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I bought my laptop almost a year ago, came with a FreeDOS OS and I installed Windows 7. Later upgraded to Windows 8 & 8.1.

When I installed Windows 8, I had done it in Legacy (BIOS) mode and there have been NO problems so far.

I've also installed Ubuntu 13.10, but the problem is that I NEVER get the GRUB menu after Ubuntu finishes it's installation process. It always boots to Windows 8 without giving me any options to select an OS.

My laptop supports UEFI. ( I have a C:\Windows\Boot\EFI folder, hence I assume that it is UEFI compatible).

Although when I run msinfo32, it shows me Secure Boot State - Unsupported. Which probably means that my computer does not support Secure Boot.

Now I don't really want to go through the hassle of converting my Legacy/MBR to UEFI/GPT. I don't want to, unless it's really required. I'm not even sure that it would be possible on my system.

Hence could you tell if there's a way to get the GRUB to display, when Ubuntu is dual booted with Windows 8.1, in Legacy Mode?

What I've done so far:

Installed Ubuntu and disabled the option Turn on fast startup (Control Panel -> Power Options -> Choose what the power buttons do) - No changes, still boots directly to Windows


I can't really find any more resources to check on.

Also, if you've happened to find a link which shows how to install in Legacy Mode, please do share. I've Googled for such a solution but I can't find anything else.

System Details:

  • Asus K55VD SX-314D
  • Intel Core i3 - 2350M
  • Windows 8.1 Pro
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  • Maybe grub has not been installed on your MBR? Check serverfault.com/questions/61400/… , SECOND ANSWER (with dd)
    – Nicolas
    Aug 26, 2014 at 16:16
  • @Nicolas I'll try that. In case you come across anything else that may help, please do post it.
    – ash9209
    Aug 26, 2014 at 16:28
  • Also make sure windows is, as you think, booting through the MBR chain. Open msinfo32 and check the "BIOS Mode" line. Mine says "UEFI", yours should say "Legacy". The decision to use UEFI or Legacy should be in your BIOS (or whatever it's called now) settings. For ubuntu, it installs in the mode the install media has been booted on. Simple check: the LiveCD boot screen should be black & white if in UEFI, or closer to this or that if in legacy.
    – Nicolas
    Aug 26, 2014 at 17:20

1 Answer 1

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Here's the easiest way to fix your problem:

  1. Install EasyBCD 2.2.
  2. Goto Add New Entry.
  3. Select Linux/BSD tab in the Operating Systems Section.
  4. Select type as GRUB 2.
  5. Change Name to Ubuntu 13.10 (Optional).
  6. Select Add Entry.
  7. Finally close and reboot, now you should have the option to select Ubuntu 13.10 when you boot.

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