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I am dual booting Windows 7 and Arch Linux (both 64bit), with GRUB2, using the 64-bit EFI version.

I partitioned my drive into a GPT drive and installed Windows first according to this guide. I then installed Arch Linux using the Beginner's Guide, installing grub2-efi-x86_64 in the process.

Everything is working fine now, but with one problem. I can set the boot priority in BIOS (or is it UEFI?) to have GRUB boot try and boot before Windows Boot Manager. Then I chainload Windows Boot Manager using GRUB. However, when I actually use Windows in this manner, upon shutting down and turning on again, or rebooting, Windows seems to set Windows Boot Manager first in the priority list again, with the result being I have to manually set GRUB again, or I can't boot into Linux.

My motherboard is an Asrock H61M/USB3, if that helps.

I want to know how to turn off this behaviour.

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  • I have a dual boot of Windows and Linux Mint. When installing mint after windows I put mint boot in its own partition so that Windows boot manager is first. Installed easybcd (freeware) and added linux mint as well as Windows so that option to boot into windows or mint is available and default OS can be set in easy bcd.
    – sarathy
    Aug 11, 2012 at 12:56
  • Something similar was happening to me, see the comment by Rod Smith here: superuser.com/q/1200038/247729 , although I use refind instead of grub. I also have an asrock mobo.
    – Shade
    Apr 15, 2017 at 23:12

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That does seem to be a BIOS issue but I do no know Asrock boards or their tendencies.

@Terdon: MBR is not relevant to GPT disks as such; also, Windows can and will indeed 'touch' the MBR in three cases:

  1. Running bootrec /fixmbr and possibly bootsect /nt60 <os_drive>

  2. Re-installing Windows

  3. Running Windows repair, startup errors.

GPT disks have an 'encapsulated' protective mbr section and grub-install would not work on a GPT disk, as one would need grub-x86_64-efi.

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