We have already written a dedicated article on how to install Chrome OS on PC, but many users are looking to run Chrome OS and Windows 10 side by side. And that’s why we bring you this detailed tutorial on how to dual boot Chrome OS and Windows 10. It will allow you to have fast performance of Chrome OS and versatility of Windows 10 simultaneously. Not to mention, there is support for Play Store and Linux apps as well. Basically, the confluence of Chrome OS and Windows 10 is a win-win combination for users. So without further ado, let’s go ahead and learn how to install Chrome OS and Windows 10 on a single machine.
Dual Boot Chrome OS and Windows 10
Before we go ahead, I want to make it clear that the tutorial is quite technical in nature so proceed only if you are well-versed with operating multiple systems. Apart from that, this tutorial will not touch any of your Windows files, but as a matter of precaution, you should back up all your important files. One never knows when things can go south. Finally, I would recommend you go through the guide step by step and for that, we have created multiple sections for seamless navigation.
- Requirements
- Downloads
- Manage Files
- Create Partition
- Flash Linux Mint Cinnamon
- Install Chrome OS
- Dual Boot Chrome OS and Windows 10
- Troubleshoot
Requirements
- UEFI boot support in the BIOS
- Intel-based CPU and GPU (AMD CPUs are untested, hence have a low chance of working– more information below)
- A USB flash drive with at least 16GB of storage space
Downloads
1. First off, download the Linux Mint Cinnamon image. Depending on your PC architecture, you can choose either 64-bit or 32-bit build.
2. Next, download Rufus so that we can flash Linux Mint Cinnamon on the USB drive.
3. After that, download the official Chrome OS recovery image from here. Open the website and search for “rammus”. Now, click on the latest recovery image (right now it’s 80, but it may change in the future). Rammus is the recommended image for devices with 4th-gen Intel CPU and newer. However, if you have a 3rd-gen Intel CPU or older then download the latest image for “samus”. And if you have an AMD CPU then you can give a try by downloading the latest image for “grunt”.
4. Now, download the most important file: Brunch. It’s a framework built by a developer named sebanc so huge thanks to him for making this project possible. The framework creates a generic Chrome OS image from the official recovery image so it can be installed on any Windows PC. To download the file, look for the latest stable build and then click on “Assets”. Now, download the “tar.gz” file.
5. Finally, download the “multi_install.sh” script which magically installs Chrome OS on Windows partition. The script has been written by Kedar Nimbalkar. To download it, press Ctrl + S and save the file.
Now that we are done with downloads, let’s get into the steps, shall we?
Manage Files
1. First of all, create a folder named “Chrome OS” on a drive that has ample space. After that, move the “multi_install.sh” file to the “Chrome OS” folder.
2. Next, right-click on the Brunch file and choose “Extract to Brunch…”. All the files will be extracted in a folder.
3. Now, move all the extracted Brunch files to the same “Chrome OS” folder.
4. Similarly, extract the official Chrome OS recovery image and you will get a folder. Open it and rename the file to rammus_recovery.bin. If you have downloaded another image then rename it accordingly.
5. Finally, move the “rammus_recovery.bin” file to the “Chrome OS” folder. By the end, you should have these 6 files inside the “Chrome OS” folder. Make a note of where you have kept the “Chrome OS” folder.
Create Partition
While creating a single partition works for many users, I encountered some issues while installation. So to stay clear of any error during installation, you can follow my unique partition structure. You can create two partitions — one with 100GB and another with 60GB. This is not a specific size requirement and you can reduce the space according to your preference, but if you have ample space then follow this structure for seamless installation.
Keep in mind, we will only use the 100GB partition for installing Chrome OS. The next 60GB is required for mounting the image file. So after the installation is done, you are free to use the 60GB partition for anything on Windows 10.
1. Press the Windows key once and search for “disk partition“. Now, click on the first result.
2. Here, right-click on the last drive and select “Shrink Volume”.
3. Now, enter 160GB if your hard disk has ample space. After that, click on “Shrink“.
4. Next, right-click on the unallocated partition and make it a “New Simple Volume“.
5. Having done that, right-click on the 160GB partition and select “Shrink”. This time, enter 60GB and create another partition. After that, make it a New Simple Volume just like above.
6. Finally, right-click on the 100GB partition and select “Delete Volume“. It will become an “Unallocated” partition. Now, you have successfully created a drive to install Chrome OS on Windows partition.
7. By the end, this is how the last two partitions should look like.
Flash Linux Mint Cinnamon
1. Connect your USB flash drive and open Rufus. Next, click on the “Select” button and choose the Linux Mint Cinnamon ISO image. Now, just click on “Start”. You will get a few prompts so click on “Yes” and “OK” to continue the flashing process.
2. After Rufus is done with flashing, close it. Now, plug the USB flash drive to the PC on which you want to install Chrome OS. If you are installing Chrome OS on the same PC then keep it plugged in.
3. Next, restart your PC and press the boot key continuously to boot into the BIOS. If you don’t know the boot key of your PC then you can find it from the below table.
4. Once you have entered the BIOS, move to the “Boot” tab, and select “UEFI” from the Boot List Option.
5. After that, move to the “Security” tab and disable “Secure Boot”. Keep in mind, every BIOS has its own interface so the menu placement might differ from one PC to another. Nevertheless, look for “UEFI” and “Secure Boot” under Security, Boot, or System Configuration tabs and makes the changes accordingly.
6. Finally, move to the “Exit” tab and choose “Exit Save Changes“. Immediately, after that, start pressing the boot key again. You will be asked to choose your boot device. Select the “USB drive” and hit enter.
7. You will boot straight into Linux Mint Cinnamon. If you are prompted with a splash screen, choose the default option: “Start Linux Mint“.
Install Chrome OS
1. Now that you have booted into Linux Mint, click on the network icon at the bottom-right corner and connect to WiFi or Ethernet. The Chrome OS installer will need an active internet connection to download some libraries and dependencies.
2. Now, open “Computer” on desktop and move to the drive where you have stored the “Chrome OS folder“.
3. Here, right-click anywhere on the window and open Terminal. Now, type sudo sh multi_install.sh and hit enter.
4. It will start downloading the necessary libraries. After that, a GParted window will automatically open up. Here, scroll down and select the “unallocated” partition (100GB). After that, click on the “Plus” button at the top menu bar.
5. Next, choose “ntfs” as the file system and click on “Add”.
6. After that, click on the “Done” button at the top menu-bar.
7. Next, click on the “Apply” button.
8. Now, make a note of partition number which starts with “sda”. For instance, mine is sda9. Finally, close the GParted window.
9. On the Terminal window, enter the partition number that you noted above and hit enter.
10. It will show you the partition detail and will ask for your confirmation. If the partition selection is correct, type yes and hit enter.
Note: If you face any error then go through the “Create Partition” section of this article and make sure to follow the same partition structure.
11. Finally, Linux Mint will start installing Chrome OS on your Windows partition.
12. After the installation is complete, on the Terminal window, scroll up a bit and you will find a “menuentry” section. Now, select whatever is inside the “menuentry” section and copy it. You can right-click on the Terminal window to copy it.
13. Open “Computer” from the desktop again and move to C drive or any other Windows partition. Right-click and select New Document -> Empty document. Here, add .txt at the end and save it.
14. Now, open the text file and paste the commands that you copied from the terminal window. After that, save the text file.
15. You are finally done with the installation. Now, click on the start menu of Linux Mint and restart your computer. Immediately after that, remove the USB drive and you will boot directly into Windows 10 as we have one more step to do.
Dual Boot Chrome OS and Windows 10
You have successfully installed Chrome OS on a Windows partition, but you need to add Chrome OS as a bootable OS during the startup. And for that, we will use the Grub2Win application.
1. Boot into Windows 10 and download Grub2Win (Free) application. Keep in mind, the application is slightly slow so keep patience while handling it.
2. During the setup, keep everything as default and move forward. After that, click on “Manage Boot Menu“.
3. Here, click on “Add a New Entry“.
4. From the drop-down menu, select “submenu” and type “Chrome OS” under the Title field. Next, click on “Edit Custom Code“.
5. Here, paste the command that you copied from the Terminal and saved it in a text file. It should start with “img_part” and make sure there is no “}” at the end. Now, click on “Apply” and “OK”.
6. You have successfully added Chrome OS to the boot menu along with Windows 10. You can also move Chrome OS to the top by clicking on the “arrow” icon. Finally, click on “Apply”.
7. Now, restart your computer, and this time, you would find both Chrome OS and Windows 10 in a Grub2Win interface. Select “Chrome OS” and it will take some time to set up everything on the first run.
Note: If the Grub2Win interface is not showing up after a few bootups then move to the Troubleshoot section for resolving the issue.
8. You can now set up your Google account and enjoy Chrome OS along with Windows 10.
Troubleshoot
If you are getting errors like “Not enough space to create image file”, “failed-to-get-canonical-path-of-cow” or “GtkDialog mapped without a transient parent” then I would strongly recommend you to follow my partition structure. I have no idea why this is happening, but it fixed all my issues. Essentially, it’s a workaround and not a surefire solution. If I get more information around this issue then I will update the guide in the future.
Apart from that, many users have complained that after the initial few bootups, the Grub2Win interface does not show up and the computer directly boots into Windows 10. It happens because Windows is overriding other EFI interfaces. There are solutions like fixing the GRUB through Linux Mint, but I am not going into it for now. For a quick solution, you can press the boot key (F7, F8, F9, etc.) during the startup, and from there, you can select the Grub2Win EFI interface. After that, you will be presented with a multi-boot option. I know it’s a hassle to press the boot key every time during startup, but for now, it’s a quick solution and one that works.
Enjoy Chrome OS and Windows 10 on a Single Machine
So that is how you can install Chrome OS on a Windows partition and boot both the operating systems on a single machine. While the steps are quite lengthy and complex, if you have dealt with Linux systems before then you can easily dual boot Windows 10 and Chrome OS. Anyway, that is all from us. If you are facing any issue then do comment down below and let us know. We will definitely try to help you out.
