How to get Windows After Ubuntu Linux in Dual Boot – Guide
When it comes to dual booting, the general notion is that you start with a Windows system and then install Linux on top of it. You choose whether you want to boot Windows or Linux during the boot process. What if you were in the opposite situation? What if you have a Linux-only PC installed and want to boot Windows and Linux twice? In that guide, I’m going to teach you how to install Windows after dual booting with Ubuntu Linux.
Dual boot Windows on an existing Ubuntu Linux system
i tested it tutorial on an Ubuntu system with UEFI and GPT partitioning scheme. In theory, the same steps should apply to most, if not all, Linux distributions.
Requirements
Here is everything you need to carry out the procedure safely and easily: You can also manage this tutorial with just a USB key. You create Live Linux USB first, partition for Windows using this Live Linux USB and then use the same USB key as a bootable Windows USB. I strongly recommend that you read the entire tutorial before you start following the steps.
Step 0: Back up important data
Here’s the thing. You’ll play around with disk partitions and boot settings. if you mess up up, you will lose the data. have a back up on an external disk will give you a safety net. At worst, if things go wrong, you can install Windows or Linux and copy the data back to your system. How do you make a backup? The simplest method is to take an external USB or SSD drive and copy files from Documents, Music, Pictures and other folders where you have saved your files.
Step 1: Create a bootable Windows USB
If you have access to a Windows system, you can follow the instructions on the Microsoft website to create bootable Windows media. If you only have a Linux system, it can be tricky to create a bootable Windows USB. Fortunately, a useful open source tool called Ventoy helps a lot in this case. Plug in your USB that is at least 8GB in size and format it. Now download the Microsoft Windows ISO. Then download the latest version of Ventoy. Extract the folder and run the VentoyWeb.sh script with sudo. It will provide the URL when you run it. Copy this URL and paste it into a browser. It will open a webpage with Ventoy running. Go to UEFI installation and click install button. Once installed, you will see two partitions on the USB disk: VTOYEFI and Ventoy. You need to copy the downloaded Windows ISO image to the Ventoy partition. Once copying is complete, DON’T RUSH to connect the USB yet. Click on the unmount option from the file manager. OK. So now that you have a bootable Windows USB, it’s a good idea to try it out and see if it works. How you do it? Connect Windows USB and restart the system. When the system is turning on again and showing the system manufacturer’s logo, press the F2 / F10 / F12 keys to access the BIOS settings. Once you are in the BIOS, choose to boot from USB. In some cases, it may be necessary to disable secure boot in the BIOS settings. If the Windows bootable USB creation was successful, you should see the Ventoy screen and select to boot into Win10. After that, you will see a screen about installing Windows. Don’t go with the installation part yet. Close it, shut down the system and boot into Linux again. This check was necessary because you need to have a working bootable Windows USB. Without that, there will be no point in following the rest of the tutorial. Remove the Windows bootable USB at this stage.
Step 2: Create an active Ubuntu Linux USB
You might wonder why you need an active Ubuntu USB here, when you already have Linux properly installed. The reason is that you need to modify the existing partition and create some free space where you will install Windows. But you cannot modify an already mounted partition in Linux. When you are using Linux, your disk is mounted. You will not be able to modify it and create a new partition on it. That’s why you need an active Linux USB. You boot from live USB and make the necessary partition on disk from the live session. Now that you know why, let’s continue creating Ubuntu USB live. First, download the Ubuntu ISO image from their website. Any version of Ubuntu will work. Now connect the USB with at least 4GB in size. In Ubuntu, you can find the Startup Disk Creator tool. You can also use Etcher on Linux. It’s your choice. Here, I will use Startup Disk Creator. The process is very simple. Your connected USB should be recognized. It should also automatically find the Ubuntu ISO. Otherwise you can always navigate to it. With this set, just click on “Create boot disk” button. It should take a few minutes to create Ubuntu USB live. You can click the Exit button button below.
Step 3: Boot from Active USB and Make Space for Windows
Everything is fine. Now you boot from Live Linux USB. Restart the system. When it’s on and displaying the manufacturer’s logo, press the F2 / F10 / F12 keys to access the BIOS settings. Here, go to the boot order and boot from Linux USB. When you see this screen, go to Try Ubuntu. Now that you are in the live session, open the disk application. It is already installed. In the Disks application, carefully select your computer’s main hard drive / SSD. This is where you installed Linux. As you can see in the screenshot below, I have ESP partition (for UEFI boot settings) and a single Linux partition. This is the partition that needs to be resized to make room for Windows. If you have a root, change and home partition configuration, you must resize the home partition. On resizing it will show a minimum size. You cannot reduce the disk below this point. You’ll leave some extra space for Linux to use, of course. Note that “partition size” is for Linux partition. In the image below, I reduced the Linux partition from 256GB to 120GB. This gives 136 GB of free space for installing Windows. When you click on the resize button, it may take up a few minutes to complete the resizing process. As you can see in the screenshot below, I now have three partitions on my system. One is 500MB ESP partition (for UEFI boot), 120GB Ext4 partition for Linux, and 136GB free space. You now have dedicated free space where you’ll put Windows. Shut down your system now.
Step 4: Boot from Windows USB and start installing Windows
Plug in your bootable Windows UBS. Again, reboot the system, access BIOS settings and boot from USB. Now you know how to They do this. You’ve already done this in step 1 when checking Windows bootable USB. You should see the Ventoy screen if you created the bootable Windows USB with it. Press Enter. You should see the Windows logo. After a few seconds, you will see the option to choose the language, time and keyboard. The next screen will give you the option to start the installation. Click “Install Now”. On the next screens, it will ask for the Windows license key. If you haven’t, skip it. You can also activate Windows later. You will be asked to choose a Windows version and accept the user license final. On the next screen, go with the custom install option. You will now reach the partition screen. Select the free space (unallocated space) you created in step 3 and click Next button. It will take a few minutes to copy the files and install Windows. After that, the system will automatically restart and this time it will boot directly into Windows. Windows installation is not finished yet. On the next boot you will be asked to configure Windows for your use and this is very annoying but very easy to follow. I won’t go into details for this part because I know you can handle the configuration part, which is waiting and coming next button most of the time. However, I’m sharing some images just for reference. Once you’ve successfully installed Windows, you’ll likely boot into Windows by default. You need to get the Grub dual boot screen back.
Step 5: Get the Grub Boot Loader Back
Again, restart the system and when powering on, go to the BIOS settings. From the boot sequence or boot order, move Ubuntu up the order. You might have to use the arrow keys or F5 or F6 and the screen might look different for different systems. Save and exit and this time you should boot into Ubuntu. The battle is not over yet. The grub boot loader may not be aware of the presence of Windows. That’s why it’s a good idea to update grub on Ubuntu. All you need to do is open a terminal and use the following command: sudo update grub Restart your system one more time. You should be greeted with the familiar grub boot screen that gives you the option to choose between booting into Ubuntu and Windows. And that brings us to the end of this long journey. It takes some time and effort, but if you want to install Windows after installing Ubuntu, it certainly can be done. If you still have questions, please let me know in the comments section and I will try to answer.
Final note
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