How to dual boot windows and steamos

Arpan Roy

Feb 26, 2016 · 4 min read

The excerpt below is for those of you who are trying to install Steam on their machine with dual boot capability alongside Windows 10 (7,8). There’s quite a bit of material out there on how to achieve this but most of it is old now and I’ll add a few refresher points that completes the information available.

Steam iso is available here. Once you get i t and burn it to a DVD, restart your machine and make sure your BIOS boots first from your DVD drive. Alternatively you can create a bootable USB drive from the zip file. The first public release of Steam in late 2013 needed the whole hard disk for its installation ( Automatic install) and automatically erased any existing OS installed on your system. Now Valve has since updated its Expert Install menu based on the Power User install of the Ye Olde Steam OS version. The Power User install process using Ye Olde Steam OS is described in detail here (with screenshots). Steam OS installation needs four partitions, three 10 GB partitions with

1st partition mount point set to /,
2nd partition set to use as swap area,
3rd partition mount point set to /boot/recovery
and a 4th large partition or the main SteamOS games partition will have mount point set to /home.

When you boot from the SteamOS DVD/bootable USB, the expert install menu takes you to the manual partitioning menu. On the first screen, the expert install process by default uses your whole hard drive and puts the majority of your hard disk (HD capacity-30 GB) in the 4th /home partition. Here you can click “ Undo changes to partitions” and you get a clear view of what your actual hard drive partitions actually look like. If you have Windows installed on your hard disk already, you’ll have a Windows partition (your C: drive, maybe 50–100 GB). Now, you need to understand the nature of the partitions on your hard disk. In Windows 10, go to right click ThisPC->Manage-> Disk Management. Here you can see the details on your partitions. If you have Windows installed on your system, your hard drive may be a basic disk or a dynamic disk. SteamOS can only be installed on a logical partition which is only available in basic disks.

If your hard drive is a dynamic disk, its better if you use some form of partitioning tool to convert it back to a basic disk. The Disk Management tool does not have this functionality. MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro can be used for this. If you try to set up partitions on a dynamic disk partition using the SteamOS installer, it will fail to resize the partition correctly and abort. Any unallocated space you create from a dynamic partition using Disk Management (shrink Volume or delete Volume) will be show up as unusable in SteamOS installer.
If your hard drive is a basic disk with Windows installed, the partitioner will show one primary Windows partition and one or more NTFS data partitions (primary or logical). From one of the NTFS data partitions, you need to create “Free Space” for installing SteamOS.

There are currently 3 options for dual booting I can think of, of which none are supported:

1. You can either wipe your entire drive by installing SteamOS, then use gparted on the home partition with any random Linux live cd to shrink it. After that you install Windows in the new empty space, then boot the live cd again to install grub.

2. have an empty drive, unplug everything but that driver during install. When you’re done installing replug all your other drives. Now you could either pick which disk you want to boot in your bios or run the command update-grub in the command line of SteamOS, which should recognize your Windows partition and add it to the boot menu.

3. Modify the default.preseed file to not erase your Windows partition and use the available free space, this is the most advanced way of doing this though and a lot of stuff can go wrong.

I hope this info is useful to someone.

3. Modify the default.preseed file to not erase your Windows partition and use the available free space, this is the most advanced way of doing this though and a lot of stuff can go wrong.

I hope this info is useful to someone.

Sure, dual boot is possible, you’ll need to install Grub2 into your boot sector after installation and it’ll detect all your existing systems(assuming you’ve not been stupid and haven’t erased them) at hard drives automatically. Easiest way I know is to download Ubuntu image and boot it as live-cd. I think your title isn’t correct judging from your post.

We are talking about SteamOS, an Ubuntu live-cd doesn’t get you to test SteamOS, only Steam for Linux (and even for that you would need your nvidia/AMD graphic card drivers, which are not available in the live-cd).

According to the FAQ, the official SteamOS installation will erase your disk, even in the “advanced” installation there’s no way to select a different partitioning scheme.

3. Modify the default.preseed file to not erase your Windows partition and use the available free space, this is the most advanced way of doing this though and a lot of stuff can go wrong.

I hope this info is useful to someone.

3. Modify the default.preseed file to not erase your Windows partition and use the available free space, this is the most advanced way of doing this though and a lot of stuff can go wrong.

I hope this info is useful to someone.

Thanks, but I think I’ll just wait for someone to do a tuturial for now.
But seriusly the only official ways Valve gave us to try out their new OS require to erease all your stuff.
Thats not very friendly and thought-out Valve.

SteamOS has finally dropped in all its beta glory . If you were one of the lucky 300 people who got some hardware to play with, you’re all set. The rest of us, however, have to install it on our own machines. Here’s how to do that.

SteamOS Beta is Available for Download

Steam’s new Linux-based gaming operating system (colloquially, SteamOS) is finally available for…

Before we begin, there are some very important caveats:

This will wipe your machine. Due to the way Valve has distributed this image, you cannot partition a hard drive or dual boot it with your existing set up. This is a recovery image and your partition table will be wiped clean if you attempt to install it on the same hard drive. If you want to play around with it in a non-destructive manner, you can try it in a virtual machine . Once you’ve got SteamOS installed, you can create a new Windows partition, but this will wipe your existing setup.
This may wipe your secondary hard drives, too. The basic method is not optimized for installing on systems with multiple drives. Depending on how your boot tables are set up, you might inadvertently lose data on your other drives as well. Be safe and remove all hard drives except the one you want to install SteamOS on.
You’ll need an NVIDIA graphics card. Sorry AMD users. Support is reportedly coming in the future, but for now if you don’t have an NVIDIA graphics card, you’ll have to sit this one out.

How to dual boot windows and steamos

The SteamOS installation process is fairly streamlined, but not as simple as installing a Windows programme.

At the very least, you should know how to change the boot priority in the Bios. More importantly, you should be prepared to spend time browsing the official SteamOS discussion forums for answers.

Here are the minimum hardware requirements from Valve:

Intel or AMD 64-bit processor;

At least 4GB of RAM;

250GB hard disk space or more, 1TB for Default installation;

Nvidia, AMD, or Intel graphics card; and

USB port or DVD drive.

You should prepare a USB flash drive with at least 4GB of free space. This drive must be formatted using the FAT32 file system. If you are using the Default installation method, name the USB drive “SYSRESTORE” during the format.

There are currently three methods of installing SteamOS.

Do note that the first two methods described here will erase all data on the computer’s hard drive. You should also back up your data before trying the third dual-boot method, because selecting the wrong option (and ignoring the warnings) will delete all the data.

The first two methods require a motherboard that supports UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). This is an improved version of the BIOS that initiates the boot-up process on PCs before the operating system takes over. This technology is used by Windows 8, so PCs that are less than three years old should be UEFI-capable.

Even if your system is not UEFI-ready, you can still install SteamOS using Method 3.

Method 1: Default installation

The easiest way to get SteamOS, also known as Default installation, restores a disk image of SteamOS to the system’s hard drive.

It is similar to system recovery on a laptop or resetting a mobile device to default settings.

The compressed SteamOS disk image takes up 2.6GB of space and Valve requires that your PC have a 1TB or larger hard drive.

Step 1: Download image file from /?ver=default.

Step 2: Unzip the contents of the image file into the USB flash drive prepared earlier.

Step 3: Plug the USB drive into your PC’s USB port and restart the computer.

Step 4: Interrupt the start-up process by hitting a special key (usually Del, F11 or F12) to enter the Bios. This key varies according to the motherboard and is displayed momentarily on the screen when the computer is first turned on.

Step 5: Change the boot priority so that the system will boot up using the USB drive. The entry should be listed under “UEFI Hard Disk BBS Priorities” or something to that effect.

Step 6: Select “Restore Entire Disk” when the option appears after booting from the USB drive.

Step 7: Once the restore process is complete, the system will shut down. Remove the USB drive, turn the system on and it should boot into SteamOS.

Method 2: Custom installation

The second custom installation method requires more work as you are actually installing the Linux operating system (Debian) underlying SteamOS instead of restoring it from an image.

The installation file is smaller (around 965MB) and you do not need a 1TB hard drive.

Step 1: Download the custom SteamOS file from ?ver=custom.

Steps 2 to 5: Follow the same instructions as in Steps 2 to 5 in Method 1.

Step 6: Select “Automated Install” when the option is available. The installation should then proceed automatically.

Step 7: Once the Linux installation is complete, remove the USB drive and turn on the computer. It should show a login screen. Select Gnome and log in using “steam” for both user and password.

Step 8: Install Steam by clicking on the icon on the desktop and accept the terms of use agreement that appears.

Step 9: Click on the Steam icon at the top right corner and log out of the session. Select Gnome again and log in using “desktop” for both user and password.

Step 10: Click on the Activities tab at the top left corner, select Applications and open the Terminal app.

/post_logon.sh” into the Terminal app window. Enter “desktop” for the password. The system will reboot to create a recovery partition and you will be prompted to continue by hitting “y”. When this is completed, the system will reboot into SteamOS.

Method 3: Dual-boot installation

This third and last method is a recent addition that lets users dual-boot SteamOS without wiping their Windows installation. It works with older PCs that do not support UEFI. The installation file is an ISO image file that can be burned onto a DVD for installation.

This method requires more effort, but allows the most customisation. It should be attempted only by tech-savvy users.

Step 1: Download the ISO image from SteamOSDVD.iso.

Step 2: Create a bootable USB drive image with the downloaded ISO file using UNetbootin or other similar utility. If you are installing from an optical drive, burn the ISO image to a blank DVD. Step 3: On the Windows PC that you wish to dual-boot SteamOS, go to Control Panel >Administrative Tools >Computer Management >Storage >Disk Management and allocate free space in your hard drive for SteamOS by shrinking your existing hard drive partition.

Set aside around 50GB to 100GB of space if you can spare it. While you can do this later during the SteamOS installation, I recommend doing it in Windows unless you are familiar with the partitioning tool.

Step 4: Change the boot priority on your PC to start the USB drive (or the optical drive if using a DVD) first (refer to Steps 4 and 5 in the Default installation above).

Step 5: When it boots up from the USB drive (or DVD), select Expert Install.

Step 6: Follow the guided installation process to set up the language, time zone and other settings, until it reaches the Partition Disks section.

Step 7: Locate the free space on the hard drive allocated earlier (Step 3) and create a new partition for the base SteamOS installation with around 10GB of space. Select “Ext4” and “/” for “Use as” and “Mount point” options respectively.

Step 8: Create another partition (swap) for temporary data with around 10GB of space. Like the previous step, select “swap area” for the “Use as” option.

Step 9: Create the recovery partition that will restore SteamOS if it becomes corrupted. Similarly, assign 10GB of space and select “Ext4” for the “Use as” option. For the “Mount point” option, enter “/boot/recovery”.

Step 10: Create a partition for your games and other data. Use up all the remaining free space. Select “Ext4” for the “Use as” option and “/home” for the “Mount point” option.

Step 11: Select “Finish partitioning and write changes to disk” to start the installation.

Step 12: An option will appear to ask if you wish to install the GRUB boot loader. This loader lets you boot either SteamOS or Windows during start-up. Select Yes.

Step 13: When the Linux installation is done, remove the USB drive or DVD and reboot the system. Follow the instructions listed in steps 7 to 11 from the Custom installation to finish installing SteamOS.

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Valve wasn’t joking when it warned that the initial beta version of its living room-friendly SteamOS operating system was for experts only. The initial build was… rough, to say the least—only Nvidia graphics cards were supported, crucial dual-booting and partioning features weren’t supported, and you needed a relatively new rig that rocked UEFI, rather than BIOS, to even try it out.

In the weeks since, those limitations have been falling one-by-one. Before CES, Valve updated the SteamOS beta to support Intel and AMD graphics as well as Nvidia. Over the weekend, another SteamOS beta update added BIOS support and dual-boot and custom partitioning capabilities to the operating system, with help from the Ye Olde SteamOSe team that initially provided a BIOS-ready SteamOS fork. Yay! You don’t have to dedicate a whole drive to SteamOS or blow away Windows anymore!

The new dual-boot options can be found in SteamOS’s “Expert Install” options, but Valve engineer John Vert strongly warns there has been very little testing conducted on this build, especially on dual-boot setups. So while running Windows alongside SteamOS should theoretically work, your mileage may vary. If you’re brave enough to give dual-booting a go, be sure to back up your primary OS install and any critical information in case something goes wrong and your drive is wiped clean.

And if the whole ordeal still sounds like a bit too much of a hassle, check out the slew of Steam Machines that PC builders plan to release later this year, after Valve puts the finishing touches on SteamOS.

Senior editor Brad Chacos covers gaming and graphics for PCWorld, and runs the morning news desk for PCWorld, Macworld, Greenbot, and TechHive. He tweets too.

How to dual boot windows and steamos

Valve this week rolled out an update for the SteamOS beta that allows for”dual-boot and custom partitioning,” so users can install Windows and SteamOS on their machine via the “Expert Install” option.

Valve engineer John Vert on Monday posted a SteamOS ISO for installation on non-UEFI systems. In a shoutout to two programmers, Vert thanked directhex and ecleptik for their work on Ye Olde SteamOSe—a previous version of SteamOS modified to work with older, non-UEFI computers.

Of course, this update is not for the faint of heart. As Vert warned, the untested feature could do irreparable harm to your console.

“So don’t install it on any machine you are not prepared to lose,” he said.

Three days earlier, Vert also revealed Valve’s audio output fix for Intel-based Steam Machines like the Gigabyte Brix Pro.

The gaming company initially revealed its new Linux-based operating system in September, promising a new experience for big-screen players. The openness of the Linux platform allows content creators to directly connect with consumers, and lets users alter or replace any part of the software or hardware.

Alongside the OS, Valve also unveiled its new Steam Controller and a prototype Steam Machine that was shipped to 300 lucky gamers. Consumer Steam Machines—some of which were on display during January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas—will be manufactured by third parties, including Digital Storm’s Bolt II a liquid-cooled PC gaming rig that can play titles from Steam OS as well as Microsoft Windows.

CyberPower, meanwhile, unwrapped a pair of Steam Machine desktop gaming consoels: the Steam Machine A for $499, and the $699 Steam Machine I. Both are expected to hit the market in the second half of the year.

In preparation for the upcoming consoles, Valve recently added support for Intel- and AMD-based graphics, as well as its original Nvidia-based graphics card.

If you want to run Kali Linux on your system but you already have Windows 10 installed, you have a couple of options. One thing you could do is install Kali Linux in a virtual machine, as we’ve shown in our tutorials for installing Kali in VMware and installing Kali in VirtualBox.

The other option is to create a dual boot environment for Kali and Windows. Both options have their pros and cons. The main reason you might want to dual boot with Kali, as opposed to running it in a virtual machine, is to give Kali direct access to your system’s hardware. This way, you don’t have the overhead of a hypervisor, and direct access to components is a lot easier, such as for a Wi-Fi adapter. This is a big selling point if you plan to test the security of Wi-Fi hotspots, for example.

A dual boot environment works by prompting you at startup to select which operating system you’d like to load into. So, you’ll have to reboot your computer each time you want to load into a different operating system. That’s the only disadvantage of this method, but for a system like Kali it should prove worth it.

Ready to get Kali Linux installed alongside Windows 10? Read on below as we take you through all the steps.

In this tutorial you will learn:

How to install Kali Linux alongside Windows 10
How to load into Kali Linux or Windows 10 at system boot

How to dual boot windows and steamos

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions

Category	Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System	Kali Linux and Windows 10
Software	N/A
Other	Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command.
Conventions	# – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command $ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

Installing Kali

In this guide, we’re assuming that you already have a Windows 10 system that is fully functional, not corrupted in any way, etc.

Before we begin, you’ll need to download the Kali Linux installation media. You can use either the live image or the installation image. In this guide, we’ll be using the installation ISO instead of the live image, but the steps should be mostly the same regardless.

Next, turn off your computer and boot to the installation media – whether it be a flash drive, CD, etc. Note that you may have to press a certain key (sometimes F11 or F12, but it varies by manufacturer) in order to load into the boot menu and select your installation media.

After booting to the Kali installation media, select “graphical install” and proceed.

How to dual boot windows and steamos

Select your language, your location, and your keyboard layout on the next few prompts, then proceed.

I am thinking of getting a gaming PC but I know Steam will be releasing there own type of PC that will potentially challenge games consoles and the way gaming is on Windows PC’s. so my question is to everyone will it be better to get a gaming PC with windows on it and download Steam as a program or wait until the Steam OS Gaming PC comes out and purchase that?

What are your thoughts guys?

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for me, i have non-steam games; either stand alone, uplay or origin based. i’ve even dabbled in metaboli rental (which worked well).

i see the steamOS platform the same as console; good but not a repalcement for PC

I won’t be replacing my PC with a Steam box, but i will be playing with Steam OS (when AMD chip/GPU support arrives). I like the idea of a Steam Box, but it won’t be replacing my gaming rig.

I’m actually running SteamOS on a small hard drive and I have to say I like it for any game I play with a controller (so basically anything that isn’t an RTS or FPS).

I’ll personally probably keep this type of setup and just dual boot my PC, when I want to do some crazy gaming session I’ll just go ahead and boot into SteamOS, otherwise it’s windows.

What i’m really excited for is streaming/back-end-processing where I can have a dinky PC in my living room and have my Monster PC handle the heavy lifting. It’s something they want to do and I think many people are like me and would love to see SteamOS in their living room without the need for anything more than a basic mediacenter (that many of us probably already have).

So in short, my answer is Yes.

Yeah that sounds wicked, so you have a separate hard drive just for the SteamOS?

Yup, similar to how you’d dual boot Linux without tinkering with GRUB. I have tons of smaller drives just sitting around and thought I’d take it for a spin. AFIK it’s not impossible to dual boot SteamOS, after all it is Grub, but it doesn’t have a partition editor during install so it’s tricky. If you want to not have to switch hard drives you would just slave it and have your BIOS boot to the master and manually select the slave as-needed. I personally just have it on an external SATA dock because my case is a little cramped at the moment.

SteamOS is designed to compete with consoles. Windows has steam already. So go Windows.

How to dual boot windows and steamos

Of course, this update is not for the faint of heart. As Vert warned, the untested feature could do irreparable harm to your console.

“So don’t install it on any machine you are not prepared to lose,” he said.

Three days earlier, Vert also revealed Valve’s audio output fix for Intel-based Steam Machines like the Gigabyte Brix Pro.

In preparation for the upcoming consoles, Valve recently added support for Intel- and AMD-based graphics, as well as its original Nvidia-based graphics card.

How to dual boot windows and steamos

Arpan Roy

Feb 26, 2016 · 4 min read

SteamOS Beta is Available for Download

Installing Kali

16 Replies

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