Will April update of Windows 10 destroy my dual booting Linux Mint 19.1?

[Antoine]

Will the imminent forthcoming April update of Windows 10 destroy my dual booting Linux Mint 19.1 Cinnamon?

I’m a newbie, and apologise if: I’m posting this in the wrong place, or (more likely) asking a daft question!

I’ve been using 19.1 Cinnamon since Christmas, and it’s becoming my favoured O.S., but unfortunately I need to access W10 also for access to MS software, hence dual booting.

My system is 64bit : see details below.

I’m running W10 Pro ver 1809 (build 17763.404), and version 1903 is due soon.

My dread is that when the big windows update drops, I’ll lose my precious LM 19.1. I have Timeshift running and active.

Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

Code: Select all

System details:
System:    Host: zoostorm Kernel: 4.15.0-47-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 7.3.0 
           Desktop: Cinnamon 4.0.10 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa 
           base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: P5G41T-M LX2/GB v: Rev X.0x serial: <filter> 
           BIOS: American Megatrends v: 0504 date: 01/10/2014 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Pentium E5800 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Penryn rev: A 
           L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 12857 
           Speed: 1298 MHz min/max: 1203/3203 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1210 2: 1205 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 4 Series Integrated Graphics vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:2e32 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1600x1200~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel G41 v: 2.1 Mesa 18.2.8 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:27d8 
           Device-2: Microsoft type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus ID: 1-3.2:5 
           chip ID: 045e:0770 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-47-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
           vendor: ASUSTeK M4A785/P7P55 driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: e800 bus ID: 01:00.0 
           chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: enp1s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 90.65 GiB (9.7%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Hitachi model: HDS721010CLA332 size: 931.51 GiB speed: <unknown> 
           serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 285.75 GiB used: 90.65 GiB (31.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 42.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bookworm-team-bookworm-bionic.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/bookworm-team/bookworm/ubuntu bionic main
           2: deb-src http: //ppa.launchpad.net/bookworm-team/bookworm/ubuntu bionic main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http: //dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth-pro.list 
           1: deb http: //dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/obsproject-obs-studio-bionic.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/obsproject/obs-studio/ubuntu bionic main
           2: deb-src http: //ppa.launchpad.net/obsproject/obs-studio/ubuntu bionic main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //www.mirrorservice.org/sites/packages.linuxmint.com/packages tessa main upstream import backport
           2: deb http: //www.mirrorservice.org/sites/archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //www.mirrorservice.org/sites/archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //www.mirrorservice.org/sites/archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ bionic partner
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/team-xbmc-ppa-bionic.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/team-xbmc/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
           2: deb-src http: //ppa.launchpad.net/team-xbmc/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teejee2008-ppa-bionic.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/teejee2008/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
           2: deb-src http: //ppa.launchpad.net/teejee2008/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
Info:      Processes: 190 Uptime: 28m Memory: 7.76 GiB used: 1.98 GiB (25.5%) Init: systemd v: 237 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.3.0 alt: 7 Client: Unknown python3.6 client inxi: 3.0.27

[wallyUSA]

@Antoine,

Windows is "Like a Box of Chocolates, You never know what you're going to get"!

Sounds like you can control when to do the update and delay for awhile if necessary. Obviously you need to make sure you have good backup before the update. Depending on how important it is, you may want a second backup (maybe a different technique, just in case)!

Going forward you may want to consider going with a virtual machine (like Virtual Box). This would give you better way to isolate any surprises from M/S. You could use Windows as the Host or use Linux as your Host. So you would boot the host once and all other OSes could run in the VM as guest(s). Another advantage is you could run multi-OSes at the same time w/o having to re-boot to switch from one to the other.

Just some ideas!

[jimallyn]

I don't use Windwoes, but my understanding is that Win10 updates will trash your Linux boot pretty much every time, and you will have to repair it. I don't know exactly how you do that, but I'd bet there are posts on the forums that discuss it. Win updates don't harm your Linux install in any way as I understand it, it just trashes the grub boot menu.

[WHVW]

Hi wallyUSA:

Well, I don't know all that much about Winderz anymore, (I haven't used it in almost 20 years, except to wipe it from two "new" machines I got in (in) the last two weeks), but I think that it, like most software, has a mechanism by which you can disable automatic updates, (where's the urgency, your machine works, after all ). That would, at least, buy you some more time, Time for evaluation, time to decide if, perhaps, you might not want to skip it entirely, and time to take a "wait and see" approach, finding out just what effect it will have on your install.

In time, if the update becomes an issue, (and there is a 99.99999% chance that it will) word will get around and solutions will be developed. There is a reasonable chance that others will encounter the same problem and will work out a fix...allowing you to bypass the computer hell in between....then you can let the update happen.

Another strategy would be to clone your drive and let it take the hit, this way you could work on it in your own time with no pressure. If you need your computer back, just plug in the other drive. Just remember to turn off the auto update on that drive or M$ will nuke it the second it hits the internet.

Good luck, I hope at least some of this will prove useful to you.

[Shadow in Fire]

It's honestly not a good idea to mix the two on the same drive. Get a separate HDD or SSD and dedicate that to just one OS.

I wish I could give more support beyond the above. I honestly checked out after Windows 7's "updates" were getting too tiresome for my own liking.

Best of luck. Let us know how it all went.

[lsemmens]

Only if Windwoes 10 is the "other" operating system. If you are dual booting Linux, with Windwoes 7, you are probably safe.

[AndyMH]

You are running win10 pro so it is relatively easy to turn off auto updates (google it) - so you can choose when to do the update. Make sure mint is fully backed up before you do a win update. It is a good idea to install mint and win to separate drives, I have two PCs where that is the case. I also have a dual booting laptop with them sharing the same drive - which to date has been okay. The most likely outcome of a 'bad' update is that win will overwrite grub so mint won't boot. Have a copy of boot-repair to hand https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair. Best to download the iso and create a bootable usb/CD.

[kukamuumuka]

Windows 10 can make extra partitions, which breaks other operating systems. Better to use Windows into VirtualBox if needed.

[Kendoori]

I have had dual boot for a while and like the OP, have reason to keep my Windows intact. While I can't guarantee safety, had you not brought this up here, I was not concerned about this.

That said, I'm a believer in cloning. If your system is working fine as is, you may want to consider getting a drive of the same size or larger and an external enclosure. The drive needn't be an SSD or anything of high specs. I use Clonezilla and do a drive to drive clone (ugly but works very reliably) and I periodically clone the whole thing so that I have a known good state to easily go back. If anything goes awry, you can easily clone back. I always did this in Windows too, just to be safe. I have a fire proof safe in my office and just stick the clone in there for safe keeping.

[Sundowner]

YMMV, but I've been installing and running Windows 10 Insider Preview releases since Oct 2014, dual booting Linux, usually Kubuntu and I've never lost the grub bootloader because of a Windows update.

That said, I have already installed the Insider Preview of the the April 2019 update. My 10 year old computer sports a first version Intel Core i7 920 with 12 GB of RAM and currently with a little 120 GB SSD drive, so I don't UEFI to worry about. Windows 10 installs should allow you users to delay the April 2019; Check Settings/Windows Update/Advanced Options/Pause Updates for your delay options.

I'm not a computer professional, so maybe I've been lucky