I want to have a dual-boot laptop where half is Windows and half is Debian. If i encrypt Debian during installation, will it break Windows? I just want to be safe. Thanks in advance
I got tired of windows updates breaking my dual boot. After some research I found that it’s possible to have two uefi partitions: one for windows and one for Linux. It’s not standard but there is nothing expressly written into the efi spec that prohibits it. And it just works. My bios doesn’t care, and works with them both just fine.
I only use Windows for that 1% of business stuff I can’t accomplish in a vm under windows. Invariably after I boot into widows once ever 3 months it installs so.e update and would kill my ability to boot into Linux. Since setting up 2 partitions I haven’t had this problem.
Windows wont care either way, it’s just an unreadable partition to it.
When you install Debian with encryption (usually LUKS — Linux Unified Key Setup), only the partition where Debian is installed is encrypted. Windows will remain on a separate partition and will not be touched. Debian encryption does not break Windows, provided that: The partitions for Windows and Debian are clearly separated. You do not change or delete the Windows partition. The bootloader (GRUB) is correctly configured and not damaged. Usually, Debian will install GRUB, which will recognize Windows and add it to the boot menu. If something goes wrong during the bootloader (GRUB) installation, Windows boot may temporarily break. But this can be fixed — you can restore the Windows bootloader using a bootable USB stick. It is always better to back up important data before installation. When installing Debian, choose manual disk partitioning to accurately specify the partitions. Use encryption only for the Linux partition, leaving the Windows partition alone. Save a backup copy of the boot partition (for example, EFI) or make a full backup.
If you want to be safe backup anything you care about before hand. Assume that you might end up needing to wipe the system and reinstall everything. Encrypting the Linux partitions should not affect windows but there are so many other steps that could go wrong when partitioning and installing a system it is better to backup everything you care about just incase.