Dual booting is the practice of installing two operating systems on the same computer. This allows you to choose which operating system to boot into when you start your computer. In this article, we will show you how to dual boot Windows 11 and Linux. We will be using Ubuntu as our Linux distribution, but the steps will be similar for other distributions.
Prerequisites
Before you start, you will need the following:
- A computer with Windows 11 installed
- A USB drive with at least 8GB of storage
- A Linux distribution ISO file
Steps
- Download and install Rufus on your computer. Rufus is a free tool that can be used to create bootable USB drives.
- Insert your USB drive into your computer.
- Open Rufus and select your USB drive from the Device drop-down menu.
- Click on the Select button and select the Linux distribution ISO file that you downloaded.
- Make sure the other settings are correct and click on the Start button.
- Rufus will create the bootable USB drive. This may take a few minutes.
- Once the bootable USB drive is created, you can disconnect it from your computer.
Installing Linux
- Restart your computer and press the appropriate key to enter the BIOS.
- Find the Boot Order settings and change the boot priority so that your USB drive is first.
- Save your changes and exit the BIOS.
- Your computer will now boot from the USB drive.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to install Linux.
- When you get to the partitioning screen, create a new partition for Linux and select the appropriate file system.
- Continue with the installation process.
Booting into Linux
Once Linux is installed, you will be able to boot into it by pressing the appropriate key when your computer starts up. The key you need to press will vary depending on your computer.
To switch between Windows 11 and Linux, you can simply restart your computer and select the operating system you want to boot into from the boot menu.
Troubleshooting
If you are having trouble dual booting Windows 11 and Linux, there are a few things you can check:
- Make sure that your BIOS settings are correct.
- Make sure that you have created a separate partition for Linux.
- Make sure that the file system for the Linux partition is correct.
If you are still having trouble, you can search for help online or contact the Linux distribution’s support team.
Conclusion
Dual booting Windows 11 and Linux can be a great way to get the best of both worlds. You can use Windows for your everyday tasks and Linux for more specialized tasks.
I hope this article has helped you learn how to dual boot Windows 11 and Linux. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us on Twitter!
If you want to build a PC for dual booting, we have a guide for that, too.
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