I recently started moving away from closed source software like Windows and Google products. One of my latest projects is to move away from Windows OS as much as possible. However, since I have a Surface device, Ubuntu doesn’t come with all of the drivers. The main issues I encountered were that the touch screen doesn’t work and the WiFi doesn’t come back after the system is suspended.
So I decided to split the hard drive in half, one half is windows and the other half is Linux. Both operating systems are encrypted, which as a result, requires some extra configuration to get it to work. So we’ll need to first configure the hard drive.
1. Configure Hard Drive
First, you’ll need to create a Ubuntu install USB and then boot off of it. Once you’re on the Ubuntu setup screen, click “Try Ubuntu”. Then open GParted, delete all of the partitions until there isn’t anything left except unallocated space. Then you’ll need to create the following partitions detailed below.
| Name | Flag | File System | Size |
| efi | efi, boot | fat 32 | 600 mb |
| windows | (none) | ntfs | (Half of HD) |
Apply the changes to the hard drive and reboot.
2. Install Windows
Create a Windows 10 install USB and boot off of it. Choose “Custom Install” and select the partition label windows. Let Windows install, then boot into the OS and go through the setup. Then enabled Bitlocker encryption and wait for the whole partition to be encrypted.
3. Install Linux
Now, create a Ubuntu install USB and boot off of it. When it gives you an option to install or try Ubuntu, click “Try Ubuntu”. Start GParted and create the following partitions listed below.
| Name | Flag | File System | Size |
| boot | (none) | ext4 | 600 mb |
| linux | (none) | ext4 | (Rest of HD) |
Apply those changes to the hard drive and then open the “Disks” application. Format the Linux partition, enable the encryption options and set a password, then click format. When it’s done make sure the drive is unlocked so we can install the OS on it.
Start the Ubuntu installer and follow the prompts. When you get to the part where it asks you if you want to install Linux along with Windows, erase everything, or something else. Select “something else”. Then click on the encrypted partition you just created and click “Next”. After that, just follow the normal setup prompts on the screen to install the OS. And that’s it, Ubuntu is now installed alongside Windows.