MX Linux 21: Dual-boot with Windows (& how to completely remove MX Linux and its bootloader)

In this video, I'll walk you through the entire process of setting up a Windows PC so it can run along side of MX Linux — a method known as dual booting.

Having two operating systems on the one computer is a great way to extend a computer's abilities.

I'll show you how to instal the stable and fast MX Linux operating system. During the process, I'll show you how to create a partition that can be accessed and used in both operating systems so you can work on the files and documents regardless of whether you're in Linux or Windows. I'll also show you how to auto-mount your partitions/drives in Linux.

We'll install MX Linux with BTRFS subvolumes so you'll be able to take super fast system snapshots in Timeshift.

And finally, I'll show you the full process of how to revert your computer back to its original Windows-only state, removing all traces of Linux from your PC including deleting the MX Linux grub menu from the Windows bootloader.

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►► TIMECODES
00:00 Tutorial objective.
00:38 Clear room on Windows hard drive.
01:01 Clean the hard drive using Glary Utilities.
02:22 Shrink the Windows partition.
04:01 Overview of the different MX Linux versions.
07:00 Check your computer's CPU architecture: 64-bit or 32-bit?
08:37 Download MX Linux using qBittorrent.
11:00 Download & install Rufus and Ventoy.
16:22 Create a bootable live USB using Rufus.
18:33 Create a bootable live USB using Ventoy.
22:04 Turn off Fast Start-up in Power Options.
22:52 Edit the UEFI/BIOS settings.
25:41 Launch the MX Linux boot USB.
27:02 MX Linux welcome screen.
28:42 Install MX Linux with btrfs partitioning.
43:06 Reboot into MX Linux.
44:15 How to auto-mount partitions & drives.
48:06 Show the usable partition in both MX Linux and Windows.

►► DELETE MX LINUX & RETURN TO A WINDOWS-ONLY PC
49:22 Remove Grub Menu from Windows bootloader.
53:15 Delete MX Linux partitions and extend Windows partition.
54:55 Enable Fast Start-Up in Power Options.
55:33 Revert UEFI/BIOS settings.

58:32 What's coming up in future episodes?

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Staempunk TV linux beginner to intermediate how-to videos.
#dualboot #mxlinux #staempunktv

[avithedev]

Never seen an hour long dual booting video 😭😭😭 but its very informative, excellent for a beginner

[JoJo-ypkw]

I love your quiet, patient, relaxed lessons. It's like having a brother walk you through. I ran into problems however due to my outdated and limited knowledge. Didn't realize I was at the "so ignorant I don't know how ignorant I am" stage. I couldn't create numerous partitions as you did because Windows already had three primary partitions on the drive. That forced me to learn about MBR/GPT/BIOS/EUFI. Last time I set up a computer there was only MBR and BIOS. Windows is making it so easy now, I haven't needed to get under the hood for years. I also created a problem for myself when creating the root and home. It resulted in an MX login screen loop I couldn't get out of because it couldn't find the home (I think). At any rate, just wanted to say thank you for laying it out so clearly. When it goes wrong for me now, I at least know what questions to ask Google. With previous failed Linux experiments I had no idea even where to start!

[gorebish]

splendid tutorial. Funny story, I actually installed mx linux but then had a few issues running windows programs there so I got back to windows and decided to distro hop and settled with linux mint. However when I booted into windows it prompted a "disk repair" and completely destroyed my linux mint install. 😂 I am distro hopping again

[MrRoko]

I woke up with terrible hangover today and one hour of your calm voice was exactly what I needed 😂 Thank you! 😁

[DarceyMiddleton]

Absolutely fantastic even though it's like 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning and I haven't slept all night I absolutely loved watching your video as I went in and out of sleep but plan on watching it many more times again as I spent 2 days dealing with a disaster and wiping out my windows volume did finally get it fixed so all is good and with your help all will be much better your Canadian friend darcey

[JonMargolis]

Bravo! Thank you. I started w/ MX-21 on a laptop a few weeks ago and absolutely love it. Wanted to now put it on my desktop so i can use beefier software like video editing and multitrack audio recording. Ur tutorial helped immensely. especially walking me thru the GParted setup, which previously scared me. Excellent explanations of everything. Brilliant indeed!

[LeonardoAguilar]

Man you rocked that installation for me. Had alot of issues with the partitioning on previous attemps. So I had installed Kubuntu 23.04on my main machine. Unfortunatley I ran into alot of issues with Kubuntu so when I saw how you flew through that install I decided to try it on a dual win11 system I just got and it was flawless. Again thank you 👌

[mhavock]

I like MX and glad you use it also. Your videos are very informative and detailed, thank you!

[antoniom]

complimenti, uno dei migliori tutorial che ho visto, completa dall'inizio alla

[marsrover]

Hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht ihnen bei ihrer Arbeit zuschauen zu dürfen ..Wieder ein exzellentes und sehr informatives Video von Ihnen.. Wie immer vielen lieben Dank für das hochladen.. Thank you very much from Germany..

[colbyboucher]

Dude, I have tried dual-booting so many times, and the feeling of GRUB sort of just "eating" my Windows install eventually, or Windows just racing right past whatever boot menu should be showing up has always been... oh boy. I've always known that there was *something* going on and it wasn't the simple, no-complication thing people make it out to be. So thank you SO MUCH for really going in-depth on it when no one else seems to bother.
Why the hell is the MX Linux community specifically so doggedly committed to documentation? And why can't everyone be like this?

[RedSntDK]

30:23 - A neat trick to both move and resize windows is to press and hold ALT then left click and hold with your mouse or on your touchpad buttons and that will allow you to then drag the window around. If you hold ALT and right click you get the resize functionality which is very handy. It works by approximation, so to resize from the lower right corner your cursor needs to be somewhat near it to guess that's the corner you want to resize from.
Once you've activated either grab or resize you can let go of ALT, just keep your mouse or touchpad button pressed for those actions and let go when you're satisfied with the result.
This is very practical on lower resolution monitors, like what I had to battle with on my old 2009 Asus EEE PC, a tiny 1024*600 netbook.

[amadeus_k]

Great work, watched it twice, made it once and works like a charme! Thanks a lot and greetings from Austria (no kangaroos)!

[raiwet]

Thank you your informative and thorough instruction! Gonna try MX this evening

[jclari]

Excellent video to install MX linux, for those of us who do not have experience these videos help a lot. This is a real installation of how it should be done (not virtual), it has worked very well for me and the first time. Thank you very much for your excellent videos that are always very easy to follow for me that I am Spanish and I don't understand much English, continue like this, do not change. Excelente video para instalar MX linux, para los que no tenemos experiencia estos videos ayundan mucho. Esta es instalación real de como se debe hacer (no virtual), a mi me ha funcionado muy bien y a la primera. Muchas gracias por tus exelentes videos que siempre son muy faciles de seguir para me que soy español y no entiendo mucho de ingles, continua así no cambies.

[avtarsingh]

I appreciate your video with full details in a very calm and informative method. Thanks

[lloyddobler]

I really like this alot. Good stuff, my friend.

[solanaceae]

Excellent tutorial. I have an old Windows 7 Tecra notebook that runs MX-23.2 from a USB memory stick without problems, so I imagine it would probably do the same from the HDD. Just to make sure I thought I'd do a dual boot first before deleting Windows and making it a dedicated MX Linux computer.

[RedSntDK]

20:19 - In the menu there's an option called "Partition Configuration". Clicking that makes it possible to configure an extra partition on the flashed USB drive where you can store loose files on which is very handy in live environments as when the ISO is mounted and used to run the OS it's not possible to access from within that environment. I use it for KeePassXC and KeePassXC database but also other helpful documents, like how to use grub etc.

[Roosyer]

Thank you sir for such a thorough guide. Much appreciated!