Will I be able to run Win10 in a VM after having installed Manjaro Linux?

The product key should now be embedded in the system. Just to be sure, boot to Win10 and run "cmd". At the command prompt enter "wmic os get serialnumber" with the quotes. The result is your Windows product key. Jack E/NJ

All comments

No but If it's the SF113, it has an open m.2 slot so you could have a dual boot. Just don't wipe the Win10 or its hidden recovery partition that's on it now. Jack E/NJ

padgett

I am running Kali as a dual boot with Win 10 using individual drives and on a Chromebook from a 64GB flash 3.0. The key is to make no changes to the Windows drive and to put everything including the bootloader (Grub) on the new drive. Make that the boot drive and make Windows a choice from there. Personally would not use a VM with a 4GB device.

ps Manjaro is one of the few distros that will boot to an Apollo Lake processor

pps The easiest way is to boot live from a USB with the Linux installer, then install to the new drive. If a 100+GB I would create a 32GB NTFS partition to use for Windows install space and use the rest for Linux. May need to manually put the bootloader onto the m.2 drive, SDCard, or flash drive.

BTW before anything I'd create a system image (need a NTFS drive larger than the disk) and a recovery disk with system files (a 16GB flash should be enough. With those two things you can always put it back to Windows.

another option is to get a 32gb+ usb 3 stick and load windows on that using WintoUSB. I have a swift 1, have fedora as the sole OS on the ssd, but have windows on a usb stick (first in the boot order in BIOS), so if the stick is plugged in, goes straight to windows on boot, no usb stick and it goes straight to fed. Windows works quicker via the stick than via VM for me. Wintousb runs from windows, not linux, so make it if you want before loading manjaro as the sole os (if that is what you want too!).

hoadondientu

I am running Kali as a dual boot with Win 10 using individual drives and on a Chromebook from a 64GB flash 3.0. The key is to make no changes to the Windows drive and to put everything including the bootloader (Grub) on the new drive. Make that the boot drive and make Windows a choice from there. Personally would not use a VM with a 4GB device.
https://storeviettel.com/hoa-don-dien-tu-viettel/

Gawain said:

another option is to get a 32gb+ usb 3 stick and load windows on that using WintoUSB. I have a swift 1, have fedora as the sole OS on the ssd, but have windows on a usb stick (first in the boot order in BIOS), so if the stick is plugged in, goes straight to windows on boot, no usb stick and it goes straight to fed. Windows works quicker via the stick than via VM for me. Wintousb runs from windows, not linux, so make it if you want before loading manjaro as the sole os (if that is what you want too!).

Thank you all for your good advice. What I did was to try Gawain's advice above. The WintoUSB process was straightforward, but when I tried to boot from the stick, it was not available as a choice in BIOS. I have tested booting from another USB stick with Manjaro live and that one shows up fine in BIOS. What am I doing wrong?

During the WintoUSB process I was prompted for a few choices (which I didn't understand), but kept the defaults för everything except for "Installation mode", VHDX was unavailable in the free version so I chose VHD instead. Is Legacy a better choice maybe?

The WintoUSB stick must be GPT-partitioned, not MBR partitioned or the UEFI bootstrapper won't see it. Jack E/NJ

Thanks to Jack E and Gawain, step one in my migration to a Manjaro computer with Win10 option is now done. The computer boots to either Win10 on the stick or to the "native" one. Only one question remains, if I replace "native" Win10 with Manjaro, will the USB stick still be able to use the Win10 product key I got with the device? During install, is there anything setting-wise I must be careful of? Remember, I am a noob...

The product key should now be embedded in the system. Just to be sure, boot to Win10 and run "cmd". At the command prompt enter "wmic os get serialnumber" with the quotes. The result is your Windows product key. Jack E/NJ

Great, I got the serial number but *without* entering the quotes. You guys are fantastic, keep up your great work! Who knows when I will be needing your help again...

lonlen, i sent you a personal message about the bios on the swift 1 as i found it and adding efi files to trusted as a fail safe in case the linux install craps out! Just checking you read it. Wintousb is pretty cool, shame MS don't allow a usb install as standard!

@lonlen Yeah, sorry typo, w/o the quotes you are correct. Glad you're up and running as you like it.

Jack E/NJ

padgett

Windows does: Windows to Go but is only available with enterprise edition & requires a special flash drive.

@Gawain, how do I send a personal comment? Not only am I a noob when it comes to Windows and stuff, but also in this community. So I read your message but don't have a clue about stuff like BIOS and efi files unfortunately.

click my name, it'll take you to a page with a message option

Here is some feedback to my situation. I learned that there is a free M.2 slot in the device so of course I ordered an SSD drive. Therefore I decided to wait for the hardware before taking the plunge. However the disk has yet to show up so today I decided to install Manjaro anyway.

The result: WOW! Manjaro boots in no time at all, everything flies. Also I have 40GB free on the disk (used to be 9GB with Win10Pro installed). And will hopefully get another 240GB soon... Also I have the Win10 fallback on a USB. What else could I ask for?!

Thank you all for your helpful advice!!!

>>>What else could I ask for?!>>>

Play lottopalace and win?

Jack E/NJ

So now my M.2 SSD is in place and I have a fantastic piece of equipment, at least considering the price of it. Running Manjaro at good speed and all. One (very) small thing keeps it from being perfect: The fingerprint reader is there hardware wise, but there seems to be no way to make it work on Linux. Will it happen in the near future would you think? Cheers.