I had installed a back version of Debian in a partition on a 500-megahertz computer that was otherwise running Windows 2000 and MS-DOS.
When I had finished installing Linux, on that machine, Grub wanted to know whether I wanted it installed in the master boot record. It reported seeing Windows 2000 and MS-DOS in other bootable partitions. I agreed. Grub has allowed me to boot any of the three of these when the BIOS has executed. I later installed Debian 10.2 in a partition on a 64-bit computer that was otherwise running Windows 10. When I had finished installing Linux, Grub wanted to know whether I wanted it installed on the master boot record. It reported seeing "Windows Vista" in another bootable partition. I agreed. This time, however, Grub modified the master boot record to allow only Linux to be booted. I had to pay to have Windows 10 reinstalled. I tried again, this time avoiding the master boot record entirely. I asked that Grub install itself on a 3.5" diskette (in a USB floppy drive). It did not. It installed itself instead on the master boot record, again allowing only Linux to be booted. Again I had to pay to have Windows 10 reinstalled. I have now another 64-bit computer, running Windows 10, whose BIOS provides the option of booting from a USB device. If I install Debian 10.2 in a partition on this computer, would I tell Grub to make the partition bootable? Would Grub instead install itself on the master boot record anyway, allowing only Linux to be booted? I can not afford to lose access to Windows 10 again. Thank you for your assistance. -- William Lee Valentine -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus
