Table of Contents

This Linux primer how-to is part 2 in the PC of Distros Series.  Here, we will dig into how to install one or more of those Top 100 Linux Distros we discovered last time.  As with the previous article, this one is LONG.  I’m also going to provide a link to a PDF of this article so you can follow along on your phone or tablet, so you don’t have to hunt around for another computer, and you can have the instructions with you as you do this.

1. Introduction
2. Installation & Boot Setup
3. Tools and Setup before you Begin
4. Instructions
5. A Quick Run Down
6. The Process Overview
7. The Process Instructions
8. Quick (HA! Quick. Yeah, right…) Troubleshooting
9. Conclusion

Introduction

I like eye candy on my computer.

I want to enjoy the look and feel of my operating system. I like custom wallpapers, and even changing and using different window styles (apps like Stardock’s Window Blinds) curl my toes. However, depending on what you use and the amount of “stuff” you add to your PC, you can seriously affect your PC’s performance, especially under Windows, regardless of the version.

I also have a serious tweaking habit. I love tweaking my computer to make it run well, look good, or both. It’s true that I can sometimes get lost in this task and waste a lot of time, but in the end, it always runs well and looks good.

And to be honest, a guy could have much worse hobbies or vices. Wives—Am I right? (Or am I right??) I mean, my wife always knows where I am—at my desk (without having to use FindMy). Though I could probably be MUCH more attentive, that’s a subject for another day (and I digress).

With Windows 10 coming to the end of its life (and falling out of regular support for feature and security updates) just a few days ago at the time of this writing, many folks are left with some difficult decisions.

We’ve been discussing this on The iTechGear Weekly a lot over the past few episodes, and users of Windows 10 have a few options.  They can:

1. Upgrade to Windows 11 – IF your computer supports it, or
2. Buy a new computer with Windows 11 preinstalled on it – IF you can afford it and/or don’t mind spending the money, or
3. Enroll in the Windows 10 ESP (extended support program) – IF you don’t mind giving Microsoft another $30-$90 bucks for it (knowing that you’re kicking the can – or decision – down the road for up to three years.  Microsoft is only providing extended support for Windows 10 for three years, and the updates will be SECURITY UPDATES ONLY (no new features).  After that, you’re left with this same problem and decision of, “What do I do with my out-of-support computer?”, or
4. Install a Linux distribution on it.

And let’s be honest here, there are actually a few, 2 – 3 problems:

1. You can only defer this issue for, at most, three years. After that, Microsoft will kill and bury the OS and never update it again. No new features and no security patches.
2. Buying a reputable security suite—Norton, McAfee, Sophos, Webroot, and the like—alone will NOT protect you. Without continued hardening (support by installing new and updated security patches) of the operating system, virus and malware scanners will miss something. Then you’re risking getting scammed, or at worst, identity theft.
3. Using a computer with ANY unsupported operating system, no matter how familiar it may be or how happy you are with what you have, is NOT a good idea. There are way too many opportunities for you and your:
   1. Personally identifying information (name, address, phone number, social security number, etc.) – called PII, or your
   2. Personal health information (medications, medical records, medical history, current treatment plans, etc.) – called PHI, or your
   3. Personal credit information (your account numbers, past/current FICO scores, credit history, purchasing history and habits, income information, etc.) – called PCI

to get stolen.  There are far too many viruses, worms, and other malware around to take chances with a stolen identity, just because you hate change and/or don’t want to change your computing habits.

4. Finding another source for extended Windows 10 support isn’t going to be easy and may not be a good idea. Few companies will do this, and those that do are either going to be less than reputable (so you risk the whole malware thing again) or unreasonably expensive.
5. And speaking of expensive, buying a new computer isn’t cheap, especially if you want to purchase something that will last a while (so you don’t have to do this again anytime soon).

Falling off the grid—staying offline, away from social media, or streaming and other online or cellular services—really isn’t realistic or feasible these days. Nearly everyone (do you have a smartphone??) has some kind of online presence or footprint, so you need to protect yourself.

If you’re using a Windows 10 computer at home (at work is a different story and not something I’m going to cover here) and there’s nothing wrong with it, then you may want to read on.

If you follow these instructions, you must be very careful and realize that you’re changing how your computer works and behaves.  If you have only a single computer, please think long and hard before you do this.  Fixing or backing out mistakes can be very difficult, and this process could result in data loss if you don’t have a backup and/or aren’t careful.

 

Notes & Caveats:

• It is highly recommended that you read through this entire article before you start any of this.  You should be familiar with everything here, noting where you may bump into problems and then be ready for them when you get to that part of the process.
• Back up your PC and your data before you start!
• These instructions assume you will start this process from Windows and then,
  • Wipe your Windows drive completely, erasing it and moving permanently to Linux (likely the best thing if moving from Windows 10), OR
  • Will include Windows 11 as a usable option on your PC and will add Linux installs to the computer, creating dual-boot or multi-boot options on your hardware.

Either way, you’re going to start the process from Windows and then boot the computer to one of the USB Linux distribution installation sticks that will be created in the instructions below.

• Some of these distros are more “bleeding-edge” (e.g., Garuda, openSUSE Tumbleweed), which means things may occasionally break or some of your hardware may not work (correctly) – but are excellent for exploring.
• Just because the “live CD” version of the Linux distribution you want to try out works/runs on your computer doesn’t (always) mean that it will install and work correctly. Like Windows, Linux still relies on drivers to make components run and communicate with the operating system. They can be just as tricky and problematic in Linux as they are in Windows.  This problem will be larger for those not as familiar with Linux as they are with Windows.
• Back up your PC and your data before you start!
• Check the touch screen, track/touch pad, Wi-Fi, and stylus support before fully committing to the distribution on hardware like a notebook or laptop.  Some hardware features of your PC may not be supported “out of the box” and may require specialized drivers.  In these cases, getting these hardware features working is generally more challenging. Please make certain you pick a distribution that is known to work/work well with your computer and its hardware features (or be prepared to live without them).
• The download links provided in the Top 100 Linux Distros article are “home pages” or official download pages. It is recommended that if available, and you know how, to always verify a downloaded file’s checksums (or signature) to ensure that it hasn’t been tampered with and unknowingly contains malware.
• I’ve written this guide so that computer users who feel comfortable exploring and tweaking their computer should be able to complete the tasks outlined here. If you’re not comfortable troubleshooting general/ common computer issues or problems, you will either want to skip this entirely or crack open an AI tool like Gemini, Copilot, or ChatGPT to help explain some of these steps at a more granular level.  And finally, the ugly part…
• Back up your PC and your data before you start!
• You do this at your own risk. I hold no responsibility for bad things that happen to you or your data/information/pictures/ home movies/memories/etc, when and if you make a mistake, something doesn’t work as it should, is different than described, or an act of God occurs. YOU assume all risk when following this process. No exceptions.  You – and you alone – are responsible for any issues, concerns, troubleshooting, problems, data loss, failures, runs, drips, or errors you encounter while using these instructions.  I am not responsible for anything you do to your (or someone else’s) computer while following these instructions.  No exceptions.  Now the light at the end of the tunnel (and it’s hopefully not (another) train):
• If you backed up your PC and your data before you started, and things twisted sideways, you can restore it and get everything back, even if you must wipe the PC before reinstalling Windows.  So, practice safe computing and back up your data.
• Each tool and Linux distribution has its own support options and communities. If needed, you should look there for assistance. At my own and sole discretion, I may or may not offer help or direction to someone or someplace where you may find someone to assist with your problem.

Important Tips & Gotchas

• Again, it is highly recommended that you read through this entire article before you start any of this.
• Back up your PC and your data before you start!
• If your computer supports Secure Boot, you must disable it before you start installing Linux on it. You must go into your UEFI or Firmware (still often called BIOS) Setup program to turn it off. It will be listed under “Security.”
• If your drive is BitLocker encrypted under Windows, you will need to decrypt and THEN turn it off before you modify partitions on your main hard drive/SSD. If you turn it off without first decrypting it, and then restart your PC, your computer will display a huge blue screen indicating that the drive is encrypted and you will need to enter in a long decryption key before you can get back into Windows to decrypt the drive and turn it off.  If desired, you can reenable it on your Windows drive later.
• Using a cloud-based data service (like Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.) and letting everything sync before you start will ensure you have a copy of all the pictures, videos, files, etc., you want to keep.  Use one.  Pay for the storage if you have to.  It’s better to be prepared than sorry.
• Always pick “install bootloader to root partition” on the drive you install Linux to, not the main EFI/ESP partition. That’s key.
• Do not install a Linux distribution on your Windows partition if you create a dual-boot or multi-boot PC and wish to continue booting to Windows. Your Windows partition is likely the first large partition on the drive.  I will go into this more in step 3 of the Process Instructions below.
• Use UEFI compatible distros for all installs (don’t mix legacy BIOS/CSM). UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface.  It’s the “new” form of BIOS for your computer. UEFI and EFI are often used interchangeably to mean the same thing.
• Be consistent with partition naming so Grub2Win (explained and defined later in this article) sees things correctly.
• If a distro updates its kernel (the Linux system files) in a weird way, you may need to edit that entry in Grub2Win (to point it to the correct kernel files).  I will cover this particular issue in detail in a separate article.

Installation & Boot Setup

Please note that for this project, I wanted to create a machine that booted Windows 11 and any number of different Linux distributions that I could fit on the 2TB SSD I have for my chosen PC.  In this case, Windows will continue to be the primary/default OS on the PC.  This is the preferred setup, if you can swing it.  That way, you can always turn the thing on and use it without jumping through too many hoops if things twist sideways.

If you are going to move PERMANENTLY to Linux and only want to install a single distribution of Linux from the Top 100 Linux Distros or one you found and want to try, the steps here are mostly the same, but with some very minor differences.  I’ll point those out when we get there.

This process will also install a GRUB bootloader (GRand Unified Bootloader) to allow you to choose what OS to use each time the PC turns on.  GRUB displays a menu when the computer starts up, allowing you to use the up/down and enter keys to choose and “boot” to the operating system of your choice.

We’ll also be partitioning your hard drive/SSD in such a way that:

1. You have a common data store (so you can use a centralized, local drive to work on and save files to, regardless of which OS you feel like using today or which file sync service – like Dropbox – you may use) and
2. You create a common SWAP file/partition (a place that Linux will use to store paged memory files, temp files, and hibernation data) should your PC support hibernation and to stabilize and speed up the device’s performance.

Please Note: if you are going to wipe your hard drive and only install Linux on it and nothing else, you will not need to create a separate data partition (unless you want to.  You should still create a dedicated SWAP partition.

Tools & Setup Before You Begin

Read these instructions through before beginning.

You will need a few things before you get started.  You should have the following:

• Many USB flash drives (you’ll burn one Linux distro per USB).  I started with 6 (5 for Linux, one for Windows).
• A Windows repair USB stick (the one I mentioned above).  This is separate from the Linux distribution USB sticks I noted.  You can create this from your Windows PC.  If you are only wiping your PC and moving to Linux, you won’t need this.
• A standard tool like Rufus (available in the Windows Store) to burn/flash a Linux ISO to each USB stick.
• Grub2Win – a Windows bootloader editing utility.  You won’t need this if you’re moving to Linux only.
• A stable internet connection so you can download all the Linux distributions you want/need, and to update each distro after it’s installed.  And like Windows, there WILL be regular updates.  Expect not only feature updates but security patches as well.

Instructions

The instructions below should be easy enough for you to follow, especially if you have only a small amount of experience with Linux.  Of course, the more Linux experience you have, the better, but if you’re looking to create something fun to work with (albeit needing some occasional updating when each Linux distribution updates components…), this should get you up and going easily.

 

A Quick Run Down

I will outline what we’re going to do and where we’ll do it, and quickly note where you’re likely to bump into problems.  If you have any questions that need immediate answers, you might want to keep an AI tool like Copilot, Gemini, or ChatGPT handy.

Remember, I won’t be around to answer questions, and support forums will take time to get an answer from a community member who takes pity on you and your plight and responds with something that may work or give you something to do quickly. Any free account on any of those services should give you the answers you need AND allow you to ask crazy questions and get simple, easy-to-understand answers (with step-by-step troubleshooting steps.  They can be pretty handy when you use them the right way…

Each step is detailed after the overview.

The Process Overview

1. Get your USB sticks ready – Burning these on Windows with Rufus (available in the Windows Store as a free app) is easy. Make sure you have more than one USB stick available.  This way will be easier, especially if you want to dual/multi-boot your PC.
2. Install Grub2Win – While Grub is a Linux boot menu, Grub2Win is a Windows 10/11 utility that will allow you to – somewhat easily – create a menu that will allow you to choose what OS you want to run when you turn the machine on. The menu itself is OS agnostic.  This step may be somewhat confusing at first try.  This is an instance where taking any steps below to the AI chat tool of your choice may help you break them down to a level that works for you.
3. Create the Required Number of Disk Partitions – You can use any tool you want to create these partitions; however, I fully recommend you use Option C and MiniTool Partition Manager (link provided below)
4. Install One Distro at a Time – This is pretty straightforward. You need to make sure that any changes you make are made to the ONE AND ONLY disk partition you’re using for the Linux distribution you’re installing.  Every setting should be set for the partition you are installing Linux to.  When asked to identify a boot drive for the install you’re doing, that is NOT the boot partition for the SSD; that’s the partition you’re currently installing Linux on.
5. Modify the Grub2Win Boot Menu – After each successful install, boot back into Windows and add the OS to your Grub2Win menu. Again, this may take a bit of thought and time to get right.  Go slow.  If you’re creating a multi-boot environment (Windows and 2 or more Linux distributions), you’re going to repeat steps 4 & 5 until you run out of USB sticks/Linux distros you wish to install.
6. Polishing – Leave this to the VERY end. No need to get fancy if you’re going to pour gasoline all over the builds, burn it down, and restart.

The Process Instructions

Follow these very closely. I’ve broken these down to be as basic as they can be.  There is a lot here, and it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you become familiar with them before you move forward. While step-by-step, people tend to get anxious when something unexpected happens and don’t immediately understand what to do next.

Read these through first.

🚀 Step 1: Burn Each Linux Distro to Its Own USB Stick

1. While still running Windows, download the ISO for a desired Linux distribution. It should end up in your Downloads folder
2. In Windows, use Rufus (or your favorite ISO flasher):
   • Select the USB drive (make sure you pick the correct one).
   • Select the ISO.
   • Each ISO has default settings for its boot record and drive format.  Use default settings (GPT for UEFI, FAT32, etc.).  Do not modify them unless you know what you’re doing.
   • Burn/Flash the ISO to the USB.  This will take a while.
3. Eject safely.
4. Repeat this for each Linux distro you want to install or have USB sticks available.  Depending on the size of your hard drive or SSD, and the number of distros you can fit on the drive, you may need to install a Linux distribution and then reboot into Windows to create additional USB sticks and repeat this process if you desire to install more distributions.

🪛 Step 2: Install Grub2Win (Your Boot Master)

Please note: If you are leaving Windows behind for good, wipe it from your hard drive, and go Linux only, you can skip this entire step.

 

Each Linux install will install a Grub bootloader, and will automatically scan your drive, and find not only Windows (if you keep it), but each completed Linux distro installation.  I wanted to have this menu controlled from Windows so that it could be controlled from a familiar environment.

If you keep Windows – and it should be Windows 11 if you do – you will need to complete this step.  This is what I did to create my PC of Distros (Windows 11, plus 10 different Linux distros).

Installing Grub2Win is done once, at the beginning of this process.  Its an easy app to install, but can be somewhat challenging in and of itself. This is COMMUNITY-BASED software.  It’s free.  This isn’t something that you can buy off the shelf or out of an app store.  It works and does a good job.  However, you should expect some rough edges.

While Grub menus are automatically created in Linux when you install a version of Linux, and can update themselves If Grub2Win does not automatically recognize each new Linux distribution you install (and it likely won’t, so don’t be surprised… It didn’t for me.  I had to manually create a menu item for each Distro that I installed), boot to Windows and have the app scan your drive for the new install or manually add it to the boot menu.

 

1. In Windows, download, install, and run the Grub2Win executable (https://sourceforge.net/projects/grub2win/) installer (elevated). You’ll need administrator privileges for this. If you’re using the UAC (User Account Control), the PC will chime, the screen will change, and a dialog box will display asking you to approve the action. Approve it.
2. It will install itself and place a GRUB2 menu in your EFI System Partition (ESP).
3. Launch Grub2Win:
   • Go to Manage Boot Menu → Add Entry.
   • Confirm that “Windows” is automatically present (or add it manually if needed).
   • Save.
4. Reboot. You should see a Grub2Win menu, even if Windows is the only operating system installed on the computer.  Press the enter key to run Windows immediately or wait for the standard 30 second countdown to expire.

🧾 Step 3: Partition the Disk (in Windows or in the first Linux)

Please Note – this section is LONG, and VERY important.  Please read through this before you start carving up your hard drive.  Please backup your computer prior to making any changes.  You have been warned!

This step is long because there’s a LOT of information here that you need in order to understand and feel comfortable with what you’re doing to your hard drive.  Again, you’re changing how the guts of the computer see and read data from your hard drive.  You need to internalize as much of this as you can so it all goes as planned. This is important.  The closer you get to the actual hardware of your device, the more risk you take when you change things.  Its hard to get much closer to your hard drive/SSD without a solder gun…

Disk Partition Types

There are two types of partitions (at least for our sake) that can be used when creating disks or carving out space on your hard drive or SSD – a GPT or GUID Partition Table and an MBR or Master Boot Record partition table.  Their descriptions and differences are below:

 

Disk Type	Partition Table	Max Primary Partitions	Notes
MBR	Master Boot Record	4	Or 3 primary + 1 extended (with logicals inside)
GPT	GUID Partition Table	128 (Windows default)	All are primary; no extended/logical structure

 

MBR partitions are best used with older operating systems like Windows XP and DOS.  GPT partitions are required by newer operating systems like macOS, Windows Vista – Windows 11, and (nearly) all of the Linux distributions you will find available today.

Disk Partition Type Comparison

Feature	MBR (Master Boot Record)	GPT (GUID Partition Table)
Structure	Stores boot code + partition table in the first 512 bytes of the disk	Stores multiple copies of partition data for redundancy, includes a protective MBR
Max Partitions	4 primary total, or 3 primary + 1 extended (with logical drives)	128 primary partitions by default (can be increased)
Extended/Logical Support	Yes — one extended partition can hold multiple logical drives	❌ None needed — all partitions are primary
Boot Method	Requires BIOS; must mark one primary partition as active	Requires UEFI firmware to boot
Max Disk Size	2 TB limit	Supports disk sizes greater than 2 TB (theoretical zettabyte scale)
Partition ID	Uses simple type codes (e.g., 0x07 for NTFS)	Each partition has a unique GUID + human-readable name
Redundancy	Single copy of the partition table (risk of corruption)	Stores backup GPT header and table at the end of the disk
OS Compatibility	Works with legacy OSes (Windows XP, DOS, etc.)	Supported by modern OSes (Windows Vista or later, macOS, Linux)
Boot Disk Support	For BIOS-based systems	For UEFI-based systems
Data Recovery	Limited recovery options if partition table is corrupted	Easier to recover — backup header and CRC protection
Recommended Use	Legacy systems and small disks	Modern systems and large disks (>2 TB)

 

✅ Bottom line:

✅ GPT = 128 primary partitions by default (no extended/logical needed, as all partitions are primary).
🚫 MBR = 4 primary partitions max (one can be extended).

✅ Use MBR only when dealing with older hardware or BIOS-only boot systems.

✅ Use GPT for modern computers, UEFI boot, and disks over 2 TB — it’s faster, safer, and far more flexible.

And just for your edification (as if your brain wasn’t already overloaded…) 1 zettabyte is equal to 1 BILLION terabytes.  Most computers today still come with 128GB to 2TB drives.  Most SSDs max out between 4TB and 8TB, with the larger sizes being unbelievably expensive.  A single GPT partition could be used on a 1ZB drive (if it existed or could be created).

Why You Need to Know This

Why do you need all this information?  Simple:

1. You’re messing with your computer’s guts. Creating or modifying disk partitions is destructive, which is why you must back up your PC before starting.
2. Each partition can be thought of as a separate disk drive. Windows may see them all and list them as such (provided it can read the partition headers) as Drive D:, Drive E:, Drive F:, etc.
3. Understanding how data is stored on the physical spinning disk/SSD will help you create the right-sized and type of partitions for this effort.

You need separate, free, unallocated space for each of your Linux installs.  If you’re using Windows and want to keep it, you must shrink the size of your C: drive to create space.  If you are NOT keeping Windows, use Option B, below, to wipe your drive and allow Linux to install over the whole thing.

Creating an Additional EFI Partition

When you install Windows 10 (no longer supported as of this writing) or Windows 11, if you noticed, your computer automatically creates 4 partitions on your hard drive.  What these do is important not only to how Windows runs, but how Linux works on your dual or multi-boot computer as well.

1. The EFI Partition
   The first partition Windows creates is the EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) partition. This is where the disk drive tells the computer what operating system its booting, and where the system files are.  EFI partitions must (should) be the first partition on the drive and must be 100-750MB in size.

IMPORTANT: Windows 10/11 gets its computer startup information from this important partition and Microsoft has specifically designed this partition to be 200MB in size, and to be used as a Windows only space.

Yes.  Linux also uses this same process, but MANY Linux distributions first check to see if there is an EFI partition on the drive and then check its size, and if it doesn’t see that it has 300MB or more of FREE space, the install will fail with a confusing terminal-based error that you won’t see (without going to look for it, IF you know where and how to find it, and IF you know what the information means…); and no amount of retrying will resolve the issue.

Again, the EFI System Partition (ESP) is where the system stores bootloaders for all installed operating systems — Windows, Linux distros, even recovery tools.

 

Each OS just places its own bootloader files (for example, grubx64.efi for GRUB or bootmgfw.efi for Windows) into its own folder inside the single shared EFI partition.

If you could actually look in this partition (its usually NOT user accessible and should be LEFT that way), you would see a folder structure that looks something like this:

Because Windows is greedy with its 200MB EFI partition and Linux installations want to share it, it is highly recommended that you create a second EFI partition on the drive.

This new EFI partition will NOT confuse Windows.  In fact, it’s likely that Windows will completely ignore its entire existence (and as such, the Microsoft folder we noted in the screen shot above, won’t exist…) and your computer will continue to boot normally.  However, your Linux installs will use it and will REQUIRE that you specify one during installation of EACH distribution.

Your Options

You can use a couple of different tools to do this. One comes with Windows, and one is Freeware from a reputable software publisher. Others (GParted or another tool) are part of each Linux distribution.

I’m going to describe the process options first, and then the process afterwards:

Option A: Use Windows Disk Management

1. Windows Disk Management is easy to use, but other tools (see Option C, below) may be a easier for you to use.  Using WDM, shrink your C: drive or other partitions on another drive, to free up sizeable space (say 100GB for each Linux version you wish to install) or more, depending on the size each distro and the software and apps you will install. Remember, one of our disk partitions will be for data storage (at least 128GB to 256GB) and another for SWAP (at least 8GB to 64GB).
2. If possible, leave the freed space (or new partitions) “unallocated” (do not format it).  Let each Linux distribution installation do that.You will likely be asked to choose a “file system” and be offered choices like btrfs, ext2, ext3, ext4, etc. when installing Linux.  If your distribution has a “default” or preferred file system, use it. If not, choose either btrfs or ext4.  Both are Linux-compatible, SSD optimized, and widely supported.

Option B: Do it with a Distro’s partitioner
This Option is a bit more complicated, and one that I don’t recommend for beginners or novices.  During the Linux install, regardless of the Option you choose here or the tool you use, you can create and designate partitions to install Linux to.

Option B is a bit riskier than the other two options, but only because you’re installing an operating system you’re unfamiliar with and using a system tool you’ve likely never seen. Surprisingly, some Linux installations are still NOT GUI-based, and partitioning and formatting the drive can be tricky in a text-based UI (user interface). If you’re not certain how to use the distro’s partition tool, be it GUI-based or not, this task is better done in Windows (where you’re more familiar with everything) than in Linux (where you’re not yet).

Option C: Use MiniTool Partition Wizard for Windows
This is likely the best and safest option. The MiniTool Partition Wizard for Windows is a free, easy-to-use tool that allows you to configure partitions on your drive in a GUI (graphical user interface). It allows you to work in a preview mode before committing all changes to the actual disk. Once committed, the changes are applied to your drive. This is an easier tool to use than Windows Disk Management. You can download it here.

The Process

1. Shrink your C drive or use another, internal drive to create a partition for the first Linux distribution you wish to install.
2. Create a partition for use as an EFI BOOT partition. It should be ideally be at lease 500MB to 750MB in size and MUST be formatted as FAT32 (yes, even for Linux).
3. Create a partition for each additional distro you intend to install. These should be a minimum of 50GB to 100GB in size minimum and should be unformatted.  Check the screen shot, below, for an example.
4. Be sure to create a SWAP partition. This should 8GB to 64GB in size.  If you’re going to use hibernation features of your computer under Linux, the swap partition should at least be as big as the amount of RAM you have.I used a Lenovo x12-Detatchable Gen1 PC (a Surface Pro clone) with an Intel i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 2TB SSD that I upgraded it to.  My swap partition is 64GB in size, as I plan on only using 1  swap partition for the 10 distros I will install.
5. Be sure to create a separate DATA partition (to store your files on). A separate data partition provides your new setup the following benefits
   1. It ensures that if things get messed up and you haven’t backed up your computer, and/ or aren’t using a sync service like Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive, that data may still be recoverable.
   2. Windows can’t write data to some Linux file systems. As long as you have a separate place to store your data that is universally accessible by both Windows AND Linux, you can work on a single copy of your local data and not have to worry about consolidating changes later on.Your data drive/partition should be as big as you can make it and formatted as exFAT, as its universally usable by Windows, Linux, (and macOS for that matter); but with a single caveat.
   3. If you plan on using OneDrive and storing its data on this DATA partition, it MUST be formatted as NTFS. OneDrive will not read and write data to an exFAT drive.  This is a limitation of OneDrive, not of Windows.

When you are all done, you should be left with something that looks like the screenshot below.  I’ve used a pie chart to illustrate this, as its probably easiest to look at your disk drive/SSD as a giant pie that you are carving up.

This is NOT drawn to scale. I’ve done my best to describe how I’ve got things configured and this is the way my hard drive is divided up.  I’ve got a 2TB SSD that I used for my setup.

 

Please note: Each partition can be named and labeled.  Grub2Win will read a partition's label and when you get to the point where you are installing a distro and are choosing a partition to install to, use the tool to label it.

Windows created the first four (4) partitions on the drive. I didn’t.  After Windows was installed and configured the way I wanted, I shrank the size of my C:\ drive from the 1.72TB of remaining space to create my 120GB C:\ drive and all of the other partitions. I used the MiniTool Partition Wizard for Windows to carve up my 2TB SSD.  Its free, and easy to use. I had to use the Disk Management Console to swap drive letters around so that my data drive was drive D:\.

The screenshot above should be looked at and “read,” clockwise. All partitions are sized and formatted (or not) as noted

• Gold/Yellow #1 = 200MB EFI Boot Formatted as FAT32 (Windows)
• Purple = 16MB Reserved for Windows
• Green = 25MB Windows Recovery
• Gold/Yellow #2 = 750MB EFI Boot Formatted as FAT32 (All others)
• Gray = 120GB Unformatted partitions (these will be formatted with the default file system supported by each, installed Linux distro
• Orange = 64GB Linux SWAP

🧑‍🚀 Step 4: Install Each Linux Distro (One by One)

Get familiar with your UEFI firmware setup screen and how to modify its startup options.  As we’re going to be rebooting your computer multiple times during all of this, you may have to go back into your UEFI/BIOS setup multiple times to change the device boot order to allow your computer to boot from a USB stick and to delete grub bootloaders that conflict with Grub2Win.

Each Linux install will put its boot loader as the first option.  Don’t be surprised if you have to modify the Startup order of your computer’s disk drives dozens of times, especially if you are installing more than two Linux distributions on your PC or if you make a mistake and have to start over.

For each distro you wish to install:

1. With the computer off, plug in the corresponding USB stick for that distro and boot the laptop from it (using your UEFI boot menu, as noted above).
2. Configure your computer to boot from a USB drive as its first boot option.This will allow you to boot the Linux distributions you created in Step 1, above, from one of the USB sticks and boot from that distribution first, before it looks to your C drive for Windows. Each computer’s UEFI is different. If you don’t know how to do this, you’ll need to look at the support site for your computer brand, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to find instructions for booting to your UEFI setup screen to modify the startup options of your computer.
3. Run the distro’s live CD or installer. Many distros have a “try before you buy” version of the OS, called a “live CD,” that will also allow you to install the OS if you like it.  When the installer asks you where you want to install the OS, choose one of the blank partitions you created in Step 3, above.  Again, you can also refer to the diagram I included to help you figure out which partition is which.When counting partitions start at the top and move CLOCKWISE around the circle, counting each pie section as a partition.  The first gray, unformatted space should be partition number 6.
4. During a Linux installation, you will be asked where to install Linux and asked to choose an EFI BOOT partition. These are separate partitions. Choose the 300MB-750MB additional EFI BOOT partition you created (#5, as noted in the diagram) above.  Make certain its mounting point is /boot/efi. If you don’t do this right, the installation routine won’t progress forward and you’ll have to repeat this step.

1. Confirm – Choose the 300MB-750MB EFI Boot partition we created above in Step 3 (#5, as noted in the diagram), and ensure its mounting point is /boot/efi
2. Confirm – Its drive format will be FAT32.

1. Choose the first, unformatted 120GB partitions you created, above, to install the Linux distro to.  The install drive is different from the EFI Boot partition.  The drive may appear as /dev/nvme0n1pX in GParted or whatever tool your chosen Linux distribution’s install program uses.Let’s decipher this a bit, as it may look confusing.  It kinda looks like a network address or some other kind of familiar notation.  It’s not.  Let’s break it down:

1. /dev – short for device. This is a hardware notation indicating that this is a device on the computer’s motherboard
2. /nvme0 – nvme is a type of SSD.

 

So, so far, I know that the computer sees my hard drive

• as a device on the motherboard
• and that its interface type is nvme
  1. n1 – this is the first nvme interface – or drive – the computer sees
  2. pX – the p refers to a partition on the nvme drive, and the X here is a variable for the partition number

So when I see /dev/nvme0n1p8, I know that this is the 8^th partition on the first nvme SSD in my computer.  Since Windows already created partitions 1 through 4 on my hard drive

1. p1 – the Windows EFI BOOT partition
2. p2 – Reserved Windows partition
3. p3 – your C:\ drive
4. p4 – the Windows Recovery Partition
5. p5 – the EXTRA EFI BOOT partition our Linux distros will use

p6 or my 6^th partition is the first partition I could potentially use for my first Linux installation.  In my example above, /dev/nvme0n1p8, this is the SSD’s 8^th overall partition and the 3^rd  partition I could use for Linux or anything else.

Let’s move on…

When installing Linux, use the values below for setting partitions during the installation routine, regardless of which Linux distribution you use, or if you keep Windows or not:

1. File System Type: If the Linux distribution you are installing has a default file system type, use it. If not, use btrfs or EXT4. Keep in mind that Windows will see your EXT4 drives and mount them, but will not be able to read the data (and will report them as needing to be formatted.  IGNORE THIS when using Windows.)  Your Linux installation is fine and not corrupted.
2. Mounting Point: You want to boot to the root of the partition or drive you install to. So, you will want to choose the “root” or top of the drive.  You will want to look for just a slash, or “/.”  You may also see or be given options of /boot, or /boot efi. Make sure your mount point is “root” or “/”.
3. If you get an error message from the installer indicating that you need to specify an EFI BOOT partition, you will need to go back to #4 directly above, and specify the 300-750MB EFI Boot partition you created for just this purpose.  In my diagram, its GOLD #2.
4. Specify the SWAP space.  A Linux SWAP file is the same as the pagefile.sys file in Windows.The SWAP space in Linux is where it will swap out virtual or paged memory requests.  Linux will also save hibernation information to this partition if you enable that feature there.  In Windows, this is done within the hidden, system, pagefile.sys file (for paged memory requests) and hiberfile.sys (for hibernation data) on your C:\ drive. In Linux, I specified a 64GB partition for this, as noted in the screenshot, above.  64GB should be MORE than enough space in any flavor of Linux.

If you do enable hibernation, and you have more than 64GB of RAM, your SWAP partition will need to be AT LEAST as big as the amount of RAM you have, otherwise, you won’t be able to use hibernation.

 

Make certain you allow your Linux installation to know that it’s there and it can use it.

Frustratingly enough, not all install routines are created equally, even if the same installation shell is used with multiple Linux distributions. (They may seem or look familiar, from distribution to distribution.  That’s because they often are…)  Some install programs will see the swap space and just use it.  Others will make you identify it specifically.  You’re going to have to pay attention and see which way your distribution works.

1. Finish the install.  The install routine will ask you to reboot at the end.
2. RebootYou should make certain you boot into Windows immediately after your installation finishes.  When you boot back into Windows, you should run Grub2Win and fix the boot menu it created in Step 2, above.  It WILL be broken after the installation, and you’ll need to set it as the default again; and you’ll need to manually add a new menu item for the distro you just installed.This is where all that gobbledy-gook about partitions you glazed over, above, will become important.  Go read it again.
3. The steps for modifying this menu are directly below.

🔧 Step 5: Add Each Linux Distribution to Grub2Win

After you install a new distro:

1. Boot into Windows.
2. Launch Grub2Win. Click the Manage Boot Menu button.  Click the Add Entry button.  In the Type dropdown, select the Linux version or name of the Linux family the distro you installed, is from.
3. Name the menu entry in the Title field, (e.g., “Ubuntu 24.04,” “Deepin 25,” etc.).
4. The Linux kernel must load in order to run the OS. The most reliable method is, “Partition UUID.”
5. Choose the location of the kernel in the Partition Layout field. Choose, “Root Partition Only.”
6. Choose the root partition from the Root Partition dropdown.  If you labeled your partition in step 3 above, you should see that label name when you click the dropdown.  Select it.  The Linux boot params field may populat, and the partition’s UUID and file system (FS) type will populate below the large while rectangle text field.
7. Save.
8. Reboot and verify that you can boot into the new Linux distribution shut down correctly and can boot back into Windows again, afterwards.

You may need to test and tweak your entries and kernel parameters (but most will auto-work).

Repeat steps 4 and 5, above,  for all the Linux distros you install.

✨ Step 6: Polishing & Safety Checks

• In Grub2Win, you can tap on the menu preview graphic in the upper right corner to customize it.  A customization screen will appear
  • Tap the  graphic to either pick one that is included with Grub2Win, or to choose your own.
  • In the Set Colors area, tap each button – Titles, Selected Item, Text or Clock – to specify the colors of those menu elements.  The customization screen will reflect your changes.
  • You can specify the font and font size of each menu entry.
  • Further customize the menu with the options on the screen.  Click the OK button to return to the Modify Menu screen.
• Use the arrows on the right side of the display to reorder entries so Windows is at the top or where you prefer.
• Use Backup Configuration in Grub2Win to export a safe copy.
• If a Linux installation overwrote the ESP or GRUB, you can reinstall Grub2Win from Windows and restore it.  If this happens, this is likely going to be one of those times that you will pour gasoline all over the drive, burn it down, reinstall Windows and start over.

Quick (HA!  Quick. Yeah right…) Troubleshooting

Issue	Fix
The System Time (my computer’s clock) is often wrong when I boot into <pick an operating system> and doesn’t always update itself correctly	Yeah, I’ve noticed this, too. This is due to the way each OS speaks to the system clock on your computer and sets the time.  I’m not certain why this happens. In Windows you’ll need to either 1.      Update the clock manually to the correct time, 2.      Toggle the “set time zoner automatically” feature on/of or off/on until things are correct, or 3.      Toggle the “set time automatically” feature off/on or on/off until things are correct 4.      4. Make certain the chron service is installed and running in at least 1 of your Linux distros.  Once installed and running correctly, updating your clock automatically, this issue SHOULD cease.
The Distro you’re installing asks for a password to start the installation	1.      Try leaving the password blank and press enter (this is a common behavior in live images) 2.      If blank fails, try the number “1” and press enter 3.      If 1 fails, try, “live” and press enter (community reports vary by distribution) 4.      Try downloading an ISO image from a mirror (if available) and reburning the ISO to the USB stick. Reboot using the new image and try again
New Linux distribution overwrote your bootloader	Boot to Windows, run Grub2Win and reset it as the default boot loader/boot menu.
New Linux distribution installed correctly but won’t boot through Grub2Win	1.      Reboot the computer and try booting into the Linux distribution again via Grub2Win. (Sometimes this works.  It may be that Grub2Win didn’t read everything correctly the first time.) 2.      Boot into Windows and run Grub2Win.  Make certain you have correctly identified the Linux distro’s family and correctly chosen it in Type dropdown menu.  Reboot to check to see if this resolved the issue. 3.      Reinstall the Linux distribution OVER THE SAME partition it was originally installed to. This will reset the partition information used and written to the drive when that distro was installed.  It will also require you to go back into Grub2Win after you reboot into Windows.  Grub2Win will complain about an error in its menu.  You will need to correct the information in the Root Partition drop down and make certain you’ve selected the correct one. 4.      Your second EFI Boot partition may be too small.  Depending on the amount of data your distro of choice writes to this partition – and how often it is updated – the OS may require a specific amount of space.  If that partition doesn’t have enough FREE SPACE, the OS may not install, OR it may install and simply not boot, OR it may warn you that it may not boot after install, complete the install and then simply not boot. I’ve had this happen on more than one occasion. Its very frustrating because you’re left with very few options: a)      Choose another distro to install over the one that won’t boot (Easiest and) b)      Delete ALL partitions on the drive EXCEPT the first 4 (the ones created by Windows 11) and start over, this time increasing the size of your 2nd EFI Boot partition to match the recommendations of the non-booting OS (Requires ENGINEERING & PLANNING of partition ORDER & PLACEMENT) c)      Blow the entire drive, reinstall Windows 11 and rebuild all of your partitions accounting for the required size of your 2nd EFI Boot partition. (Most Complete) The more distros you install on your computer, the larger your 2nd EFI Boot partition needs to be.  There’s no telling how much data is written to this drive by each distro, so you may need up to 1-2GB of space, depending on the size of your drive & how many Linux distros you want to install.   Because of the physical location of your 2nd EFI Boot partition on your drive, its not possible to grow this partition to accommodate for the needed space AFTER you’ve started putting Linux distros on.  You MUST size it correctly back in Step 3: Partition the Disk. This is the MAJOR reason why I had to restart and rebuild so many times. Too many distros require a set amount of free space in the EFI Boot partition, and you can only set this in Step 3, and NONE of the distros mention their EFI boot partition size requirements up front.  They assume you’re going to have enough space for EFI Boot before you install.
The Linux distro starts to boot, but then fails part way through and enters a terminal or shell	This has happened to me more than once.  When you encounter this error, there’s not much you can do.  However, you can try the following: 1.      Reboot the computer and try booting into the Linux distribution again. (Sometimes this works.  It may be that Grub2Win didn’t read everything correctly the first time.) 2.      Reinstall the Linux distribution OVER THE SAME partition it was originally installed to. This will reset the partition information used and written to the drive when that distro was installed.  It will also require you to go back into Grub2Win after you reboot into Windows and update the menu.  You will need to correct the information in the Root Partition drop down and make certain you’ve selected the correct one.
Distro not detected	Check the menu entry in Grub2Win for the distro you’re trying to boot to. You may need to try some different options to get the OS to boot.
Wrong boot order	1.      Boot back into Windows and run Grub2Win and reorder your boot loader menu.
Your Wi-Fi or (name the device you’re having issues with) won’t work.   This is most often one of the following: ·       Wi-Fi adapter ·       Sound Card ·       Bluetooth adapter ·       Some other device you have with a non-standard driver	If it’s your Wi-Fi radio that won’t work, try using the distro’s Wi-Fi functions. It may be that you just need to connect to your router.  Not all distros remember your network setup in the installed version after you reboot to it directly after installation.   It may be that your Wi-Fi device needs a special driver.  If you cannot connect an ethernet cable to your home router, to download the appropriate driver automatically, or if you can’t find a driver for the device that will work, you may need to replace that device (if possible) OR choose a different Linux distribution all together. Device drivers in Linux aren’t easy.
I installed Linux on my Intel Mac.  I disabled all security and disabled Secure Boot on it, and I still can’t get the keyboard, touchpad, Wi-Fi, sound card or Bluetooth adapter to work	Congratulations! You have a T2 security chip in your Intel Mac.  Good luck getting Linux to install and run correctly there.  This is a complicated install, to be sure.   There is a version of “T2-Linux” that will work with your T2 security chip enabled MacBook Pro.  There’s a whole website (https://t2linux.org/) related to this to help you get Linux installed on the following Mac devices:   ·       MacBook Air: 2018 to 2020 Intel models ·       Macbook Pro 2018 to 2020 Intel models ·       iMac: 2020 17″ Intel Models ·       iMac Pro: 2017 Intel Models ·       Mac mini: 2018 Intel Models ·       MacPro: 2019 Intel Models

 

Conclusion

To be certain, this is not an easy project to undertake.  But it IS (frustratingly) fun to create and depending on how many Linux distros you install on your computer, it creates a fun and unique computer that will amaze your friends at parties…

There are MANY opportunities for things to twist sideways, requiring you to start over. From scratch.  Like, “Download Windows 11 from the internet, burn that ISO file to a USB stick, boot from it and delete all the partitions from the hard drive/SSD and completely reinstall Windows” from scratch.  I’ve done that, like, 12 times or so during this process.  Yes. It can be very frustrating.

I can hear Chris G. in my head saying, “Doesn’t that tell you that this may be too complicated for most folks?”

And he may be right.

But ultimately, that’s up to you.  The computer that I created with all of this boots 11 different operating systems, including Windows 11 25H2, and everything works.

IT professionals will tell you that the closer you get to your hardware, the more complicated things become.  That is truly the case here.  We are dealing with subjects and topics that are highly technical and directly touch your hard drive/SSD.

Again, I myself, with over a dozen IT certs – including Linux certs – stopped the ENTIRE process and

1. COMPLETELY wiped the hard drive,
2. Reinstalled Windows 11(and all necessary apps and utilities)
3. Repartitioned the hard drive
4. Restarted the process with the installation of the distros I was interested in

I did this at least a dozen times by the time I was done.  But then again, I also put Windows 11 and 10 different Linux distributions on my 2TB HDD, and getting things EXACTLY correct was the difference between things working as their supposed to, requiring little to no maintenance (other than simple OS updates to each installed distro), and spending time either troubleshooting or rebuilding.

And that’s an important distinction.  I’ve been working with Windows configurations with EVERY version of Windows since version 3.0, for over 25 years.  (FYI – Windows 1.0 wasn’t available commercially, and Windows 2.0 was very flat, two dimensional and a total mess. It was built with CGA based graphics as a GUI laying over DOS.)

I’ve learned something very important during that time:  discretion being the better part of valor, when you have large problems with Windows (and in this case, when working with boot loaders, custom partition schemes – more than one on a single SSD or HDD – it’s often better to rebuild than try to fix what’s wrong.

Troubleshooting often involves identifying one problem and then resolving it and the 12 more that show up as you work through everything.  That rabbit hole can take you anywhere and everywhere and drive you crazy.  I usually spend 15-30 minutes maximum on Windows troubleshooting before throwing in the towel.  At that point I usually:

1. Ensure all my data is synchronized in OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox or whatever sync service(s) I’m using.
2. Use Windows Backup to backup all my Windows apps (or at least their shortcuts so I can use the Start Menu as a check list after I rebuild the machine to ensure I have downloaded and reinstalled what doesn’t come out of the Windows Store.
3. Windows Backup also backs up your credentials, WiFi networks, configuration and customizations, etc., so your PC looks like it did before you screwed up.
4. Use the Windows Troubleshooting process built into Windows to Reset the computer.
5. If that doesn’t work, I’ll grab a USB stick, burn the latest Windows install DVD to a USB stick, boot from it and blow the machine. I’ll reinstall Windows, restore from Windows Backup and then take up whatever tasks I was working on before things twisted sideways.

Yes, this is a HUGE pain in the caboose.  Yes, it wastes a LOT of time.  However, I’ve wasted literally WEEKS of time, trying to resolve problems that should have been resolved with a few waves of a magic wand… but I ran out of orange smoke and pixie dust.

NOW you know why I had all of that extra information and all of those warnings and caveats written into this primer up front.

Honestly, I could have built in a device cloning process with this, which would have involved using tools like Macrium Reflect (https://www.macrium.com/reflect-x) which is a back up tool that clones (copies not only your data, but the device level, physical structure of your SSD/hard drive, meaning all the partitions – or the actual STRUCTURE of your SSD/HDD – as well as the data), but I thought the better of it.

It made the process just all the more complex, and I thought that while it might make rebuilding a PC a little easier, it added more steps and required a dedicated external hard drive at least as big as the drive you were trying to clone.

This project was a stretch, and adding Macrium Reflect to this went too far beyond what we try to shoot for here at iTechGear.org.

So, why in the world would I (or you for that matter) want to undertake something like this??  That’s easy. There are a couple-three reasons:

1. Like any mountain, because it’s there. I like challenging myself, and becoming more Linux and Windows savvy will only help you/me/us get a (better) job later.
2. If you’re a Windows 10 user, you need to do… something.  Windows 10 is out of support. You
3. It creates a totally cool, totally unique computer. Yes, dual boots and maybe triple-boots are neat, but when you have a single PC that boots into 10 (or more) operating systems, it proves who the computer’s daddy actually is.
4. One thing led to another, and I found myself up to my neck in this before I knew it, so I decided to write it all down so that I could repeat it all later, or at least try to figure out where things went sideways…
5. It’s what I do. It’s what iTechGear.org and the iTechGear Weekly are all about.  It completely fulfills the mission of why I started the site and the show, and I hope you find some value in what the team and I do.