Dual booting Windows and Linux has long been an enjoyable experience for users who want the best of both worlds, but a recent security update from Microsoft seems to have broken it. Users who have the dual-boot system on their computers are no longer accessible, with users getting new messages from their systems claiming that booting Linux is a violation.
For now, Microsoft has yet to address this latest issue in its systems, but several users found a workaround to bring dual-boot back.
Dual Booting Windows, Linux No Longer Available After Microsoft's Update
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Microsoft has addressed the two-year-old vulnerability in the GRUB open-source booter with a new security patch, but this brought consequences along with it as users are now reporting that dual booting is no longer available. There are now error messages or violation notices on Windows when users are trying to dual-boot Linux in Windows-based PCs.
The latest Secure Boot security update is now preventing Linux OS from being booted properly, claiming that there are "security policy violations" down to "seriously wrong" messages.
It was revealed by Microsoft that this was to block unsafe Linux boot loaders and not affect dual-boot systems, but that is not the case according to users.
Microsoft has not yet acknowledged the issue at hand, and for those looking for a fix, several users have found a way to make Linux work for the time being. According to The Verge, Ubuntu users have found a workaround that asks to disable the Secure Boot at the BIOS level, log into a Ubuntu user account, and lastly, delete the Microsoft Secure Boot Advanced Targeting (SBAT) policy.
Dual-Boot for Windows and Linux
The practice of dual booting systems into one computer has been done for several years now, and this allows users to enjoy the benefits of using the Windows OS and Linux, or other combinations of operating systems. However, it is known that Microsoft previously became strict with this through its Secure Boot feature, preventing Windows 10 from booting other OS.
However, while users have found ways to go around these restrictions, Microsoft introduced ways of experiencing other OS on Windows-powered PCs in the past. In 2022, Microsoft introduced the so-called Windows Subsystem for Linux which allows PCs to run the open-source OS on their computers, but in this case, it will no longer require dual booting.
While Linux has been the operating system preferred by developers, having it alongside Windows would give users access to both experiences, and it has been done through the dual-boot practice. However, the latest Microsoft security update for Secure Boot is now preventing dual booting from happening, and while this issue is not yet addressed, users may resort to the workaround suggestion to make it work.
