How to install Kali Linux as your primary or secondary operating system. How to install Kali Linux as the main or second operating system Installing Kali Linux next to Windows 10

How to install Kali Linux on a laptop?

Hello everyone, in this article from Computer76 I will show with my example how to install Kali Linux on a laptop. Operating room installation Linux systems implies, I think, first of all the fact of the presence of pre-installed Windows in the laptop. Our task is to install Kali Linux on a laptop as a second system so that both OSes do not interfere with each other.

A few nuances. But they exist. What do you need to know to install Kali Linux on a laptop?

There won't be many difficulties. The installer of Kali, downloaded from the official website, knows Russian perfectly, and writes correctly and logically. Our task is to carefully read the manager’s advice. Installing Kali Linux on a laptop will not be more difficult than Windows.

So, I have a laptop with pre-installed operating systems Windows systems XP, Windows 7 and Windows 10 (you don't have to have that many). I'll put Kali Linux on the fourth one.
The first thing you need to do is prepare a place for Kali Linux. To do this, use a free program for working with AOMEI sections (or from offsite). Immediate advice from the bottom of my heart: a single-core Kali processor will not cope, but if there are 2 or more “stones” on board, then there are no options - download ONLY 64 bit version of Kali Linux. You will still remember this advice...

Windows Subsystem for Linux (abbreviated WSL) Microsoft company announced quite recently. The new subsystem, as you might guess, allows you to run Linux distributions directly in Windows 10 without, moreover, without a “dual boot” and without the need to create a virtual machine.

Moreover, thanks to the efforts of Offensive Security and the WSL Microsoft development team, Kali Linux can recently be downloaded simply from the Microsoft Store.

In fact, like the most common application...

And now, first of all, Kali Linux right from the start it works normally and without known problems with Wi-Fi (which are familiar to anyone who has at least once tried to launch a virtual machine with Kali before), secondly, the OS gets full access to the available computer resources (since there is nothing to “virtualize” necessary), and thirdly, we repeat, it starts immediately, and you no longer need to restart the computer every time when you need to switch from to Kali or vice versa. In general, further about...

how to install and configure the Kali Linux subsystem on Windows 10

Installing Kali in addition to Windows can be quite useful. However, you need to exercise extreme caution during the installation procedure. First, make sure you back up your important data and your version of Windows. Since you will be working with hard drive, it is better to save backups to external device storage After the backup is complete, we recommend that you read the “” article, which describes the procedure for a normal Kali installation.

In our example, we will install Kali Linux in addition to Windows 7, which takes up 100% of the computer's disk space. We'll start by resizing the current Windows partition to free up some free space, and then install Kali Linux on the new empty partition.

Download Kali Linux and burn the system image to DVD or as installation media. If your computer does not have an optical drive or USB ports, please refer to the publication. Make sure you have:

At least 8 GB of free space on Windows
Support boot from CD-DVD/USB

Preparing for installation

Download Kali Linux.
Burn the Kali Linux ISO image to DVD or copy Kali Linux Live to USB.
Open the BIOS and make sure your computer is set to boot from CD/USB.

Installation procedure as a second operating system

Kali Linux Installation Procedure

Nowadays, many modern laptops do not have a DVD drive, so it is impossible to install an operating system with optical disk. This is not a problem, since the installation can be completed entirely from a USB drive, including a regular flash drive.

We will need an installation image of the operating system (.iso file) and a flash drive with at least 4 Gigabytes in size.

Download Kali Linux from the official website: https://www.kali.org/downloads/

If you are having trouble deciding which version to choose, read about their differences.

Now you need to burn the Windows image to a USB flash drive. This needs to be done correctly - simply copying the file is not enough. To make a flash drive suitable for installing an operating system, you need a program like . This is a free program - download and install it.

Connect the USB flash drive to your computer and launch Win32 Disk Imager.

Specify the image file (switch to view all files):

and select the correct Device (i.e. flash drive):

When everything is ready, press the button Write. Remember that all data from the flash drive will be deleted!

How to boot from a Kali Linux flash drive

Disabling Secure boot in BIOS

While the flash drive is being written, we need to disable the Secure Boot option in the BIOS.

Turn on your computer. If it does not have an operating system, then you will immediately be taken to the BIOS. If the operating system is already installed, press the button many times as you boot the computer. Esc Delete) and select Enter Setup(automatic entry into BIOS may occur):

Click F7 to go to Advance Mode and there select the tab Security. Find the option Secure boot:

Disable it (select disabled):

To save the settings, click F10.

Look for the option Fast boot- if you have it, also disable it ( disabled).

Booting from a Kali Linux flash drive

When recording to the flash drive is finished, insert the flash drive into the laptop slot and turn it on - if the message “ Please press any key to boot from CD or DVD", then press any button. This message translates to “please press any button to boot from CD or DVD. Even though we boot from a flash drive, this suits us.

If the operating system is already installed, press the button many times as you boot the computer. Esc(on some computers you need to press Delete). If boot options appear, select the option that corresponds to your flash drive.

If such a menu does not appear, then go to the BIOS and select the USB flash drive as the boot disk.

Step-by-step instructions for installing Kali Linux on your computer

In this window, select Start Installer:

Choose language:

Select Yes:

Choose according to your preferences:

A message about the need for a driver for a Wi-Fi card, I don’t have this driver, so I’m skipping it. You may not see a message like this at all:

I continue as is:

I skip setting up the network:

Enter hostname:

Superuser password:

Timezone:

The most crucial moment is the selection and layout of disks. If you select the wrong drive, you may lose data (for example, uninstalling another operating system):

As you can see, I already have another operating system installed.

If you want to delete previous system and install Kali Linux instead, then erase the partitions from the old OS, create new section and select it to install Kali.

If you have several disks, you can install Kali Linux on any unused one.

I will install Kali Linux directly on the main partition. To do this I will resize the drive where Windows is installed.

and in the free space I will create another partition, which I will install a new OS.

In addition to the main partition, it is proposed to install a swap partition (like a swap file on Windows). For these purposes, you can allocate a separate disk - depending on your needs, it can be 2-8 GB. The swap partition is used if the operating system does not have enough random access memory- data that is not currently in use is reset to this partition. That is, it is like additional RAM that works slower than the main one. I have 16 Gigabytes of RAM, so I don't create a swap partition.

Confirm the changes made:

We are waiting for the data copying to complete:

If you have an Internet connection configured, you can choose to download packages from the network (more recent versions)

Wait until the system starts to reboot and remove the flash drive:

After installation, Kali Linux will create its own GRUB boot loader. If you have other operating systems on your computer, this bootloader will find them all and display them in the boot menu for you to select.

Remember that the original Windows boot loader is not erased. That is, if you want Windows to boot by default, then go to the BIOS and there select the desired disk, which should boot automatically.

GRUB display resolution is incorrect

Usually the GRUB boot loader menu has the wrong display resolution. In the vast majority of cases, this is not a problem - the menu items are still visible, and savvy Linux immediately changes the resolution to the correct one as soon as it takes over control.

But this is not the case with Windows. If you booted Windows using the GRUB bootloader with the wrong resolution, then Windows in this session will no longer be able to set the resolution to the correct one, even if you go to do it manually.

The easiest way to fix the situation is to change the GRUB screen resolution. First, you need to find out what resolutions your computer supports. To do this, hold down the key while loading starts. Shift. When the GRUB boot menu appears, click c, and then enter the command in the console:

Videoinfo

Remember the highest display resolution that your video adapter supports.

Then boot into Linux. There, open the file for editing /etc/default/grub.

Find the line in it

#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

Uncomment it (remove the hash at the very beginning) and replace 640x480 with the maximum resolution that your computer supports. Usually this is 1920x1080, so it should look something like

GRUB_GFXMODE=1920x1080

Save and close this file.

Update bootloader settings:

Sudo update-grub

The next time you reboot, you will be able to enjoy tiny letters in the upper left part of the screen, but Windows will now have a normal resolution.

Microsoft has included the Linux subsystem in Windows 10, as a result of which you can easily install the Ubuntu, OpenSuse and even Kali Linux distribution from the application store and work on the command line of your computer!

If you are tired of rebooting into Linux every time or using virtual machine, then Windows 10 offers a great tool called Windows Subsystem for Linux. This will allow you to work in the Windows command line with all the advantages of Linux as in a native environment! How to do it?

Enable "Windows Subsystem for Linux"

In order to start working with Linux from the Windows command line, you need to activate a special component called “Windows Subsystem for Linux”.

To do this, go to “Control Panel” -> “Programs” -> “Turn Windows features on or off.”

Here you need to check the box next to “Windows Subsystem for Linux”. Then restart your computer!

The first part is done, now let's move on to the second, installing a Linux distribution on Windows! There are several options available:

Ubuntu
OpenSuse
Kali Linux
Debian

Yes, the choice is not great yet, but perhaps over time new distributions will appear on Windows. In order to install one of the Linux systems, open the MicroSoft Store and enter the name of the distribution in the search bar and download it to your computer.

A shortcut with Linux installed will appear in Start. You can also launch the Linux distribution from the command line or Power Shell by entering its name.

At the first starting Linux you will be asked to create a username and password and the subsystem is ready to go!