3

How can I install Windows after I've installed Ubuntu?

Long story short: Windows 10 was preinstalled in my ASUS ROG GL752VW-DH71. I updated my drivers using Driver Booster & Intel's own software, afterwards I can't boot anymore so I impulsively clean installed Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

Then, I figured I need Windows 10 again for some other stuff, so I am trying to install it again.

What I've done so far:

  1. made two bootable flash drives, one with Win10 and one with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
  2. used GParted from the Ubuntu image and resized my 250GB SSD so there would be at least 50GB for Windows 10 (unallocated space)
  3. disabled fastboot & secure boot, enabled CSM, put my HDD (P2: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB...) on the top of the boot priority, then manually booted from my flash drive (UEFI: SanDisk Cruzer...)
  4. the setup ran, it was normal until it asked me where to install Windows. I made a new partition and then afterwards the setup made 4 partitions. the drive is GPT by the way.
  5. tried installing Windows on the 50GB partition I just made but it says "We couldn’t create a new partition or locate an existing one. For more information, see the Setup log files.".

I'm totally lost, everything I could find just wants me to clean the drive & make a new partition using diskpart, but I don't want to do that, there's already a lot of stuff in my Ubuntu installation :(

However, I can most probably backup my entire Ubuntu installation, format the whole drive & install Windows 10 first, then restore Ubuntu. I just don't know how to/where to start.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    This is fundamentally about Windows, so you should ask on a Windows forum. That said, enabling the CSM was probably a mistake. It doesn't sound like this is the source of your problems, but there's a slim chance that it could be. See my Web page on the CSM for information on why it's a potential problem in a dual-boot scenario.
    – Rod Smith
    Jun 6, 2017 at 12:59
  • @RodSmith oh gotcha, well I only enabled that because I was unable to get past the login screen because of my faulty video drivers (I have a GTX960M), and I read about it being the solution. Anyway, I should probably ask Tenforums then. Thanks!
    – Ian Carlo Alincastre
    Jun 6, 2017 at 13:16
  • A user at Tenforums thinks I should delete the EFI partition on my drive. If it does work, what do I do to repair my Ubuntu installation? @RodSmith
    – Ian Carlo Alincastre
    Jun 7, 2017 at 16:39
  • The EFI System Partition (ESP) hold boot loader(s) for OS(es) installed in EFI mode. Therefore, deleting it will render any OS that currently boots in EFI mode unbootable. Although this might be part of a valid solution (say, one that involves a complete re-installation of all OSes' boot loaders or a conversion from EFI-mode to BIOS-mode booting), by itself deleting the ESP is more likely to create new problems than to solve existing ones.
    – Rod Smith
    Jun 8, 2017 at 13:10

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

It turns out that my problem was caused by the leftover Windows files on my HDD that came with the laptop, I forgot that it wouldn't automatically be wiped if you just formatted it with Windows.

I also made sure that I had the following partitions on sda: - unallocated space - Windows partition (NTFS) - unallocated space

And the Windows 10 installer went smoothly. You can do this with GParted.

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.