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I just built a new PC and would like to install Linux/Ubuntu alongside Windows (dual boot). I already installed Windows 10 and all the required drivers, namely for the motherboard and Nvidia graphics card, and am about to install Ubuntu.

My questions:

Are the drivers OS specific?

If yes, does this mean I need to reinstall the drivers for Ubuntu as well or was it sufficient to install them on Windows?

Finally, if I reinstall the drivers on Ubuntu, will this not override the drivers that were initially installed on Windows? (i.e. which would mean I would have to reinstall drivers every time I switch to the other OS)

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  • The drivers are OS specific, ie. the drivers you downloaded no doubt were windows 10 specific (and won't work in windows 7/8/xp for example, let alone Ubuntu or a GNU/Linux). Out of the box windows usually doesn't provide many drivers (they are provided usually by OEMs, eg. you usually buy it from a company like hp/dell that add the drivers for you). Ubuntu provides far more drivers (kernel modules) out-of-the-box, but doesn't provide closed-source proprietary (they need to be added).
    – guiverc
    Commented Mar 24, 2019 at 9:42
  • @karel : my question was more generic, as it concerns drivers in general. The question you relate to is specific to a particular type of graphic card. Now that I have the answer to my general question, I can start addressing the installation of specific drivers, for which the link you provided can be helpful.
    – johnwolf1987
    Commented Mar 24, 2019 at 10:03
  • Actually it isn't, it's generic too. I know what generic means. That's why I selected it. My point is that you're by no means the first Ask Ubuntu user who wants to know if it's possible to use Windows device drivers in Linux or Ubuntu.
    – karel
    Commented Mar 24, 2019 at 10:04

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YES. That's the big answer to your first question. Drivers are specifically written for different OS and that's the reason why Windows have better compatibility for Nvidia graphics card and Linux doesn't. Drivers are software which are written to make the devices known to the system you're using. Main plus point of having Linux is that most of the drivers for different devices are already present in the system itself and if something is missing you can download it from the Software Update Center or use apt.

Next answer is YES again. Since drivers are OS specific you need to reinstall them again on Ubuntu or any other OS you're using or would likely to use.

Last answer would be a simple NO since, those driver are stored in the partition you create for Linux and Windows separately without jeopardizing or conflicting with each other. So when you boot into Linux the Windows would be certainly in shutdown and only the Linux drivers could be used.

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