Complete backup and restore for windows dual boot installation?

[cripcate]

Hey guys,

I think this might be a very basic question, and also transferable to other linux distros aswell, but I'll just ask it here.
I am using CentOS 7 on my Uni computer, but I also need windows for some specialized third party software. My IT guy wanted to install it for dual-boot from network (Uni's IT infrastructure). But the boot option didn't show up, and we think it has to do with windows having to be installed first.
My HDD setup is:

256 GB SSD: CentOS
500 GB HDD: For Data
256 GB SSD: Currently empty - to be used for windows

So my question is, how can I - without much hassle - back up my CentOS setup, format the ssd, install win 10 on the other ssd, and get my centos back in its original place?
I guess I could fare with just backing up all my config files and a list of installed software, but I am afraid I'd miss something (put a bit of effort into customization) so I'd rather do a full image / system restore thing. I am not entirely sure whats the best way to do this tho.

As I am currently working on this PC and don't want to lose any data, I thought I might ask for help here. Sorry if the question was already answered elsewhere.

thanks in advance and have a nice day!

[tunk]

Is it an alternative to install windows as a virtual machine?
It may also be possible to disconnect the two CentOS disks, install windows and then use the bios to select which disk to boot from.
No entirely sure if this will work though.

[MartinR]

Many years ago I had a dual boot system. The hard disk was set to boot Windows from its own partition. Sat in the front of the machine was a floppy disk (told you it was a while ago) which booted the Linux partition off the hard disk. If the floppy was pushed in at boot time I had Linux, if out I got Windows. The system worked well for the life of the computer.

Now I'm not suggesting you install a floppy disk , but you might be able to do something similar with a small USB stick. Set the BIOS order to be USB, internal and have just enough on the USB to chain boot your 256 GB SSD. Configure the machine to natively boot Windows on your other 256 GB SSD.

I've not tried this in a decade, so proceed at your own risk!

[hunter86_bg]

There is a third party tool that allows you to edit windows boot loader and create an entry to start grub2.
I'm not convinced that you need to install windows first,but it's possible that your EFI partition to be wiped during windows installation.

You can always test on a VM.

[TrevorH]

You could also tell your BIOS which disk is first and install windows direct onto the 3rd disk that way (so it thinks it's the first disk).

[cripcate]

Ok, thanks for all the tips! I'll see what my IT guy thinks is best. Is there the possibility of doing a complete system image in case anything gets fked up in the process? Also, is there any program / script that backs up all relevant config files automatically? (Stuff like .fstab, .bashrc, .themes, .icons etc etc)

Will my data HDD be useable by both OS? Also, do you think it's easier/faster to switch between win 10 and centos with dual boot or if i have win installed in a vm? How is it performance wise? And is it still possible to put windows on the second ssd with a vm? I don't want to cramp 2 OS in one SSD

Thanks again!

[tunk]

If your windows usage is relatively light, I would go for a VM. You can run both in
paralell, whereas with a dual boot you have to wait a few minutes between each switch.
Your VM software may also support a shared directory between CentOS and VM.
Your virtual disk may be put on the second disk.

[MartinR]

If you go down the VM route you can serve the disk from one OS to the other (NFS, shares etc), but if you are wanting to have a shared directory you need a cluster-wide filesystem or you will have synchronisation issues. Even if you think you are only accessing a file on one system at a time you can get caught out by Linux's asynchronous writing and by filesystem metadata changes.

[cripcate]

I think I will mostly use Windows and Linux seperate from each other. I won't need o switch between them frequently. I will only use Windows for article writing (which takes it's time) and some third party image analysis software; I will use Linux for everything else. So maybe a dual-boot would be easier to deploy if it won't cause problems with a shared HDD for data and with installing it directly on the third disk (SSD).

I am thinking about cloning my centos disk (with clonezilla or something) on an external drive, formatting it, installing windows, and then putting centos on the disk again. Does this sound logical? Do you think there will still be problems with the bootloader this way?

[TrevorH]

For your use case, I'd still go with a VM.