Hey guys I have a newer Acer all in one desktop gave W10 the last try was thinking on daul booting Linux Mint 18.1 and Ubuntu 16.04 can't decide which distro like them both do I and will I still be secure if I disable UEFI in bio sorry for the dumb question couldn't finf the answer online about UEFI

Ubuntu LTS has support for some uefi systems already. Other distro's may too.

First you need to create a way to restore W10 should you want to return to it. Consider a free virtual machine before using dual boot also.

If you make a uefi aware and supported media then boot to it, you should be able to install linux on that system. However there are a lot of issues going on here.

Booting to Ubuntu should provide you at least a clue to if it will work. On a dvd the boot option may show up as a uefi cd choice but there are countless ways it could end up working or not working.

Take a look at the official Ubuntu documentation at the link below on dual booting windows/Ubuntu UEFI before you begin.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI

One thing to pay special attention to is that if you use UEFI/GPT with windows, you need to do the same with your Linux or you will have problems booting. Also that as far as I know, to use windows with GPT you must use UEFI.

Can the same be applied to Linux Mint 18 XFCE on an Acer ES1-531 laptop? Just wondering. Although, I'm probably not going to dual-boot but instead single-boot, if it's too much hassle I'll just use EFI.

Mint will certainly install on a uefi machine. Just make sure you have secure boot and fastboot switched off.

You never know about the ability that the OEM put into the UEFI.

UEFI and EFI and secure boot are usually different things.

I assume these tips are true. https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_sarah_cinnamon.php

Okay. I'll check it out tomorrow and see what happens. ^^

Some more research on this option - use the windows boot loader - may be safer option for some people.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...ws_boot_loader

Biggest question really is if all distro's will allow itself to be installed this way. Ms agreed to allow dual booting years ago as the result of a court case. As a result the facility is still likely to be there. It's hardly ever mentioned though. It aught to be and distro's should be able to cope with it.

John
-

Ubuntu LTS ought to install correctly with UEFI and secure boot enabled by the way.

You also have a choice to run a free virtual machine if you don't wish to bork your W10.

W10 does not work without UEFI
If you use Legacy, forget W10.

I bought too a new Acer, I installed W8 and load Linux from Grub.

It is possible on newer systems that you can get windows to run in secure and uefi and also dual boot to a legacy mode linux. Ideally you'd want to simplify your life and make it all uefi secure boot. Many newish systems can easily be made to change modes and boot to a usb also. A fast usb 3.0 drive with linux on it is very useful for my uses.

why not to boot grub directly from sd card, and you can keep win10.

Not true. Otherwise it wouldn't be much fun for all those with legacy non-UEFI systems who upgraded to Windows 10.

As long as you boot non-UEFI when installing Windows 10, it doesn't need UEFI.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/win...gacy-bios-mode

Yes it does. I have windows 10 installed on an MBR Desktop (2009 HP) with no UEFI available and just used the custom option during install.

Think we lost the OP.