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I'm not much of a tech savvy, so my question is that does Ubuntu work with fast boot turned on? I'm currently on windows and thinking about changing to Ubuntu on my main machine, I've tried Ubuntu before but not on my main machine, I want to install Ubuntu and completely uninstall windows 10 so I will not dual boot, And do I need to configure anything in the BIOS (UEFI) other than secure boot to off? Your help is appreciated.

muru
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Waseem Sibai
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  • It should work but there is not enough information about your system to tell. Fast boot it is not a problem. – jpbrain Sep 09 '21 at 16:10
  • Thanks for replying, I'm going to try to install ubuntu now. – Waseem Sibai Sep 09 '21 at 16:13
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    If installing Ubuntu over Windows, then fast boot does not matter, it is wiped with Windows. BIOS/UEFI depends on your computer make and model. – crip659 Sep 09 '21 at 17:10
  • as an aside, you can definitely run Ubuntu with Secure Boot on. On HP laptops I know you may have to turn off "intel security something-or-other" in the BIOS, and this may vary depending on the computer, but you can usually leave Secure Boot. – Esther Sep 10 '21 at 19:23
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    I'm voting to reopen. This question most definitely should not have been closed. It is clearly not a duplicate of Why disable Fast Boot on Windows 8 when having dual booting? This question clearly states that it does NOT apply to dual-boot, and that question clearly states it does apply to dual-boot. These are 2 distinct questions. Please reopen. – Gabriel Staples Dec 18 '21 at 05:30

1 Answers1

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It depends.

  • If you share partitions under Windows and linux, then the option Windows Fast Startup in Windows should be turned off.
  • If you do not use any partition that Windows uses under Linux, you can leave Windows Fast Startup in Windows on.

With Windows Fast Startup turned on, as one of its tricks, Windows does not close the partitions it uses. To Linux, these partitions appear "dirty", and linux may either mount them read only or not mount them at all to prevent damage. If you do not use any of these volumes under Linux, that is not an issue, and you can leave Windows Fast Startup on.

vanadium
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    i.e. fastboot means that a normal Windows "shutdown" is actually a form of "hibernate". – Peter Cordes Sep 10 '21 at 04:40
  • I was wondering what fast boot is, because I never saw such a thing in Ubuntu, good that you explained that it's a Windows feature :) – raj Sep 10 '21 at 08:19
  • As Peter Cordes mentionned, the effect is comparable with the 'hibernate' function in Linux (which, however, is disabled by default in many distros because may not work reliably depending on the hardware) – vanadium Sep 10 '21 at 09:38
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    I thought fast boot in BIOS was a setting to display less information before starting the OS. Are you referring to another type of fast boot? Update: it looks like the answer is about the Windows fast boot, as explained here. – A.L Sep 10 '21 at 10:28
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    @A.L Yes, they're referring to a Windows feature that is also called "fast boot". The BIOS/EFI fast boot feature doesn't need to be disabled. – Oskar Skog Sep 10 '21 at 10:35
  • (...) that is also called "fast boot" except it isn't. It's Windows Fast Startup. Fast Boot is a firmware (UEFI) feature. – ChanganAuto Sep 13 '21 at 23:13
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    @ChanganAuto If that is the case, then I will certainly adjust the term in the answer, thanks! – vanadium Sep 14 '21 at 09:14
  • Does the rule apply to all file systems, or to NTFS-formatted partitions only? Would mounting a FAT32 or exFAT partition be safe with Fast Startup enabled, for example? And how about ext2/ext3/ext4 partitions mounted via WSL2 in Windows? – Kyselejsyreček Jan 11 '23 at 13:54
  • Sorry, I forgot to mention that I am referring to Windows 11, although WLS2 may apply to Windows 10 as well. – Kyselejsyreček Jan 11 '23 at 14:12