Dual boot Windows 8 and Ubuntu on HP ENVY Ultrabook 6t-1100

Question

I plan to buy HP ENVY Ultrabook 6t-1100 which comes with Windows 8, 32GB SSD and 500GB Hard drive. I however want to Dual boot it with Ubuntu. Any issues? Furthermore, would it be possible to install Ubuntu on SSD and Windows 8 on the standard Hard drive? Is it possible to disable UEFI from BIOS on this system?

Solution

• It's not possible to disable UEFI, since UEFI is the type of firmware you've got. That said, it is possible to boot most UEFI-based PCs in BIOS/legacy mode rather than in EFI mode. Doing so would require either re-installing Windows or reconfiguring it to boot in BIOS mode rather than in EFI mode. Overall, that's probably not the best way to go.
• Ubuntu 12.10 ships with EFI support. It also supposedly ships with support for booting with Secure Boot active. (Any PC with a Windows 8 logo must ship with Secure Boot active.) That said, I've never tried it, so I don't know how well it works in practice. If necessary, you should be able to disable Secure Boot, too.
• In theory, you should be able to install Ubuntu on the SSD and Windows 8 on the spinning disk.

You may want to check out my Web page on EFI boot loaders for Linux. It's not really an EFI primer, but it does have some basic information on it, and on options for how to boot Linux on an EFI-based computer.

Comments

[M. Ahmad Zafar]

So you successfully have dual boot Windows 8 and Ubuntu? Your notebook or PC specs?

[M. Ahmad Zafar]

What about the practical steps on your point 3?

[M. Cunille]

Yes, I have dual boot on my system. My laptop is an HP Pavilion dv5 not UEFI hardware but this was the only way I was able to install Ubuntu and Windows 8.