Linux dual boot with Windows 8 UEFI + Secure Boot?

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My daughter has bought a new laptop which ships with Windows 8 using UEFI and (I assume, because Microsoft requires it) Secure Boot. A laptop with pre-installed Windows 8 is the cheapest option. She wants to keep the Windows "just in case", but prefers Linux. The most credible advice that I have read suggests using Ubuntu + Grub 2, keeping UEFI and disabling Secure Boot - it looks like it is perfectly straightforward with Ubuntu and should also be shortly with Fedora. But a lot of other pages that I have read are contradictory, and many report an unhappy experience with non-booting Linux or non-booting Windows.

Has anyone installed a dual booting Linux alongside a pre-installed Windows 8?

Slashdot has had extensive coverage of this issue, in much more depth than you'd get here. Just search for UEFI at Slashdot and you'll get plenty of information.

What exactly is making you think it will not work?

Why exactly does your daughter want to cling on to Windows?

I haven't dual booted with Windows 8, but I have with Windows 7 and Ubuntu. I had some trouble booting from the USB drive and then some trouble getting the installer to detect Windows 7. There was also some issues with the partitioning and Grub. Again; not sure if this was related to dual boot. But I managed to get it working, and now everything is working just fine =)

It is her first computer and she wants to hang on to everything that she paid for. And everyone else has Windows. I know dual boot is easy - or soon will be easy - so I am happy to comply.



Some distributions are not compatible with Windows 8 certified hardware - Fedora 18 has been delayed by Windows 8 issues. There are as many negative hits on Google as positive. People have kicked up a big fuss about the whole Secure Boot issue. There is no "dual booting with Windows 8" information on the Ubuntu website.

I suspect that there will actually be no problem with Ubuntu or the soon-to-be-released Fedora 18, but wondering if someone who has installed Linux in dual-boot on a pre-installed Windows 8 certified machine could point to a guide.

I set this up last night, and everything works after some fiddles. Ubuntu 64-bit desktop is currently the only distribution that is fully compatible with pre-installed Windows 8, so I used that - compatible Fedora is due on 15 January 2013.

It seems to be essential to permanently disable Windows Fast Startup to avoid data loss when rebooting Windows, and to temporarily disable Secure Boot in order to boot from the Linux DVD. The installer does not recognize the existence of Windows 8, but I had already shrunk the Windows partition before starting and used that unallocated area to create Linux partitions - an EFI boot partition, EXT4 / partition and a swap partition (all are now primary partitions, with GPT). Windows was not available in Grub2 after installing Ubuntu, but Boot-Repair (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair) discovers the correct partition and paths for all the EFI boot loaders (Windows, Recovery, Diagnostics etc) and adds them to the Grub2 menu.

Once a compatible Grub2 is in place and Secure Boot is off, it should be possible to replace Ubuntu or add any other Linux.