Windows + Linux

Creating a Separate Partition for Windows

1. Boot into your Linux Mint live USB/DVD
   • Insert your Linux Mint bootable media and restart your computer
   • Boot from this media (you may need to press F12, F2, or Delete during startup to select boot device)
2. Open GParted
   • Once Linux Mint has loaded, open GParted (System Tools > GParted)
   • This will show you your current disk layout
3. Create space for Windows
   • If you have free unallocated space, you can use that
   • If not, you’ll need to resize an existing partition:
     • Right-click the partition you want to shrink
     • Select “Resize/Move”
     • Drag the edge to reduce its size (Windows 10/11 requires at least 20GB, but 50GB+ is recommended)
     • Windows prefers to be installed on a primary partition at the beginning of the disk
4. Create a new partition for Windows
   • Right-click the unallocated space
   • Select “New”
   • Format it as NTFS
   • Click “Apply” to make the changes

Installing Windows

1. Prepare your Windows installation media
   • Have your Windows installation USB/DVD ready
2. Reboot your computer
   • Remove the Linux Mint media
   • Insert the Windows installation media
   • Restart your computer and boot from the Windows media
3. Follow the Windows installation process
   • When you reach the partition selection screen, choose the NTFS partition you created earlier
   • Windows will format this partition and install itself there
   • Complete the Windows installation process

Fixing the boot loader

1. Windows will overwrite the boot loader, so you’ll need to restore GRUB:
   • Boot back into Linux Mint live USB
   • Open Terminal
   • Run these commands:
      

     sudo mount /dev/sdXY /mnt       # Replace XY with your Linux root partition (e.g., sda1)
     sudo mount /dev/sdXZ /mnt/boot  # Only if you have a separate boot partition
     sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
     sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
     sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
     sudo chroot /mnt
     grub-install /dev/sdX           # Replace X with your disk (e.g., sda), not partition
     update-grub
     exit
     sudo umount /mnt/sys /mnt/proc /mnt/dev /mnt/boot /mnt

2. Reboot your computer
   • Remove all installation media
   • You should now see a GRUB menu that lets you choose between Linux Mint and Windows

Note: Make sure to back up all important data before performing these operations, as disk partitioning always carries some risk of data loss.