Guide to install Windows 10, 8.1, or 7 on Linux

Since you need to use a software available exclusively for Windows on your Linux PC, you are looking for a guide on the Internet that explains how to install Windows on Linux without too much slamming. In the next lines we will show you all the steps to carry out the procedure in a very simple way!

How to download Windows

Before getting to the heart of today’s new tutorial, you need to get the ISO image of the Microsoft operating system that you can install on Linux. The Redmond company makes at this time to make the download the ISO of Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 (download it only if you have a product key valid only in non-OEM version – that is purchased separately and are not preinstalled on computer). That said, let’s see how to proceed with the Windows download.

Windows 10

To download the ISO image of Windows 10, carefully follow the steps that we propose below:

• Open the default browser on your computer, connect to the official website of Microsoft and press the button Download now the tool that you find under the section Do you want to install Windows 10 on your PC?.
• In the next step, you will download the free Media Creation Tool that the same Microsoft makes available to download any version of Windows 10, install it on your computer, save it as an ISO image or copy it directly on your pendrive. If you use a PC with an operating system other than Windows, you will be offered direct download of the Windows 10 ISO image (32 or 64 bit version via the dedicated drop-down menu).
• Once the download is complete, start the Media Creation Tool for Microsoft and click on Yes, Accept and update your PC now, or create an installation media to another PC. In the first case, the update procedure will start automatically with Windows 10 once the necessary files have been downloaded from the Web, while in the second it will be possible to download the ISO image to be burned to DVD or create a bootable USB stick containing Windows 10.

Windows 8.1

If you want to download Windows 8.1, then consider the steps that we list below:

• Connect to the download page of the operating system through a simple browser, select the edition you wish to download through the Select edition drop-down menu (eg Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 K ) and press the Confirm button.
• In the next step, select the language using the drop down menu Select a language and press Confirm again.
• On the Web page that appears, you can download Windows 8.1 by clicking the 32-bit Download button (for the 32-bit version) or 64-bit Download (for the 64-bit version).

Windows 7

As anticipated in the last lines, to be able to proceed with the download of Windows 7 must have a product key. That said, here are the steps:

• Connect to the download page of the operating system of Microsoft, type the product key in the text box below under Enter the product key and press the Verify button.
• At this point, the verification of the entered code will start and then the download of the ISO 7 of Windows 7.

More tips

If you have a physical installation disk of Windows, you can use a completely free software compatible with all the most famous Linux distro on the market: its name is Brasero. Thanks to this program you will be able to transform the disk into an ISO image to be used for the following steps.

Let’s see how to proceed:

• From your Linux PC, open the market where you can download the applications (eg Ubuntu Software Center on Ubuntu), look for Brasero through the appropriate search field and press the Install button to proceed with the installation.
• In the next step, start the free software and click on the Copy Disc button.
• Now, click on the drop-down menu. Choose the disk you want to copy and select the disk containing the Windows operating system.
• When this is done, press the drop-down menu Select a disc to write to and choose Image file.
• After pressing Properties, select the ISO9660 Image item from the Disc Image Type menu and choose the folder in which to save the image.
• Once the preferred name has been assigned, first click on Save and then click on Create image.

For those who do not know, Microsoft also provides ISO images of Windows suitable for use with virtualization programs (eg VirtualBox ). In other words, these allow you to use the Redmond colossus OS without having to perform any installation procedure.

Let’s see the steps to follow:

• Open the default browser on your Linux PC and connect to the download page of the Microsoft Developer site.
• At this point, press the drop-down menu below the Virtual Machine and choose the version of Windows you prefer most (eg MSEdge on Win10 ).
• After that, through the drop-down menu of Select platform choose the program you are using for virtualization (eg VirtualBox ) and press the button Download zip that appears just below.

How to install Windows on Linux through virtualization

Once the ISO image of the preferred Windows version is obtained, we can now see how to proceed with the installation of the Microsoft OS on your computer with Linux.

Let’s find out together the steps to follow:

• Log on to the official website of VirtualBox and, from the download page, pressed on the proper link based on the Linux distro in your possession (eg. Ubuntu ) in section Virtual box xxx for Linux. Be careful to choose i386 if you have a computer with a 32-bit architecture or AMD64 for a 64-bit one.
• Once the download is complete, proceed with the installation of VirtualBox by first opening the downloaded file through a double click and then pressing the Install button.
• Through the screen that opens, click on New at the top left and proceed by filling out the Name field, choosing the type of operating system to be installed (eg Microsoft Windows ) and the version from the appropriate drop-down menu (eg Windows 10 64 -bit ).
• After pressing Next, choose the amount of RAM to dedicate to the Virtual Machine and press Next if you want to leave the default settings.
• In the next window, we recommend that you leave the options active by default Create a new virtual hard disk, VDI and Allocated dynamically. By doing so, you will get a hard disk in VirtualBox ( VDI ) format optimized for the operating system you wish to install on your Linux PC.
• In conclusion, indicate the maximum storage space that must occupy the virtual machine on the hard disk of the PC through the appropriate bar and click on Create to end the procedure.
• Once the Virtual Machine is created, you need to install Windows using either the installation disk or the downloaded ISO image a little while ago. Start by double clicking on the name of the virtual machine created a short time ago from the main VirtualBox screen.
• At this point, press the yellow folder and select the ISO image to be installed or insert the DVD containing Windows in the appropriate computer reader select it from the appropriate drop down menu.
• Once you click on the Start button, you just have to follow the classic wizard to successfully complete the installation of Windows as if it happened on a real PC.

To make the virtual machine better performing, we suggest you to install the Guest Additions. Let’s talk about additional drivers that allow you to better integrate Windows (in virtual operating system) and Linux (the main OS).

Here are the steps to follow:

• First, start the Virtual Machine and then go to the Devices menu at the top.
• From here, choose Insert the Guest Additions CD image and choose to run the executable. If the Guest Additions download appears from the Internet, click on the Download button.
• Once pressed on Next, wait for the end of the setup and restart the system.

If no automatic startup window appears, open File Explorer, choose Computer/This PC from the left sidebar, press the Guest Additions virtual drive and manually start the installation.

If you have decided to download an ISO image of Windows already ready for use in a Virtual Machine, then take as a reference the steps listed below:

• Instead of creating a new virtual machine within VirtualBox, choose Import virtual application that you find in the File menu at the top left.
• After that, click on the yellow folder, select the previously downloaded OVF file and then click on Next and then click Import to complete the operation.

If you have an image in VDI, VHD or VMDK format, then you must choose the option Use an existing virtual disk file, using the yellow folder icon and then click on the Create button.

How to install Windows on Linux in dual boot

In addition to virtualization through Virtual Machine, you can install Windows in dual boot with Linux. This way, you can take full advantage of your computer hardware and not a small part.

The first procedure to do is to partition the storage disk so as to create a partition reserved for Windows. After that, it is necessary to proceed with the installation of the Microsoft operating system by copying the files on the partition previously created.