Dual Boot: Questions

[tinker123]

I have a very modern ( just a few months old ) PC at home with Mint Linux 18.3 on it.

I also have a licensed copy (DVD) I would like to install onto my computer and make a dual booting system.

Will the Windows installer autodetect the other OS, suggest a new partitioning scheme, and do that partitioning for me?

If not, what is the recommended size for a Windows 10 installation. I likely will not use it much accept for using a CAC reader to VPN into work.

I have almost no data on my hard drive with Linux ( I use an external drive for that ).

Thanks for any information.

 

[Bighorn]

I don't dual-boot Linux Mint 19, have separate Desktop and Notebook for that. I'd think it best to wipe the drive [use the bootable LiveDVD and GPARTED on it], install Win10 then install Linux so it creates the boot process. There's no information about the computer so it's hard to say about partitioning such as what type drive and its capacity.

 

[Comp Cmndo]

Windows boot manager won't detect or boot any Linux distro.
You'll have to use GRUB or some other Linux boot manager.

 

[tinker123]

Windows boot manager won't detect or boot any Linux distro.
You'll have to use GRUB or some other Linux boot manager.

That is what I was hoping to do, so this is very useful information.

I have all of my data on an external hard drive, so it looks like my best bet is just to take a Saturday morning to reformat my hard drive, install Windows 10 first, then install Linux next to it letting Linux do the partioning.

 

[BigFeet]

It's pretty straight forward. The big issue is if you want to get rid of your linux partition. You'll have to rebuild the MBR. Not a huge deal, but one reason I don't dual boot anymore. I have a dedicated linux machine, and I can swap out hdd's on my laptop if I want a different OS.