I currently have a Dell laptop that runs Windows for work. I use an external SSD via the Thunderbolt port to boot Linux allowing me to use the laptop as a personal device on a completely separate drive. All I have to do is F12 at boot, then select boot from USB drive.

However, this laptop is only using 1 of the 2 internal M.2 ports. Can I install Linux on a 2nd M.2 drive? I would want the laptop to normally boot Windows without a trace of the second option unless the drive is specified from the BIOS boot options.

Will this cause any issues with Windows? Will I be messing anything up? For the external drive setup, I installed Linux on a different computer, then transferred the SSD to the external drive. Can I do the same for the M.2 SSD – install Linux on my PC, then transfer that drive to the laptop?

Any thoughts or comments are welcome.

Edit: Thank you everyone! This was a great discussion with a lot of great and thoughtful responses. I really appreciate the replies and all the valuable information and opinions given here.

  • phx
    27·
    5 months ago

    Yes, and especially don’t fuck with the hardware or core boot/OS configuration. That’d the kind of stuff that can get you fired in most orgs I’ve been in.

    Is Linux likely to mess up the stuff in Windows: probably not? It does require you to do likely-unauthorized things to the device to install, including potentially circumventing some controls required in the work device.

    Whether it causes issue or not, circumventing those policies or controls is not going to land well if you get caught at it.