Windows won't get past lockscreen after boot-repair

Question

In reference to my previous question: Installing Windows 10 after installing Ubuntu

I got to successfully run Windows and downloaded some drivers for it to function properly. Since it broke GRUB and now it automatically boots first, I had to use boot-repair with my live FD.

I don't know if my BootInfo summary is accurate so I don't want to post it, but since I just ran a Recommended repair. I'm hoping I did it the right way.

However, the issue arises after the repairs have been done:

1) Ubuntu works if you select it as the boot priority, Grub appears normal but with the messy stuff.

The entries that start with Windows boot to Windows (becomes a stretched 800 x 600 loading screen first, then loads, then can't get past the lock screen, I'm unable to see my user or whatever, it just displays the time and date)

2) Windows also works if you select it as the boot priority too. Normally. I can log in and actually use it.

Now I'm totally fine with this setup if it really can't work, but wouldn't it be nice if they were all in Grub and I can just choose whatever I want to boot to? :(

I still have Fast Boot & Secure Boot disabled by the way. I apologize if I sound dumb, I really don't know much about Linux or dual-booting but I do want to learn. And it's also 2:34 AM here, I'm awake & still trying to fix this haha.

UPDATE : It's now 8:35 AM. Windows can now successfully boot & be used through GRUB. I just ran the boot-repair tool multiple times.

I am however bothered by how it becomes a stretched 800 x 600 loading screen first. Also, how do I fix the entries on the GRUB bootloader? It seems messy to me, and I read in an answer here before that the entries should only be Ubuntu, Windows, and memtest (plus the other grub stuff). Help please? (a photo of grub on my sda)

Answer 1

Concerning the "stretched 800x600" screen, if that affects only the boot menu, and your OSes both work properly, my main suggestion is to not worry about it. That's a minor cosmetic issue, and attempting to fix it could create more serious problems.

As to having extra boot options, similar comments apply, although unwanted boot options can be an actual problem if people unfamiliar with the computer use it. Thus, you might try one or both of two options:

• Run update-grub -- The Boot Repair program completely re-installs GRUB and sets up boot options itself. Ubuntu itself uses a script called update-grub to reconfigure the GRUB menu whenever a new kernel is added, and it's conceivable that this script will do a better job of filtering out the stuff you don't want. Thus, typing sudo update-grub might fix the problem, or at least reduce the number of unwanted entries.
• Use GRUB Customizer -- The GRUB Customizer tool is commonly recommended to help customize GRUB menus. That said, I've never used this tool itself, so I can't offer much advice on its use. This question and its answer may be helpful, though.

Note that neither of these solutions is entirely risk-free; you might try one only to discover that it creates a new problem, up to and including rendering your computer completely unbootable. The risk of a really serious problem is low, though.

An entirely different approach is to switch boot loaders completely. This page of mine describes several alternatives to GRUB for EFI-based computers. Most of them are likely to be a bit awkward to set up and maintain, though. My own rEFInd boot manager is likely to be the easiest to set up, and definitely the easiest to maintain, since it's less reliant on its configuration file to handle individual kernels. You can also try rEFInd on a USB flash drive or CD-R to see how it works. (Download images for both are available from the rEFInd downloads page.) Note, however, that it's likely that rEFInd will present at least one or two unwanted boot options, just as GRUB is doing, so you may need to trim its options by using the dont_scan_volumes, dont_scan_dirs, or dont_scan_files options in refind.conf.