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Suppose I have a computer that was once a purely Windows desktop, whose disk contained at least the usual EFI System Partition (the ESP) and the Windows partition itself. Suppose that one day I decided to get rid of it for a better OS (namely Linux), /bin/dd
'd the Windows partition to an external disk (i.e. a verbatim bit-by-bit, sector-by-sector copy, probably to some massive file that I probably called Windows.img
), scrubbed the original disk clean by /bin/dd
'ing the whole thing with zeroes, and somehow installed some Linuxes onto it.
But now let's say I want to smush Windows back into the disk as a second (not actually second, as I have multiple Linuxes on here) operating system. Now what? I may or may not have kept a backup of the original ESP with the original bootloader inside, but assume that I did. Is there any way I can arbitrarily make some room and create a partition somewhere, /bin/dd
the Windows partition to it, and somehow boot into it like old times? Does rEFInd help at all, here? Also, what if I, for some reason, forgot to backup the original ESP?
This question cannot be answered unless you tell us if you do or do not have that EFI data. Please edit your question and provide us the vital information necessary to answer this question. – Ramhound – 2018-11-15T01:02:21.347
Assume that I do, as I tend to archive as much as I can. I don't actually know, myself, as the disk is not physically available to me at the moment. – Mona the Monad – 2018-11-15T01:03:13.943
You can use DISM to apply an.WIM image to the partition, modify your current bootloader, to boot into the Windows bootloader (which will boot into your Windows installation). This prevents the Windows installer from modifying your current bootloader. A relatively simple process if you have the required data. – Ramhound – 2018-11-15T01:04:30.163
@Ramhound DISM seems to be a Windows utility, and I do not use Windows. Is there something I can do from Linux, perhaps with tools like
efibootmgr
anddd
and whatnot? Unless you mean use a Windows installer (e.g. a CD) to "fix" the partition. – Mona the Monad – 2018-11-15T01:08:09.743