With Dual Boot (Win/Linux) - Does MS have access?

Quick question - if my PC has dual boot Windows and Linux, when I am accessing Linux OS, can Microsoft be skimming any data from my computer?  Perhaps because Windows is installed on the machine, MS has some legal right to it?  Thanks.

Quick answer....NO

Use a file system for the Linux partition that Windows can't read and it will never read it.

Edited by 0lds0d, 05 December 2023 - 01:54 PM.

. . . my PC has . . .  Windows and Linux . . .  can Microsoft be skimming any data

@LGD,

Buddy gave the best short answer.

Here is the longer version.

As long as Linux is in its own native partition, Windows will not be able to see it.  It just reports the partition as unknown.

Caution:  If you click on the Linux partition, Windows may ask you to format the disk, to make it readable.  That would be a bad thing.

Windows uses what is called an NTFS partition, to store files on your hard drive.

Linux uses its own file system called ext.  The current default version is ext4.

If you do not need to share files between the two systems, or just want Linux to read NTFS, then you are fine.

No need to change anything.

Linux can read and write to NTFS partitions.  Windows, however, needs a driver installed in order to read ext partitions.

The driver is not installed by Windows, automatically.   In Windows 10, you can use WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux 2.)

Here is a link to an article here, on BP, that explains how WSL2 is used.

Windows 10 now lets you mount Linux ext4 file systems in WSL 2

There are third party drivers available, as well.  Just do a search for "Windows ext4 drivers".

Cheers!

Naught

The best way to dual boot imo is use 2 separate HDDs or SSDs.

Windows on its own HDD or SSD with its own boot loader.

Linux on its own HDD or SSD with its own boot loader.

From within the bios set which OS you want to boot 1st.

Ran dual boot Windows and Linux that way for many years without issues.

Nah. Installing the Beast of Redmond on your hardware gives MyCrudSoft no "rights" whatsoever, insofar as this particular subject matter is concerned.
 

The best way to dual boot imo is use 2 separate HDDs or SSDs.
 
Windows on its own HDD or SSD with its own boot loader.
Linux on its own HDD or SSD with its own boot loader.
 
From within the bios set which OS you want to boot 1st.

I'll go one further, and re-iterate what I said the other day. By all means, keep each OS on its own dedicated drive along with its own bootloader.......but if you have any sense of self-preservation at all, and wish to keep everything as fuss-free as possible, then put each of those drives in a separate machine (and run them that way).
 
Windows does NOT "play nice" with other OSs. It doesn't even like "sharing" with alternate versions of itself. The only way I would ever consider running Windows - and something else - on the same machine would be via use of one of those fancy "hot-pluggable' drive docks where you can physically swap/remove/replace the drive itself 'twixt one OS and t'other. There's also gadgets out there which will permit switching the power from the drive you're NOT using - along with switching in the BIOS/UEFI - if you decide to keep both the above-mentioned drives in the same chassis.
 
Dual-booting Windows with any other OS is just a BAD IDEA. I cannot stress this strongly enough, and will always discourage folks from going down this route, for it leads to the most convoluted shenanigans you can imagine (regularly "lost" & overwritten bootloaders when Windoze updates itself, issues with hardware versus 'local' time, etc.....to name just a couple). Honestly, why voluntarily go out of your way to make life hard for yourself?

Dual-booting - or more - with multiple Linux distros is a totally different (and relatively pain-free) proposition, of course.

(And before anyone says "I can't afford two machines", it's worth remembering there's a ton of Core2Duo-era machines still knocking around places like eBay, Gumtree, etc, often going for a song. These are ideal for running any Linux OS you care to name.)

 
Mike. 

Edited by Mike_Walsh, 06 December 2023 - 06:05 AM.

This is an area where people's mileage obviously varies. I have had Linux Mint installed on my computer in dual boot configuration with first Win 7 and now Win 10 and never had any conflicts between the two. It may be that I have been luckier than most, I am certainly not claiming to be more skilful than most, but the two can live happily on the one hard drive.

Chris Cosgrove

No, they're completely separate operating systems, although, I would be wary about doing a Linux-Windows dual boot because they have caused trouble for users in the past. I'll recommend running one of the OSes in a virtual machine if you're able to.

Some had suggested I try out Linux first, make sure everything is properly connected.  Once that is determined and things are ok I would remove Windows.  That's the plan.  Thanks.

This is an area where people's mileage obviously varies. I have had Linux Mint installed on my computer in dual boot configuration with first Win 7 and now Win 10 and never had any conflicts between the two. It may be that I have been luckier than most, I am certainly not claiming to be more skilful than most, but the two can live happily on the one hard drive.

 

Chris Cosgrove

thanks

Nah. Installing the Beast of Redmond on your hardware gives MyCrudSoft no "rights" whatsoever, insofar as this particular subject matter is concerned.
 

The best way to dual boot imo is use 2 separate HDDs or SSDs.
 
Windows on its own HDD or SSD with its own boot loader.
Linux on its own HDD or SSD with its own boot loader.
 
From within the bios set which OS you want to boot 1st.

I'll go one further, and re-iterate what I said the other day. By all means, keep each OS on its own dedicated drive along with its own bootloader.......but if you have any sense of self-preservation at all, and wish to keep everything as fuss-free as possible, then put each of those drives in a separate machine (and run them that way).
 
Windows does NOT "play nice" with other OSs. It doesn't even like "sharing" with alternate versions of itself. The only way I would ever consider running Windows - and something else - on the same machine would be via use of one of those fancy "hot-pluggable' drive docks where you can physically swap/remove/replace the drive itself 'twixt one OS and t'other. There's also gadgets out there which will permit switching the power from the drive you're NOT using - along with switching in the BIOS/UEFI - if you decide to keep both the above-mentioned drives in the same chassis.
 
Dual-booting Windows with any other OS is just a BAD IDEA. I cannot stress this strongly enough, and will always discourage folks from going down this route, for it leads to the most convoluted shenanigans you can imagine (regularly "lost" & overwritten bootloaders when Windoze updates itself, issues with hardware versus 'local' time, etc.....to name just a couple). Honestly, why voluntarily go out of your way to make life hard for yourself?

 

Dual-booting - or more - with multiple Linux distros is a totally different (and relatively pain-free) proposition, of course.

 

(And before anyone says "I can't afford two machines", it's worth remembering there's a ton of Core2Duo-era machines still knocking around places like eBay, Gumtree, etc, often going for a song. These are ideal for running any Linux OS you care to name.)

 

 
Mike. 

I just want to be clear that I do not intend to keep both.  I'd like to move away from Microsoft but want to make sure things are ducky and would want Windows for a while, in case I ran into an issue with Linux and I would have access to the web via Windows.  Thanks.

Keep in mind a windows update can wipe your Linux installation. It happened to me so I switched full time to Linux.

That is crazy!  Thanks.  As I said in an earlier reply I just want to make sure everything is working and then I will uninstall Windows.  Microsoft is like a living organism - but instead of evolving into a beneficial life form - it has become a virus.

I'm not a MS fan boi.....but I have found Windows to be useful and durable.....so long as I don't use it for Internet duty 

I don't dual boot.

It's a good excuse.... for owning more than one computer. lol.

Might be a good idea to save a drive image of your Windows OS just in case......like selling it sometime in the future.