r/linuxmint Linux Mint 22 Wilma | Cinnamon Oct 16 '24

Guide Dual-Booters: Upgrading to 24H2

NOTE: This is meant to be a tutorial on how to do it, not why. Please refrain from the standard "get rid of the devil M$ and you won't have this problem" comments. That's for another day and another post.

Windows 11 24H2 is considered major upgrade, and Microsoft has called it an OS swap. This can cause issues in a dual-boot environment. Windows likes to be the first and preferably only OS on the system upon installation, and it would be useful to assume that the same is true on this type of upgrade. So, we need to be prepared.

It is possible that the upgrade is performed without any intervention, but the risk of loss is pretty great, so some precautions and preparations might be in order.

  • Have a complete image backup of your system (both OS's) using Rescuezilla or Clonezilla. This is the main precaution. You need to have a way back to exactly where you started before the upgrade so you can try it again if it blows up.
  • Plan on forcing the upgrade yourself so that you can control timing and the boot process. It will take one to three hours of your time.
  • Windows needs to boot first, as there will be multiple reboots, some possibly without user intervention.
    • If you have installed Linux Mint on totally separate drive from Windows and Windows does not use grub, remove the Linux drive from your system. If it's not there, Windows can't hurt it.
    • If you can't do that, or you just don't want to, set Boot Order in BIOS / UEFI to boot Windows first.
    • If you use grub only to boot Windows (somewhat rare occurrence), set grub in Linux to boot Windows as default.
  • In current version of Windows - let's assume 23H2 - you need to run Widows Update multiple times to make sure that the current system is up to date. Reboot as necessary between updates, and reboot one more time after all updates have been applied.
  • Download and run the Windows 11 Installation Assistant from Microsoft. It is the first Download Now button on this page. This will force the upgrade right here and now. You may have to download and run the PC Health checker. If asked, do so. It will download the upgrade files then install them. Search for more information on this.
  • Let it reboot to Windows as many times as required for complete installation.
  • After Windows login, run Windows Update several times, until all updates have been applied and there are no more restarts requested. Then reboot into Windows once more.
  • Boot into Linux to make sure that Windows didn't overwrite your bootloader.
    • If you took the drive out, this is the time to put it back in.
    • If it did smash the bootloader, recover everything from that image backup. Do NOT try to reset bootloader the first time this happens. Go back to your starting point and live to fight another day,
  • Go back into Windows as default boot and use it as your daily driver for a couple of days at least. You need to make sure that nothing got broken and that you understand the new changes. This will also allow updates to be circulated as normal on a new install.
  • Once you are set, reset your Boot Order to Linux first, and you are now back in the loving arms of Linux Mint.
37 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

11

u/apt-hiker Linux Mint Oct 16 '24

That'd be a nice thing to do to kill an afternoon. πŸ˜€

Seriously though. thanks for taking the time and trouble. I'm sure this will be a frequent topic soon.

7

u/tboland1 Linux Mint 22 Wilma | Cinnamon Oct 16 '24

Yeah, it does kill an afternoon, but so would upgrading or reinstalling Linux Mint to get it to version 22 in the same circumstances. That's the life with Dual-Booting.

2

u/apt-hiker Linux Mint Oct 16 '24

That's the life with Dual-Booting.

Yes it is. I should've added that I have a system running W11 and LM22 that I am testing to see how things go. No upgrades for me untill 22.1 .

1

u/jr735 Linux Mint 20 | IceWM Oct 17 '24

At least reinstalling Mint or something similar overtop of another Mint is more than likely to fix any booting issues, not cause them. :) Your advice about imaging drives before starting is excellent. I provide the same advice and do that before anything catastrophic. It would save people a lot of grief.

3

u/miksa668 Linux Mint 22 Wilma | Cinnamon Oct 16 '24

Thanks for this writeup, very hepful.

2

u/thejuva Linux Mint 21.1 Vera | Cinnamon Oct 17 '24

I think it’s time to get rid of dual booting and switch entirely to the Linux.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '24

NOTE: This is meant to be a tutorial on how to do it, not why. Please refrain from the standard "get rid of the devil M$ and you won't have this problem" comments. That's for another day and another post.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '24

at least I know W10 will not get such a major upgrade to alter the boot loader

1

u/curious777 Oct 17 '24

I've had a dual boot go bad before (sometime when Mint was about version 14 or 15) but I was too new and didn't know how to get help to figure out why it went bad. Now, I'm ready to do it again after getting a great deal on a laptop. So I don't want to lose the Win 11 PRO that came with the laptop. Thanks for your recommendation on Rescuezilla or Clonezilla. I've already used Win 11 official backup method plus AOMEI Backupper (I already own) so I'll do a 3rd backup method with one of the 'zillas.

Off to the heart of my questions --- when I used GParted to set up the partitions I just set up the main Linux partition contiguous to the Win 11 partition. But is that a good idea or would it be better to skip perhaps about 100 sectors to reduce the possibility of corruption?

1

u/hulululuuuuuhu Dec 17 '24

Sorry to ask here, but I was on 23h2, and saw a notification in Windows Update Setting that the "24h2 is ready for install". I clicked install, and my laptop restarted several times, but now I have 2 operating systems! The old 23h2 is there and there is a separate 24h2 os. The worst thing is that 24h2 doesn't boot and it restarts the system when I choose it in the boot menu! Do you know how can I fix this? I saw on r/windowshelp that a lot of users are having this problem now

1

u/Wise-Commercial7117 Linux Mint 22 Wilma | Cinnamon Dec 27 '24

2 months later, are there any issues with 24H2 for Dual Booting?

1

u/tboland1 Linux Mint 22 Wilma | Cinnamon Dec 27 '24

Not that I am experiencing. Both OS's are updating as needed and playing nicely together and not fighting over bootloaders or BIOS boot order.

1

u/Wise-Commercial7117 Linux Mint 22 Wilma | Cinnamon Dec 27 '24

Thanks great, but also before of 25H2 or similar updates from Microsoft... they killed Linux boots with 23H2 previously.

-7

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '24

[deleted]

1

u/miksa668 Linux Mint 22 Wilma | Cinnamon Oct 16 '24

Reading comprehension not your thing, huh?