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.

  • @FigMcLargeHugeEnglish
    6•5 months ago

    And by the way kids, lets just say he causes a breach in some way, shape, or fashion, this could go from him just trying to get to the internet on his work provided laptop to him facing jail time. Depending on the nature of his work and the data they have, it could be a law that ends up broken and he could face the consequences. None of that is worth it when he could literally buy a new laptop for cheap. I bet it’s less than the hourly rate for the lawyer he might need.