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Dual boot Windows and Linux Mint

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oville Posted messages 133 Status Member -  
mamiemando Posted messages 33228 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   -

Hello everyone

I am dual booting Windows 11 (originally on mini PC) and Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon

I would like to uninstall Win11 to install a clean and lighter Win10.

Both OS are installed on the same disk; how can I do this without reformatting everything?

- Just change the boot order priority in Grub so that Windows is prioritized?

Thanks in advance

3 answers

Answer 1 / 3
mamiemando Posted messages 33228 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   7 940
 

Hello,

The process is the same as what you followed to install Linux in dual boot:

  1. Retrieve an installer for the new system (here Windows 10)
  2. Boot from the appropriate disk (in the case of Windows, usually you take advantage of the recovery partition, but here you want to install another Windows, so like for Linux, you will need an external drive, such as a USB stick):
    • either by changing the boot order in the BIOS;
    • or by pressing the appropriate key at startup to choose which disk to boot from (often F2, F10, or delete depending on the motherboard model -- the key should be indicated on the screen when you start your computer).
  3. Install the new system, overwriting the old system (here Windows 11), but taking care not to overwrite its roommates (here Linux)

It is possible that Windows will remove grub from the boot record. If that’s the case, your PC will restart under Windows without giving you the option to boot into Windows or Linux (even though both are installed). In this case, you can restore grub using boot-repair, or, if you are more experienced, with a live USB (for example the USB stick that allowed you to install Linux) and repair grub with a chroot + update-grub.

Good luck
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Answer 2 / 3
oville Posted messages 133 Status Member 16
 

Thank you, I will get to work... I will come back when everything is in place to finalize, or earlier if there is a problem!!
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Answer 3 / 3
oville Posted messages 133 Status Member 16
 

I had some novice problems... at installation I didn't know on which partition to install, um... well, I guess intuition did its job, phew!!

Now I'm going to reorder the grub and install refind

Thanks for the information
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mamiemando Posted messages 33228 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   7 940
 

Thank you for your feedback. Normally, there is not really any hesitation possible, as Windows is installed on an NTFS partition while a Linux system involves partitions formatted with other file systems (ext4, swap, ...). In any case, well done to you, and best of luck :-)

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