Dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 8.1 SSD and HDD

Question

My laptop has Windows 8.1 installed on a 1TB HDD. It also has a 120GB SSD, and I installed Ubuntu on it with 2 partitions / and /home. My laptop has a 16GB physical memory, so I don't need swap partition at the moment. I have Windows on the HDD and Ubuntu on the SSD.

Is it possible for me to choose which OS I want to start on startup, because every time I start my laptop, it boots straight to Windows? I can switch to Ubuntu, but it is only when the laptop has fully started and I have to go into the UEFI settings and manually select Ubuntu, but then everything just falls back to normal like it is booting without Ubuntu installed at all.

Can someone please tell me if I could dual boot Ubuntu and Windows if they are installed on 2 separate hard drives? If that is not possible, please tell me how I can achieve this.

I managed to get it resolved by fixing the bootloader.

Are both systems installed in UEFI boot mode on gpt partitioned drives? Post this: sudo parted -l And what brand/model computer. Many require work arounds. What version of Ubuntu? Some of the work arounds: http://askubuntu.com/questions/486752/dual-boot-win-8-ubuntu-loads-only-win/486789#486789 — oldfred, Mar 27 '15 at 03:37
Hi, thank you for taking the time, I've solved it by fixing the bootloader. — Biu, Mar 27 '15 at 07:47
Does this answer your question? Unable to boot into Windows after installing Ubuntu, how to fix? — karel, Jan 14 '20 at 06:21

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 27 '15 at 00:52

I am not an expert on this, but I have been messing with the boot order for a while, so telling from my some-what experience: So like the same way you get into UEFI settings, go to the BIOS settings (you can go to Advance Start-up, choose troubleshoot, advance options, then choose UEFI Firmware Settings - restart to get into it) [like you normally do]. After you get into the UEFI settings, you should see an option called BIOS settings or start up settings (some thing like that). Inside that, you should see an options that says Boot Priorities, Start-Up order (or something that means close to that). If you go into that subsection, you will be able to see which OS or devices have priorities over other installed OS(like Ubuntu)/devices(USB, DVD). In you case, probably Windows OS or UEFI is above Ubuntu OS. So change the order of it via the given control options to bring Ubuntu option above Windows.

These things differ for each manufacture, but the base operation is the same. If you give some more information about your computer's (that had Ubuntu installed) manufacture and/or model, I will try to be specific. [the mentioned above is for Dell Laptop]

Probably this video helps :)

Hope this information helps at least a little :)

Thank you for you time. Ive solved it by fixing the bootloader — Biu, Mar 27 '15 at 07:48

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 27 '15 at 02:14

If you partition your drive, you can make your USB stick bootable (I personally like the rufus program to do this, but there are other options) then go into the bios and change the boot order to USB. This will allow you to load Ubuntu as if you had the disc. In the setup portion on ubuntu you can choose where to install ubuntu. If the hdd is partitioned, you can choose the partition you want to install linux. Be very careful. You can delete the portion of windows on the drive and lose windows completely. I've never loaded this on a ssd, but it should work the same. Good luck.

Thank you for your input. I've managed to fix it by fixing the bootloader — Biu, Mar 27 '15 at 07:47

Biu · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-27T08:52:50.477

0

I just needed to fix the BootLoader, and then it allowed me to choose between Windows and Ubuntu now.

edited Mar 27 '15 at 08:52

answered Mar 27 '15 at 07:49

Biu

121

how did you fix the bootloader? – Michael James Mar 28 '15 at 01:10
Check out my answer in this post http://askubuntu.com/questions/602153/my-dualboot-windows-8-1-ubuntu-is-not-working/602269#602269] – Biu Mar 28 '15 at 05:29

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

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If you can successfully boot into linux at all I bet everything is installed correctly. You have to go into windows system settings. Turn off fast boot. windows defaults to this every update and hijacks the boot for itself.

disable fast boot

I hope this helps.

edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

Community

1

answered Mar 27 '15 at 07:59

bobZBy

75

Dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 8.1 SSD and HDD

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