Want to dualboot Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (add Windows 10 Pro)

[ohaya1001]

Hi,

I have a Lenovo Legion Pro 5i, which came with Windows 11 Home installed originally, which I've upgraded to Windows 11 Pro, but:

a) I am finding that I really dislike Windows 11 and
b) so I want to install Windows 10 Pro on the Legion, dual-boot.

I already installed BIU 2.03 per an earlier thread, and I have Windows 10 Pro on a USB stick.

The machine came with 1TB SSD, so split up the extra space by an addtional partition (I don't remember if I used BIU to do that or use Windows to do that).

Here's some screenshots of BIU Partition Work and Boot Edit:

partwork.jpg (47.76 KiB) Viewed 34335 times

I think the "Windows-SSD" partition is the current/original Windows 11 installation, and I am going to reduce that partition size, and then want to install the new Windows 10 installation between the "Windows-SSD" partition and the "DATA" partition.

The machine (and drive) are pretty much "vanilla" other than installing BIU and making the DATA partition. I may either get a larger SSD to replace the original 1TB one, or maybe add a 2nd SSD, at some point.

I've been doing a bit a reading and kind of surprised to not find info about specifically doing what I'm doing (maybe I missed it), so can someone let me know how I can do that, and also let me know if there are any "gotchas" that I need to be aware of?

Thanks,
Jim

EDIT: Sorry I messed up the screenshots... I am adding the right screenshot (bootedit.jpg).

[Brian K]

Jim,

https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/howto/

See BootIt UEFI

There is a video on adding OS to your drive. It is much easier than what one expects.

[ohaya1001]

HI,

I've been reading the BIU manual "install an OS" section, and have some questions.

1) In the manual, when it says " EFI System partition" is that the "SYSTEM_DRV" partition shown in my screenshots (partwork.jpg)?

2) I am a little confused about how many "EFI System" partitions will I have on the drive? The manual seems to talk about multiple EFI System partitions ("If you want the new OS to boot from a different EFI System partition that doesn’t exist you would need to create and configure it."), but for what I am doing wouldn't I just need the one SYSTEM_DRV partition that already exists on my drive?

3) I have a similar question about the "Microsoft Reserved partition"). Do I need to make a 2nd "Microsoft Reserved partition"? Or will the whole drive only have one "Microsoft Reserved parition" even though there will be 2 Windows installaed?

4) The manual also talks about hiding EFI System partitions ("Important: It is recommended to hide all EFI System partitions except the one that will be used by the OS installation."), but in my situation, and assuming that I only need/have one EFI System/SYSTEM_DRV partition, I wouldn't need to hide any partitions? Is that correct?

5) The video recommends the EFI System partition/SYSTEM_DRV be 1024MB... can I use Partition work to increase the size of the existing EFI System partition/SYSTEM_DRV partition?

6) I am a little confused about the Boot Edit. Do I just create a new item in Boot Edit, and do the Windows 10 installation, and then the new Boot Item will be populated correctly?


I know that was a lot of questions, but if the answers are what I think they are going to be, I think that what I have to do is:


A) Resize the existing SYSTEM_DRV partition to 1024MB
B) Do the adjustments to the existing Window_SSD partition size (shrink it)
C) Make a new NTFS partition in the empty space
D) Make a new Boot Item and only include the partitions:
- existing but enlarged SYSTEM_DRV,
- existing Microsoft Reserved partion,
- NEW_OS_PARTITION,
- DATA partition, and
- WINRE partition
E) Save the new Boot item
F) Escape to get back to Resume
G) Do simulated boot (left shift+click "Boot" on the new boot item)
H) Put the USB stick with the Window 10 installation media in USB port
I) Reboot and boot the USB stick and install Windows
J) After Windows installation, boot to BIU and reactivate BIU

Do all the above steps sound correct? Am I missing anything?


Thanks,
Jim

[Brian K]

Jim,

The method of multi-booting described at the end of the manual is the old method. Use the method described in the video. A Boot Item will be created for you automatically. You don't need to manually create one.

Your ESP (EFI System Partition) is 260 MiB. That's plenty large enough for 2 OS and it doesn't need to be resized. You could consider resizing later if you want 4 or more OS.

You should only have one ESP in your computer. Even if you have multiple drives and multiple OS. Having more than one can cause bizarre issues.
Each GPT disk requires 1 MSR. You already have one.

Regarding Hides. Hide Win10 from Win11 partition. Hide Win11 from Win10 partition.

[Brian K]

Have a look at Properties, Details for the ESP. What is Free and Used MiB.

[ohaya1001]

Brian,

So, just to confirm, the "SYSTEM_DRV" partition on my system IS "the" "EFI System Partition"? Is that correct?

I will post info about the ESP in a bit. One of the really bad things about these Lenovo Legions is apparently they don't mirror any of the pre-OS output to the HDMI monitor, so I have to switch to directly working with the laptop (no external monitor) when I do BIU stuff.

FYI, I've updated the steps I think I will need to do, based on your comments (also I prefer to resize the SYSTEM_DRV/ESP now rather than later):



NEW STEPS:
==========
A) Resize the existing SYSTEM_DRV partition to 1024MB
B) Do the adjustments to the existing Window_SSD partition size (shrink it) - NEW!! HIDE THE Windows_SSD partition
C) Make a new NTFS partition in the empty space


XXXXX D) Make a new Boot Item and only include the partitions:
XXXXX - existing but enlarged SYSTEM_DRV,
XXXXX - existing Microsoft Reserved partion,
XXXXX - NEW_OS_PARTITION,
XXXXX - DATA partition, and
XXXXX - WINRE partition
XXXXX E) Save the new Boot item
XXXXX F) Escape to get back to Resume
XXXXX G) Do simulated boot (left shift+click "Boot" on the new boot item)


H) Put the USB stick with the Window 10 installation media in USB port
I) Reboot and boot the WINDOWS USB stick and install Windows
J) After Windows installation, boot to BIU USB stick and reactivate BIU

Do all the above steps sound correct? Am I missing or messing anything?


Thanks for your help!!

[ohaya1001]

Brian,

ESP:

Free: 203
Used: 57

[Brian K]

Plenty of room. A Microsoft install uses about 30 MiB. A Linux install uses about 5 MiB.

[Brian K]

So, just to confirm, the "SYSTEM_DRV" partition on my system IS "the" "EFI System Partition"? Is that correct?

Yes

NEW!! HIDE THE Windows_SSD partition

You can't do Hides until the second OS has been installed. Using the TeraByte video method.

While in BIU, insert the Win10 UFD, then restart and boot the UFD. As per the video.

Sure, resize the ESP now. That's fine. It will take some time.

[ohaya1001]

I think that I am not understanding why what you said makes a difference (the "While in BIU, insert the Win10 USB stick, then restart and boot the USB stick" part)?

I did watch the video, and I guess I didn't quite understand it then either (actually the audio was very low, which made it hard to try to follow).

It seems like inserting the Win10 USB stick while in BIU basically just allows you to boot to the USB stick, correct?

But I thought that the thing at that point was to not accidentally install Windows 10 to the already existing Windows 11 partition?

Sorry, I KNOW that I am missing something !!

Jim

I was just wondering/thinking, maybe we are talking about 2 different parts of the video? Can you let me know approximately what time in the video you are talking about?