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Because of reoccuring questions about dualboot of GNU/Linux and Microsoft Windows, an authoritative general guide is needed as a reference for users asking about dualboot/multiboot.
Necessary elements:
Cover both BIOS and UEFI boot methods, using GRUB2 as the Bootloader of choice because it is commonly used in popular GNU/Linux distributions.
Set up the partitioning, with examples for both MBR and GPT partition tables. Include primary/logical partition problems with MBR and shrinking Windows partitions if no space is available elsewhere. This should preferably be explained for GPartEd, as that is the most commonly used GUI partitioning tool. Include information about the special partition that may be necessary with GPT.
Explain setting mount points manually. At a minimum set swap and root (/), but preferably with directions for /home and /boot as well. Add mount points for existing NTFS/FAT/other data partitions. Optionally use the Ubuntu installer as an example so users can adapt to others.
Repair/Install the bootloader when not done automatically by the installer or when damaged. Include the steps potentially needed for secure boot.
The guide shouldn't walk throug all edge cases but be helpful for most users. Part 4 for example should be as easy as showing the usage of grub-mkconfig
(and additional work for secure-boot).
1What you are asking us here will make a nice and useful book, but IMHO is somewhat outside of the usual boundaries of this forum. – harrymc – 2013-05-27T18:34:40.143
@harrymc I think this could be done in a "scratch the surface enough to work for most users" way. Maybe I should begin trying to write a guide meeting my own requirements with the material provided by Sekhemty, if I find the time to do it as Karan suggests. My only problem is, that I know much of what I ask for, but not everything (I don't know anything about secure boot and am not that good with UEFI). The part about the bootloader for example should be as easy as showing how to use grub-mkconfig (I'll edit my answer accordingly). – FSMaxB – 2013-05-27T20:39:01.173
I agree with @harrymc, this question is a bit too general for us. It's a prime candidate for "not constructive" actually. This information exists in multiple sources online already and anything we write here will be obsolete quite quickly. – terdon – 2013-06-01T18:05:29.213
I tried writing an answer myself but deleted it because I suddenly realised that I have misunderstood how UEFI works. – FSMaxB – 2013-08-31T18:39:27.760