Using QEMU/Virt-Manager you can just create a new VM and instead of creating a virtual disk you just input the path to your drive manually. In my case it’s mounted at /dev/sdb
This will pass your full drive to the VM and Windows will just boot up like magic
Edit: If you already have a Windows VM I would assume you could just edit it and change from virtual drive to your full Windows drive instead. I don’t think you have to make a new one
I am using single GPU VFIO passthrough and it’s good enough to game on, especially if you also pin your CPU threads in the VM.
You will lose a little bit of performance but if you really need that extra power you can just switch to bare metal Windows using dual boot
If you don’t want the full bloated Windows I can recommend that you check out ReviOS
Interesting, never heard of ReviOS before. Is there a list of changes they’ve made? I looked thru their site and couldn’t see any such details their docs. I’d like to know what sets it apart from the likes of Tiny11 and Ghost Spectre Superlite etc.
I also considered using Tiny11 and Ghost Spectre but ended up with Revi because I don’t really trust Tiny11 or Ghost Spectre. It’s super easy for a malicious actor to include malware in those redistributed ISOs.
Of course the same thing can be said about Revi but Revi also offers the option to run their Playbook on a regular install of Windows. Or you could make your own custom Windows Playbook with Ameliorated.
Then there is also AtlasOS which, like Revi, is made using Ameliorated. I chose Revi because they had MS store and Windows defender still working and I like their custom tool. But according to Atlas developers, Windows Defender will be coming back in the next release.
In the end I guess what it comes down to is who you trust. The safest bet would be to debloat Windows yourself.
Dual boot on separate disks is pretty nice. You can even load up your Windows install inside a VM on your Linux drive
How can I do this? I already have Windows on a separate drive. I’m running Linux Mint
Using QEMU/Virt-Manager you can just create a new VM and instead of creating a virtual disk you just input the path to your drive manually. In my case it’s mounted at /dev/sdb
This will pass your full drive to the VM and Windows will just boot up like magic
Edit: If you already have a Windows VM I would assume you could just edit it and change from virtual drive to your full Windows drive instead. I don’t think you have to make a new one
That sounds genius. The new drive is a 2TB NVME and the old is a 1TB NVME so that is totally a possibility.
I am using single GPU VFIO passthrough and it’s good enough to game on, especially if you also pin your CPU threads in the VM. You will lose a little bit of performance but if you really need that extra power you can just switch to bare metal Windows using dual boot
If you don’t want the full bloated Windows I can recommend that you check out ReviOS
Interesting, never heard of ReviOS before. Is there a list of changes they’ve made? I looked thru their site and couldn’t see any such details their docs. I’d like to know what sets it apart from the likes of Tiny11 and Ghost Spectre Superlite etc.
Here are the feature differences compared to regular Windows https://www.revi.cc/docs/faq/before/features/
Revi is built using the Ameliorated Wizard. The CLI version is open source.
I also considered using Tiny11 and Ghost Spectre but ended up with Revi because I don’t really trust Tiny11 or Ghost Spectre. It’s super easy for a malicious actor to include malware in those redistributed ISOs.
Of course the same thing can be said about Revi but Revi also offers the option to run their Playbook on a regular install of Windows. Or you could make your own custom Windows Playbook with Ameliorated.
Then there is also AtlasOS which, like Revi, is made using Ameliorated. I chose Revi because they had MS store and Windows defender still working and I like their custom tool. But according to Atlas developers, Windows Defender will be coming back in the next release.
In the end I guess what it comes down to is who you trust. The safest bet would be to debloat Windows yourself.
See Docs -> FAQ -> Before installation -> Features
I did that for a while but the other day I wiped out the windows drive and squished the two of them into a single drive with LVM 👍