Score:0

Dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 10 with legacy BIOS has too many menus

fo flag

I installed Ubuntu 22.04 alongside win 10. It has legacy BIOS so I followed this video step by step. You basically create a partition for Ubuntu, install the boot loader on "/" and then add on Windows with EasyBCD a boot entry for Ubuntu.

It does work but not ideally. When I turn on the PC I get the windows logo and then the blue Windows boot menu to select Windows or Ubuntu.

windows boot

If I choose Ubuntu then after a while I get another black and white boot menu (grub I guess) where I can choose Ubuntu and other options (including also Windows).

enter image description here

I find this a bit redundant, is there a way to speed booting directly on Ubuntu without having to pass two menus?

The images are not from my system, but they're essentially the same.

David avatar
cn flag
Seems the instructions you followed are not correct. If you install Windows and then using a Boot USB set to BIOS it will tell you it sees the Windows OS is there and ask you to install beside it. It will make the Grub menu and all will work.
galyc0s avatar
fo flag
For some reason the video recommended not to do that and choose "something else" instead of install alongside windows. I remember installing Ubuntu alonside Windows before and then not being able to boot at all anything and fixing the mbr after searching on the internet the errors received. I thought having a legacy bios was the issue so I decided to try the steps of that video.
David avatar
cn flag
If you install Windows in BIOS then you install Ubuntu in BIOS no problem. If one is EFI then both need to be EFI if you miss match them then you have issues. Who ever told you not to install beside Windows is incorrect.
galyc0s avatar
fo flag
Actually I was incorrect. The video does not say not to choose "install alongside windows"., simply the option was not available. I will try again and see if I can get just one boot menu
oldfred avatar
cn flag
Do not use EasyBCD. That is your extra menu. Some do not like grub and want a Windows boot loader like EasyBCD. The only issue with BIOS boot is that you only have one MBR. So either grub in MBR or Windows in MBR. And sometimes Windows does updates and turns on fast startup or makes other changes & grub will not boot Windows. You then have to temporarily reinstall a Windows boot loader, fix Windows & then reinstall grub. Just have both Windows repair/recovery and Ubuntu live install to make MBR fixes. UEFI has both boot loaders in ESP - efi system partition so either can be booted from UEFI.
Terrance avatar
id flag
If you want to keep going with a Legacy BIOS and dual boot, I recommend using a second drive in the system and installing both OSes to separate drives. I have 6 drives in my system. 2 drives are dedicated to each OS. I have my Ubuntu as my primary boot drive in the BIOS, then it brings up grub and then I can choose Windows or wait and let it default boot to Ubuntu.
galyc0s avatar
fo flag
Thank you all for your answers. Using a dedicated drive for Ubuntu is not a bad idea, I have a smaller SSD drive that I can use for this.
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