Hi! Thanks for reading this post.

Disclaimer: I’ve already figured out how to dual boot SteamOS & Windows 10 on my Steam Deck (see this post), but things haven’t gone the smoothest - hence this post and learning more about using Linux in general as a current Windows user.

Recently my Surface Pro 6 laptop, which runs one of the latest Windows 11 updates (23H2), updated to one of the new releases (24H2), and that completely bricked my laptop (bricked as in slow asf). I was able to revert back to 23H2 thankfully, but the fact that Microsoft can brick my device without my consent is unacceptable.

So, I’m hoping to learn how to install Linux and a good distro/DE combo like Fedora KDE. The Steam Deck Desktop Mode runs KDE, which I have to say sits well with my Windows sensibilities.

I also see value in dual booting though. I know about Ventoy and GParted because I used those softwares on my Steam Deck, but I was following a guide and didn’t really understand what I was doing. Ventoy seems better than the alternatives like Balena and Rufus due to the multi-boot functionality.

With that all out of the way, I have questions:

  • How should I get started?

  • What hardware do I need to get started, especially if I want to multi-boot .ISOs from a singular USB drive (e.g. minimum GB size, USB specs, etc.)

  • What software do I need to get started? Is Ventoy and GParted enough, and do I need to configure my hardware in any specific ways so those softwares run as expected?

  • What should I do now to prepare to switch from Windows to Linux? FOSS apps aren’t a big concern to me. I prefer them

  • What other technical facts should I consider when making the switch, like disabling Bitlocker and Fast Boot on my current Windows device?

  • If I were to load Windows 10 or 11 onto my Ventoy, are there any issues I should watch out for, like how Windows 10 overwrote my GRUB file on my Steam Deck, making it instead the default boot .ISO?

  • If I have games that I want to play but I can only play them via Windows 10/11, how would I enable things like Secure Boot, TPM, and other Anti-Cheat methods like what’s required for Battlefield 6 (see above post I linked)?

  • What risks are there in making the switch, and how can I counter those risks or at least mitigate them to protect myself?

  • If things go completely wrong, and I brick my laptop in the middle of switching, or if something happens after I make the switch but I boot into one distro/DE or another, what’s my ripcord? How do I do a complete wipe of my laptop, and will this involve breaking into the hardware to mess around with cables, like if I need to reset the motherboard?

  • Is there anything else that I should keep in mind?

Thanks for the help!

P.S. I’m pretty sure my laptop has these specs, if that helps.

  • Auster@thebrainbin.org
    1·
    7 days ago

    Ventoy on USB sticks is good as an installation media, not a boot media, unless you want to use your ISOs as temporary systems due to their respective live boots.

    For creating a dual boot, some systems have in-built tools during installation for that, usually named along the lines of “install besides/along another system”, though worth noting you must have unalocated space for that. If you still have Windows on your machine, its partition manager is pretty straight forward for freeing space, in case you don’t want to tinker with GParted for whatever reason.

    About special configs, maybe you need to disable secure boot in the BIOS menu to run Ventoy sticks, though I may be getting VMs confused with dual booting, so take with a grain of salt that. And answering also the secure boot question, you enter the BIOS menu usually by turning off the computer, and as you turn it back on, spam F2 until the BIOS screen appears.

    About making the switch, alternativeto.net is a great resource, and Wine + VMs can help too, though the dual boot may make those two a bit redundant.

    About physical risks to your device, afaik there aren’t any likely to happen. At most you’d need wipe the original memory, but usually installation ISOs have the function for that, including GParted within the liveboot.

    Questions I skipped are the ones I don’t know what to answer.

  • Admetus@sopuli.xyz
    1·
    7 days ago

    It’s a lot to take in (I’m only looking at one of your questions) but I’ll start by saying I’ve always heard you install Linux after windows so that the Linux bootloader stays intact.

    Also, you can’t brick your laptop like a phone. Something goes wrong, you reinstall and try again. Linux users also backup data because what are you to expect from a computer? To be flawless? Heh.

    • Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      1·
      7 days ago

      Yeah I know I should be more careful when I use the word brick around Linux people. What I really mean is that 24H2 fucking slowed my laptop down to a halt, to the point where the update itself took 15 hours to complete. My laptop was working with acceptable performance before that. And after reverting back to 23H2, it’s still slow.

      I just wanna be done with Windows man

  • merde alors@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    7 days ago

    If I have games that I want to play but I can only play them via Windows 10/11, how would I enable things like Secure Boot, TPM, and other Anti-Cheat methods like what’s required for Battlefield 6 (see above post I linked)?

    steam on fedora fluidly plays windows games. ea games too are running on steam. We had 0 problems