Dual Boot Windows 10 and Debian Keeping Windows Boot Manager 🌱

Installing the Operating Systems

  1. Install Windows 10 normally, leaving enough space on the disk for Debian to be installed
  2. After Windows 10 is installed successfully, start the Debian installation
  3. At the partition setup screen, select Guided partitioning > Manual
  4. Create two partitions as follows
    1. 1 large ext4 partition to install Debian, note the partition identifier for installing GRUB later
    2. 1 smaller (1-4 GB) swap partition
  5. Continue through the installation normally
  6. At the GRUB setup screen, select No to installing GRUB boot loader to the master boot record > Click Continue
  7. Select Enter device manually
  8. Enter the partition identifier noted above in the partitioning section
  9. Let the installation finish

Adding Linux to the Windows Bootloader

  1. After rebooting, the device will only be able to boot into Windows 10
  2. Download and install EasyBCD Download
  3. Launch EasyBCD
  4. Choose a Language > Click Go
  5. Click OK to launch the EasyBCD Community Edition
  6. Click the Add New Entry button on the left navigation
  7. Select the Linux/BSD tab
  8. Set the Type dropdown to GRUB 2
  9. Set the Name to Debian
  10. Set the drive to the Linux partition created during the Debian installation
  11. Click the green plus icon to add the entry
  12. Click the Edit Boot Menu button on the left navigation.
  13. Set the default operating system and the number of seconds to wait before auto booting the default OS
  14. Click the Save Settings button to save any changes
  15. Reboot to test the boot menu changes
  16. Test booting into Debian
  17. Reboot and test booting into Windows

Cleaning Up

  1. After testing that Debian is now showing on the Windows Boot Manager and that both Windows and Debian are working, EasyBCD can be uninstalled from Windows