Is the installation of Windows on Chromebook possible? : Chromebook has a special closed source OS of Chrome OS that allows only specific functionalities and has the compatibility of applications common to both Android as well as Chromebook. Therefore, you can find a good number of Android apps to be easily installed on Chromebook and all you need to do is activate the Google Play Store in it. But the same is not the luck with Windows-based applications and you cannot run them directly on your device. There is a complex method that can allow you to install Windows on the Chromebook, but you need to be very sure about it. In today’s blog, we would be discussing this portion.
Contents
The pre-requisites to Install Windows on Chromebook
As given the statutory warning, all the Chromebook models cannot run Windows and thus you need to check about your model first before beginning with the entire procedure. Then, you need to replace the BIOS of your device to allow the booting of Windows and again this is not available for all of the models.
Additionally, you would require an external USB mouse and keyboard for the process as the internal ones would not allow and a spare USB drive to install the USB installation media file of Windows. You might have to download certain third-party drivers that can support the functioning of specific-Chromebook hardware with Windows.
And obviously, the original data on the hard drive gets wiped out and so keep a backup of everything important on Google Drive or Cloud services.
Install Windows OS on Chromebook : Step by Step Procedure
After having checked the possibility of running Windows on your particular model and arranging for all of the pre-requisites, please move forward with the steps of installation as mentioned below:
- The first step begins with removing the write protection screw from the device hardware since it prevents bringing any kind of modifications in the default BIOS. Thus, turn off your system completely, disassemble the screws from the bottom to open up the hardware assembly, and then remove the white protection screw or switch (of dark grey color) from it. Keep it safe so that you can use it in the future if you want to re-lock your BIOS.
- The next step is about entering the Developer mode. As mentioned in our previous blog, press Esc+ Refresh+ Power when the device is turned off and then it would boot up to say that the Chrome OS is damaged or removed. Then press Ctrl+ D and then hit enter to turn the OS verification off and enter into the developer mode. After that also, you might see the OS verification off message many times and you need to press Ctrl+ D all the time to bypass it.
- Now comes up the step to introduce the new BIOS. Use Ctrl+ Alt+ T to open up the Terminal window. Type shell and press enter to open up the Linux shell environment. Copy-paste and then run the below command on the Terminal to run the script for replacing your existing BIOS:
cd ~; curl -L -O http://mrchromebox.tech/firmware-util.sh; sudo bash firmware-util.sh
- The above command changes the home directory of the device and downloads the script file to run it. While running, the script prompts a response window to show the entire process. Choose the Full ROM option by typing 3 and hitting enter. Complete some more prompts that would pop up during the process.
- This script would also offer to store the device’s stock firmware in the USB drive that you had plugged in and it can be used later to restore the default BIOS.
- After the backup is done, the replacement Coreboot firmware would start downloading and then you can power on the device.
- Now comes the most important part of creating a windows installation drive. This needs to be done on a Windows PC and you need to burn down the ISO file into the USB drive. Use the Rufus tool for this process and you can find out the detailed procedure for it on official blogs of Rufus.
- Finally, the device is ready to install Windows. Plug in the USB drive with the Installation Drive and then power it on to enter the boot manager interface. Select it as the booting device and the installation process would get started on the Chromebook.
- The process gets completed within some time. You can choose to enter the Windows License Key at a later time and it would not interrupt the process. In the end, the internal device drive would successfully boot up the Windows and finish up the process.
- The last step to end the entire process would be installing the third-party drivers that can run the specific-Chromebook hardware on the Windows OS. Just open up the Command prompt as an administrator and execute the following command to allow the system to introduce third-party drivers in it:
bcdedit -set testsigning on
With this, you can install the required drivers and reboot the system later to bring out the effects on the device.
Therefore, voila! We have detailed you on the complex process of introducing Windows into your Chromebook. Just keep in mind to have a backup of all of your sensitive data beforehand and follow all of the warnings that have been given in the content.