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I have Windows 8.1 installed in legacy mode/BIOS mode (ie: Not UEFI at all). Windows 8.1 is installed in the primary partition (ie: first). I (intend to) have linux installed in a second partition on this drive.

Let's say I install Linux (run through it's installer and reboot). Problem: Will I be able to boot into this installed partition of Linux and if so how?

Note: In this case, I will not be installing GRUB automatically through the installer, therefore the MBR will still contain (as the title says) the Windows Bootloader.

A more general form of my question is, (and really what I want to know): How do I boot OS's on different partitions if they are remote from the MBR (ie: not linked directly from the MBR via a menu or chained transitively either).

Note: Sadly when I google for information on this and use the word "Windows 8", every installation guide assumes I am using UEFI, which I am not, I am in BIOS/legacy mode. I do not have an EFI parition and do not intend to use one.

edit: I don't intend to leave the windows bootloader there. My concern is, if the windows boat loader is left there (because I merely installed linux, not grub+linux), how do I boot up into Linux? I am unaware of how to pick an OS on a secondary partition if the MBR isn't pointing to it.

Zombies
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2 Answers2

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I'm not positive, but I think the Windows bootloader gains entries when you install a new version of it (the version being installed is responsible for detecting other Windows versions and adding them to the bootloader it installs) and that it ignores everything else. So if you don't install GRUB when you install Linux, the Windows bootloader will simply ignore it.

You've got two options: 1) Install GRUB 2) Add an entry into the Windows bootloader for Linux.

I'd highly recommend EasyBCD for the second option and maybe the first, since it has a fairly intuitive interface and a great user guide.

I suck at explaining how to do things, but the answer to this Superuser post is what I used to get Linux on my Windows bootloader.

Community
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jkmartindale
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Unfortunately if you are without a bootloader that can point to the partition you want to boot, there's not any alternative other than getting one on there or modifying the current.

I am unsure how flexible the Windows bootloader is, but if you're installing Linux you might as well install GRUB from the install environment anyway. You can use os-prober to make sure the grub-mkconfig utility detects your windows install and configures an entry.

You didn't say what distribution/installer you were using, so I can't link to specific documentation for your situation. However, the procedure should be fairly similar among most systems. Here is a link to ArchLinux's GRUB page. To show its simplicity, this the list of commands to run for MBR systems:

pacman -S grub os-prober
grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda --recheck
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg # Here you should see log where it detects your Windows install and generates entry
coxley
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