can be used for this installation. But, in this case it is not like that, this forces us to have to free up some space to be able to have the Ubuntu partition with enough space.

To do this we will perform the following steps:

• We entered the W10 disk manager and select the section “Control Panel”.
• There we select the option “Management tools” or use the command “compmgmt.msc”, in the case of using the command it will be necessary to open the window of “Run”.

• Here is a partition reserved for the main system, and the rest of partition “C” busy with W10, it is in this partition where we have to make room for install ubuntu.
• To do this, right-click and select “Dicrease the volume”.

• This tool has the function check that free space is available in the “C” partition, there it will show how much this partition can be reduced to open space. In this case, on the computer that has been used as an example we see that you can shrink 88730MBwe set this at 60000MB the space that can be reduced, this in turn will be partition size for Ubuntu.

• Here we can see how create additional disk spacethis will be the new partition. Here do not do anything else or create more partitions, since the Ubuntu installer will take care of creating the partitions that are necessary in the free space of the disk.

We prepare BIOS / UEFI

The next thing will be to carry out BIOS replacement, necessary when carrying out the installation of another OS different from W10. For this, the developers have created a firmware called UEFIand which is a Intel EFI Project Extension, also used in mac operating systems.

Note that replacements for older BIOSes offer better performance on machines, since it provides a greater flexibility, ease of use and power, but this can complicate the installation of other OS. But Microsoft wanted to take advantage of UEFI facilities and active from the version of W8 a system known as “Safe Boot” which forces the software and firmware to fully protect the boot process.

Because of all this, Linux also added a support so that it could be installed. which was added to all the latest versionswhich makes that Ubuntu can support UEFI of some versions official Microsoft for Linux. This avoids problems installing. Therefore, the most recommended option is to place the computer in BIOS mode.

In case you have a UEFI board and you have problems installing it, perform the following steps:

• the first thing will be access UEFI in a very similar way to when we access with To do this we click on the start button of the equipment, there we select the section of “Secure Boot”.

• This process is usually very simple, where you just have to disable the “Safe Boot” and enable the “Inherited compatibility”, but this will depend mainly on the computer, UEFI version, and motherboard. However, all the ways to do this are very similar.

Make the boot command

When we are already in the BIOS/UEFIwe must take advantage of the fact that the unit where we are going to install windows 10 be by before hard drive or SSD boot. In this case, it will be necessary to use a usb stick, this is why it appears first in “Inherited Boot Order”. In the case of not having a pendrive, you can use a DVDbut in this case it is placed in front of the “Start Order”.

Finally we save the UEFI configurationand we restart the computer to prepare what will be the installation.

We download Ubuntu

In this case we have to enter the official Ubuntu page and download the version we want to install. Here we have decided download ubuntu for desktop and 64 bitthis platform gives you the possibility to download via torrents or directly.

Also available the 32 bit version in case your team does not support 64 bit. Note that the ubuntu download does not usually take too long or if you have selected Kubuntu, Lubuntu or any other, the process will be just as fast.

Installation media is prepared

One time installed ubuntuthe next thing will be to use a medium as a DVD or one usb drive as a external disk or flash drive. Usually working with a external drive it is much easier and faster. In this case you should use a tool known as RUFUS.

Therefore, it is done the download and execution of RUFUS with the pendrive which has been inserted into equipment for recording. Next, it is necessary to select the type of partition either for BIOS or UEFI and it is fixed the ISO image which was downloaded in Ubuntu previously.

Ubuntu Installation

When you want to install the latest version of Linux such as Ubuntuit’s a fully automated process and very quick to do. Usually in this model equipment with SSD and from one external drive like a flash driveThe installation of Ubuntu 16.04LTS can last about 4 minutes.

To do this, we are going to start this process:

• the first thing will be insert the flash drive where the information is stored we restart the computer. In the Ubuntu boot menu we can test the system in mode “LiveCD” Or simply install it to disk. In this case, since we want to install it, we choose the second option and we continue with the process.

• Now you must choose the language for the process, in this case we select “Spanish”.

• Next you should not activate the download of updates or the installation of third-party software. This will be done later from the same system in a simpler way.
• The new window that appears is very important, this is about the “Type of installation”. Therefore, if you control the partitions in Linux you can start creating them at your convenience through the tab “More options”. Here you can set size, bootloader installation or mount point.
• As you can see, the installer automatically recognizes a Windows 10 installation and offers to install Ubuntu simultaneously. This option is the one you have to select without modifying absolutely anything about the partitions.

• Now in that setup, Ubuntu starts creating its own partitions in the free space on the SSD. In addition, you will install the charger startin this case it is a Grub 2. Note that W10 must be installed in BIOS and Ubuntu mode in the same way, since if this is done in another way you will not be able to boot the system Microsoft operating.
• There is nothing else to do here, just indicate the administrator username and password to be used. This installation is usually done very quickly on an SSD.

Windows 10 alongside Ubuntu

When the installation has been completed successfully, the computer will reboot to the “Grub 2 Bootloader”. Please note that in the installation process will not detect the Windows 10 operating system, but this is fixed with a command in terminal Ubuntu. Here you must remove the installation pendrive and we start the Ubuntu system.

As we already mentioned, the system of W10 will not load automatically. Therefore, the following will be to solve this problem.

To do this we doing the next:

• We enter the terminal and execute the command “sudo update-grub2”.

• As you can see in the image, it creates a grub configuration file which will find the other OS installed, in this case W10.
• Now close the terminal and restart the computer in order to verify that the boot is working correctly. Here it must boot both W10 and Ubuntu 16.

Once it has been created the configuration file by Grub, should already be activated access to installed OS. From here you can access any of them. Grub 2 setup it is very simple to do, either to set the default boot system or the boot menu delay time.

Therefore, in this way, you can start using these two OS from one computer, a way to combine both OS for excellent performance and enjoy the latest version of GNU/Linux. Ideal to learn its handling in a very simple way, together with the most advanced and popular system today.