Deleting Windows 10 Boot Manager: A Guide for Linux Users
If you're a Linux user who has recently installed Linux alongside Windows 10, you may want to delete the Windows 10 Boot Manager and replace it with GRUB, the Linux bootloader. This guide will walk you through the process of doing so, including the key concepts and steps involved.
Understanding EFI Partitions
Before we begin, it's important to understand the concept of EFI partitions. EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) is a modern firmware interface that has replaced the traditional BIOS in most modern computers. An EFI partition is a special type of partition on your hard drive that stores the bootloader and other system files.
When you install Windows 10 and Linux on the same machine, each operating system creates its own EFI partition by default. This can lead to confusion, as you may see multiple EFI partitions when you view your hard drive in a partitioning tool. In order to delete the Windows 10 Boot Manager, we'll need to locate and delete the correct EFI partition.
Identifying the Correct EFI Partition
To identify the correct EFI partition, we'll need to use a command-line tool. In this example, we'll use the lsblk command, which is available in most Linux distributions. Here's how to use it:
$ sudo lsblk -f
NAME FSTYPE LABEL UUID FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINT
loop0 squashfs 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/36
loop1 squashfs 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/60
loop2 squashfs 0 100% /snap/gnome-calculator/406
loop3 squashfs 0 100% /snap/gnome-characters/296
loop4 squashfs 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-28-1804/110
loop5 squashfs 0 100% /snap/gnome-system-monitor/133
loop6 squashfs 0 100% /snap/core/8687
loop7 squashfs 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/40
loop8 squashfs 0 100% /snap/gnome-calculator/460
loop9 squashfs 0 100% /snap/gnome-characters/317
loop10 squashfs 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-28-1804/145
loop11 squashfs 0 100% /snap/gnome-system-monitor/142
loop12 squashfs 0 100% /snap/core/9066
sda
├─sda1 vfat EFI 026C-1C34 511M 13% /boot/efi
├─sda2 1K 0%
├─sda3 ext4 root 3e1f8a6b-f6f4-4e2a-8e42-2f6e5c2e1c64 455G 6% /
└─sda4 swap swap a0b9e42e-3e3c-4e1d-844e-4f6c6c6a6c6a [SWAP]
In this example, we can see that there are two EFI partitions: /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2. The correct EFI partition is the one that contains the Windows 10 Boot Manager. To identify it, we'll need to look at the UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) of each partition. The UUID of the correct partition will match the UUID of the EFI partition that Windows 10 created during installation.
In this example, the UUID of /dev/sda1 is 026C-1C34, which matches the UUID of the EFI partition that Windows 10 created. Therefore, we know that /dev/sda1 is the correct partition.
Deleting the Windows 10 Boot Manager
Now that we've identified the correct EFI partition, we can delete the Windows 10 Boot Manager. To do so, we'll need to use the efibootmgr command, which is available in most Linux distributions. Here's how to use it:
$ sudo efibootmgr
BootCurrent: 0002
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0002,0000,0001
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager
Boot0001* UEFI: SanDisk, SSD PLUS 1TB, Partition 1
Boot0002* UEFI: WDC WD10EZEX-00BN5A0, Partition 1
In this example, we can see that there are three boot options: Windows Boot Manager, SanDisk SSD PLUS 1TB, and WDC WD10EZEX-00BN5A0. The correct boot option is the one that corresponds to the Windows 10 Boot Manager. In this case, it's Boot0000.
To delete the Windows 10 Boot Manager, we'll use the -b option to specify the boot number, and the -B option to delete the boot option. Here's the command:
$ sudo efibootmgr -b 0000 -B
This will delete the Windows 10 Boot Manager from the EFI partition.
Installing GRUB
Now that we've deleted the Windows 10 Boot Manager, we can install GRUB, the Linux bootloader. To do so, we'll use the grub-install command, which is available in most Linux distributions. Here's how to use it:
$ sudo grub-install /dev/sda
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
Installation finished. No error reported.
In this example, we've installed GRUB to the MBR (Master Boot Record) of the hard drive. This will allow GRUB to take over as the default bootloader for the machine.
- Understanding EFI partitions and identifying the correct EFI partition
- Deleting the Windows 10 Boot Manager using the
efibootmgrcommand - Installing GRUB using the
grub-installcommand