How to Install Windows 10 for Free - Update

English Forums Feedback
#1

Some remarks on: https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php/542686-How-to-Install-Windows-10-for-Free

  • Download: For your locale (instead of de-de) search for https://www.google.com/search?q=windows+10+download+iso
  • Creating the stick: Disk manager may interfere. Open a virtual console, insert the stick and run ‘woeusb -d Win10_2004_German_x64.iso /dev/sdX --tgt-fs ntfs’ from there.
  • Windows install: Setup gets confused with more than one disk. Unplug all but the one where Windows goes.
Corrupted efi partition/formatted/lost windows 10
How to execute a windows iso with linux?
#2

Hi
I always use the ‘Custom’ install have seen no issues with multiple disks…

#3

Setup creates all of Microsoft reserved partition, EFI system partition and Basic data partition. It claims it successfully performed all 5 steps of installation. Finally it says it could not restart the computer and recommends to install again (with the same result). Removing the other disks terminates the loop.

#4

Hi
I always preconfigure the disks :wink: efi (260M,ef00 and mkfs.vfat) MS reserved (16M, 0c01) then rest as required…

#5

Lots of hand-holding required . Eventually 3 machines got it. The most daunting install was a drive with two chunks of free space:

 3400G:~ # fdisk -l /dev/sdc 
Disk /dev/sdc: 1.84 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors 
Disk model: ST2000DM001-1CH1 
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes 
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes 
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes 
Disklabel type: gpt 
Disk identifier: 609FED7F-FC4F-43A7-9D25-44783253D69C 

Device          Start        End    Sectors  Size Type 
/dev/sdc1        2048      34815      32768   16M Microsoft reserved 
/dev/sdc2    33761280 3770382335 3736621056  1.8T Linux filesystem 
/dev/sdc3  3770382336 3770587135     204800  100M EFI System 
/dev/sdc4  3770587136 3905975094  135387959 64.6G Microsoft basic data 
/dev/sdc5  3905976320 3907026943    1050624  513M Windows recovery environment 
3400G:~ #

You definitely learn things you never wanted to know. If you want to get things done only stay during the install with one drive and one chunk of free space preferably at the end of the drive. :wink:

#6

Hi
Windows always needs, or makes some space for it’s recovery on an upgrade as well as creating a windows.old directory…

#7

Chris Hoffman on installing Windows without a product key: https://www.howtogeek.com/244678/you-dont-need-a-product-key-to-install-and-use-windows-10/

#8

How to turn off Fast Startup on Windows 11
By Bryan Clark published June 06, 2022

Fast Startup can be good, but most of the time, it’s bad

https://www.laptopmag.com/how-to/turn-off-fast-startup-on-windows-11