Installing QUBES on a separate internal SSD alongside Windows on the main SSD?

Hey All!

So I am super new to the Qubes philosophy of isolation and the security models that come with it.

I am very interested in trying it out before I make the full switch. I know that I can just run it in a USB but I would prefer it on my actual computer.

Right now on my machine I use Windows 10 (mostly for work!). It came pre-installed from the OEM in the UEFI mode on the main internal SSD.

I went ahead and purchased an extra internal SSD and popped it into the internal 2.5" bay.

I am looking to install Qubes onto that new SSD. But I want to make sure that I can boot into my Windows 10 (which will be on the separate SSD that came with the machine) as well.

If I just go ahead and install Qubes in UEFI mode on this new SSD, would I just be able to boot back and forth between the two OSes (on the different hard drives) using the boot order selector. Or do I need to do something different during the installations?

The guides that I have read all talk about installing using legacy boot mode, so I am just super confused at this point.

Can someone explain me how to achieve this? Does anyone else have a similar setup?

I just don’t want to loose all my data on Windows during this install!

Cheers!

that should be perfectly possible in the way you speculate, yes, though I tend not to use UEFI mode, so idk if there are any quirks involved.

Hi,

I have an SSD which I have partitioned. How do I install Qubes on the empty partition?
Thanks.

When you run the installer, select the SSD on which you want to install.
You can delete the empty partition and allow Qubes automatically to use
Free space, or you will have to use the “manual configuration” option,
creating /boot and / (at minimum for legacy boot) yourself.

Thanks

I will give it a try