[Tangent] Q4OS install with Windows

What do you mean ? You can mix windows with linux ????

yes :joy:

Thats new to me :joy:

Not possible to run 2 OS's or more at the same time on one disk other than using VM's as far as I know.
You can download the Q4OS zip file for windows via windows and install it but in doing so it creates an alongside OS which you will have to boot from BIOS/UEFI.

To my mind it would be safer to avoid diong so.

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when i said yes to can i mix windows with linux , i was referring to "windows subsystem for linux (WSL)".
not an entire separate OS

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Well i am not planning to switch back to windows.

Seen that but wouldn't fancy trying.
Do you have experience?

Nor me, ever.

No
Don't have windows

No, I meant the way the project installs Q4OS IN Windows. Not on another partition or disk.

The Windows installer allows you to install Q4OS alongside Windows in an easy way, you won't have to modify your existing Windows operating system, nor any of your software installed. Q4OS is installed inside Windows as any other application, no separate partitions, just a folder in the Windows filesystem. Once you install Q4OS, you'll be able to switch back and forth between Windows and Q4OS each time you restart your computer. This installer is compatible with Windows 11, 10, 8 or 7 versions and it's able to handle Secure boot, if available in the PC firmware.
...
Uninstalling Q4OS is a simple matter of running the downloaded executable again, which will prompt you to uninstall the existing Q4OS operating system. Just launch the "q4os-winsetup.exe" installer again and the uninstall wizard starts. The uninstaller wipes out Q4OS completely. Uninstallation is quick and simple, and leaves no remnants or abandoned files.

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This reminds me of an attempt to have ubuntu run inside of Windows using "Wubi".
I tried it once, it worked, but I stopped when I read the small print "using this method could degrade your hard drive over time."
I have run Windows and GNU/Linux on the same drive in the past, but if you need Windows for production purposes then the best method is to run GNU/Linux on a separate drive. I noticed somewhere recently that EasyBCD now supports Windows 11. I did not use this when dual-booting Windows 11 and Q4OS on my youngest's recently. I made Q4OS look like Windows 11 and installed all the apps they would run on Windows and perhaps they would ditch Windows for Linux ... But the deal-breaker was Steam, it wasn't working. I hope on a next visit I can sort this out using the Debian wiki on Steam as that is what Q4OS is based on. And here is my now out of date dual-boot tutorial video:

and one I never got round to finishing as youngest needed access to their computer I was doing it on:

https://www.veoh.com/watch/v283328437Pyp3Byy

Note, veoh.com is closing down in November!

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Great video, seems like you were paving the way in technology lol. Hopefully you get the Steam issue figured out, but even just keeping an alternative operating system on their radar is a good move.

Weird coincidence you mentioning EasyBCD. I was looking at that the other day, also Grub2Win, pondering a situation where someone wanted to test out a live Linux distro on their Windows machine but could not get it to boot from the USB. Was wondering if creating an entry in the Windows Boot Manager or replacing it with Grub would allow them to create an entry for the USB and cause their machine to pause instead of booting straight into Windows (as it had been doing though they had disabled fast boot etc and were pressing the keys stated by manufacturer).