New build with both Windows and Linux?

[eif]

If I want to start a light-gaming/workstation build, and want to run both Windows and Linux, is it as easy as having two separate hard drives, one for Windows and one for Linux? and just select whichever OS I want to boot into when the computer starts up?

 

if i add external drives for storage/media servers, do I have to worry about file system formatting?

 

Planning to get Ryzen 2600/x or 2700/x for this build

 

 

thanks!

 

edit: i'm planning on having separate drives to make things easier!

Edited March 9, 2019 by eif
clarification

[Labeled]

Some distro's can be a handfull to get the bootloader to show both, but as long as you put in the research you can dualboot just fine.

 

Edit: It's also easier to use a linux bootloader over windows 10 bootloader.

[IgorM]

1 minute ago, eif said:

If I want to start a light-gaming/workstation build, and want to run both Windows and Linux, is it as easy as having two separate hard drives, one for Windows and one for Linux? and just select whichever OS I want to boot into when the computer starts up?

 

if i add external drives for storage/media servers, do I have to worry about file system formatting?

 

Planning to get Ryzen 2600/x or 2700/x for this build

 

 

thanks!

You can easily dual boot. You can use a single drive and partition it or select the boot device on BIOS

[IgorM]

1 minute ago, Labeled said:

Edit: It's also easier to use a linux bootloader over windows 10 bootloader.

Yeap. Install Windows first and then linux, if they are on the same drive

[Labeled]

2 minutes ago, IgorM said:

You can easily dual boot. You can use a single drive and partition it or select the boot device on BIOS

That's a good thing to point out, if you end up having trouble getting the bootloader to play nice, you can always separately install them to each respective drive, and just change which drive you want to load the bootloader from, it will be more involved to switch which OS to boot into but it is an option if you end up having problems.

[eif]

7 minutes ago, Labeled said:

Some distro's can be a handfull to get the bootloader to show both, but as long as you put in the research you can dualboot just fine. 

 

Edit: It's also easier to use a linux bootloader over windows 10 bootloader.

Thanks! what kind of "research" should i do? based on my understanding the BIOS is in charge of booting into different OSs? so if i have two drives, during bootup I can select either "linux" or "windows" drive?

[eif]

4 minutes ago, Labeled said:

That's a good thing to point out, if you end up having trouble getting the bootloader to play nice, you can always separately install them to each respective drive, and just change which drive you want to load the bootloader from, it will be more involved to switch which OS to boot into but it is an option if you end up having problems. 

 

yeah i think i'll have two separate drives for each OS to make the separation "cleaner"

[Labeled]

Just now, eif said:

Thanks! what kind of "research" should i do? based on my understanding the BIOS is in charge of booting into different OSs? so if i have two drives, during bootup I can select either "linux" or "windows" drive?

Bios/UEFI will select which bootloader it automatically loads into. Bootloaders are installed with the OS, so there are cases where windows' bootloader will overwrite a linux bootloader, if you want to just choose on boot which drive to boot from, it will be better to remove the other drive from the system while installing the other OS, otherwise it might try to attach itself to the existing bootloader.

[Labeled]

1 minute ago, eif said:

 

yeah i think i'll have two separate drives for each OS to make the separation "cleaner"

In that case, make sure you install each OS with it's drive isolated just to be safe. and you'll be less likely to run into problems.

[IgorM]

If you install both OS on the same drive the grub screen shows up and you can easily select which one to boot. It's easier than having to select them on BIOS and if you dual boot Windows and Ubuntu it's very easy to setup and there are plently of guides online on how to do it.

[Labeled]

5 minutes ago, IgorM said:

If you install both OS on the same drive the grub screen shows up and you can easily select which one to boot. It's easier than having to select them on BIOS and if you dual boot Windows and Ubuntu it's very easy to setup and there are plently of guides online on how to do it.

not all distro's use Grub, Solus for example uses systemd-boot

edit: I believe Arch does as well

[bloodthirster]

I've done this multiple times. 

 

If using the same drive, install Windows first.  If using BIOS (not UEFI), Windows will only see the first four partitions so plan accordingly.  Windows also messes with the MBR sometimes.  If using UEFI, things are easier.  But still install Windows first.  

 

If using two disks, install them then with only that OS drive installed.  It's generally easier but not needed.

 

Once both are installed, point BIOS/UEFI to Linux/grub and get grub to detect Windows.  In the BIOS case, having a live disk (most installers can be used for this too) can be nice if Windows screws up the MBR.  

 

It's pretty easy to do once you get the quirks down (mainly from the windows side).