Dual boot Windows 10 and Kali-Linux?

Question

I have an ASUS K501L laptop, very decent rig with 128 GB SSD and 1 TB HDD.

I want to install Kali Linux as a second OS to boot to WITHOUT deleting my Windows 10 OS that already comes installed with the machine. I've read a little about partitioning drives, maybe I can do that from Windows 10?

I know there's a way to do this, I just want to be sure I'm doing it right- I don't want to lose anything. Windows 10 leaves 74 GB of free space on the SSD and I remember reading that Kali Linux takes at least 14 GB of data for the OS to run.

If someone can even point me to an article or video that covers THIS SPECIFIC type of installation, it would be awesome. I've found nothing so far, just articles/videos that show how to install BOTH OSes at once completely from scratch.

Of course, I want both OSes to run on the SSD while partitioning the HDD to store data for both OSes.

Answer 1

The primary thing to do is back up your data in case anything goes wrong.

Kali linux is debian based, just as ubuntu is, so a lot of times the ubuntu docs are very applicable. I suggest you start with the guidance given here: WindowsDualBoot. You will need to resize the ntfs partition using the installer (or use gparted) and then install ubuntu in the remaining space. Pay special attention to the section "Install Ubuntu after Windows".

If you're concerned the process is not a one-to-one between kali and ubuntu, then perform the partitioning with an ubuntu install media, following the above-referenced guide, and then when you get to the "ready to install" bit, power down and switch to the kali install media. The partitioning magic is the bulk of the work.