Lately ive noticed that i was wanting to do certain things on Windows that just seemed much easier and more intuitive on Linux, based in the OS specific solutions i would see to problems i encountered. And i was more frequently using software where Windows support seemed like an after thought.
A couple days ago i finally sat down and tried to install Mint. The installer didnt recognize my windows partition so it didnt offer any assistance. And a stroke of fate saw my internet connection dieing at the exact same time. Yes, i cant believe it either.
So i decided to live dangerously and just try to wing the installation with no outside help. It seems like creating a second EFI partition was not the right call. The install failed, and I couldn’t get back onto windows.
I wound up just using a live ubuntu image for a few days while i wrestled with repairing the boot loader. I didnt succeed. Eventually i just made a windows recovery disk from my Desktop with an intact copy of windows, and had to reinstall windows.
Then i did manage to successfully install Debian, and ive been having such a great time with it so far. I feel like i probably didnt even need to keep a windows partition, especially since i could have just used my desktop if i REALLY needed windows. I havent had this much fun just using the computer since i was a kid.
Excellent. Being able to install a fresh OS at will is one of the many fun things in Linux. Theming is another. I would advise you do a backup of anything important on Windows and just erase the entire disk and do a clean install of Linux. If you still need Windows, install Virtualbox and install Windows as a VM. Best of both worlds. I do this to enable me to print to my Canon printer because the Linux drivers don’t work ,it needs Windows to print, calibrate etc.