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I have a UEFI-based system. I want to have a Windows–Fedora dual-boot configuration such that both systems are isolated from each other. Here is what I mean by the term isolation:

  • Both systems should be independent of each other. If I remove the Windows drive, my Fedora system should work fine and vice-versa.
  • GRUB on my Fedora drive should not interfere with my Windows drive. I prefer not to have the GRUB menu ask me which OS I want to boot. I want to handle this thing in my UEFI boot menu. My Windows drive will be the default, and I can boot my Linux drive whenever I want using the UEFI boot order menu (F12). This behaviour should not change even after kernel upgrades (as they may trigger the update-grub command, thus causing GRUB to become aware of my Windows installation).

For this, I have thought of a solution after following this guide:

  • Install Windows 10 on my primary SSD (without connecting any other drive)
  • Install Linux on my secondary SSD after disconnecting my Windows 10 drive.
  • Plug in both drives.
  • Set Windows drive as the default boot option from the UEFI setup.

Questions

  • Will this solution work in the long run? In other words, will the systems remain isolated?
  • Should I make any changes to my approach?
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  • How did this approach work out for you?
    – David
    Commented May 1, 2023 at 19:06
  • Will this work if the windows 11 is already pre-installed on the laptop hard disk (non-removable) and if I try to install linux in an external hard drive?
    – Veki
    Commented Nov 3, 2023 at 17:52

2 Answers 2

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It will work. Windows can't read or modify Fedora's partitions (ext4 is unsupported in Windows by default) and Fedora shouldn't touch (or even mount) Windows's partitions without your request. Because you're installing them on two different disks, each will have its own bootloader and they won't interfere with each others'. They will be completely independent of each other.

Your approach is fine.

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It should work, but windows had a tendency to delete grub although with two separate drives it shouldn't be a problem.

If you want to instantly boot your kernel (which then loads the rest of your system) you could use efibootmgr to link a UEFI entry to your linux system and GRUB.

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