how to hide the small fat32 drive that is for linux UEFI bootloader, from Windows?

I've dual booted my Windows 10 OS with a Manjaro Linux distribution. While installing the Manjaro, I was asked to create a 500mb fat32 partition for the UEFI boot and I was warned that without it, bootloader might not work at all. So I created that partition.

Now I have booted back into my Windows OS and because Windows recognizes FAT32, the 500mb drive is there in my computer among my other drives and it's annoying, is there a way to hide it without causing any problems? I don't want to lose my Manjaro bootloader.

edited Feb 14 at 12:01

asked Feb 14 at 11:53

Moytaba

114

Didn't Windows already have its own EFI partition?

– grawity
Feb 14 at 12:09

@grawity Do you mean I don't need to create another one for Manjaro and it will be fine? I read somewhere else too that Windows has an EFI partition itself but I don't find any EFI folders in my C: drive(I'm certain that my windows is using UEFI boot).

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:20

Well, they're not in your C: drive because they're in a different partition. (The "C:" letter corresponds only to a single partition, not to the whole disk.) Normally Windows doesn't show its own EFI partition, though you can access it with mountvol /s. And yes, if the existing EFI partition has enough free space, you can just reuse it for Linux alongside Windows.

– grawity
Feb 14 at 12:23

@grawity Great! Thanks. It has almost 200mb free space.

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:31

add a comment |

edited Feb 14 at 12:01

asked Feb 14 at 11:53

Moytaba

114

Didn't Windows already have its own EFI partition?

– grawity
Feb 14 at 12:09

@grawity Do you mean I don't need to create another one for Manjaro and it will be fine? I read somewhere else too that Windows has an EFI partition itself but I don't find any EFI folders in my C: drive(I'm certain that my windows is using UEFI boot).

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:20

Well, they're not in your C: drive because they're in a different partition. (The "C:" letter corresponds only to a single partition, not to the whole disk.) Normally Windows doesn't show its own EFI partition, though you can access it with mountvol /s. And yes, if the existing EFI partition has enough free space, you can just reuse it for Linux alongside Windows.

– grawity
Feb 14 at 12:23

@grawity Great! Thanks. It has almost 200mb free space.

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:31

add a comment |

edited Feb 14 at 12:01

asked Feb 14 at 11:53

Moytaba

114

windows partitioning multi-boot manjaro

edited Feb 14 at 12:01

asked Feb 14 at 11:53

Moytaba

114

edited Feb 14 at 12:01

asked Feb 14 at 11:53

Moytaba

114

edited Feb 14 at 12:01

asked Feb 14 at 11:53

Moytaba

114

asked Feb 14 at 11:53

Moytaba

114

asked Feb 14 at 11:53

Moytaba

114

Didn't Windows already have its own EFI partition?

– grawity
Feb 14 at 12:09

@grawity Do you mean I don't need to create another one for Manjaro and it will be fine? I read somewhere else too that Windows has an EFI partition itself but I don't find any EFI folders in my C: drive(I'm certain that my windows is using UEFI boot).

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:20

Well, they're not in your C: drive because they're in a different partition. (The "C:" letter corresponds only to a single partition, not to the whole disk.) Normally Windows doesn't show its own EFI partition, though you can access it with mountvol /s. And yes, if the existing EFI partition has enough free space, you can just reuse it for Linux alongside Windows.

– grawity
Feb 14 at 12:23

@grawity Great! Thanks. It has almost 200mb free space.

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:31

add a comment |

Didn't Windows already have its own EFI partition?

– grawity
Feb 14 at 12:09

@grawity Do you mean I don't need to create another one for Manjaro and it will be fine? I read somewhere else too that Windows has an EFI partition itself but I don't find any EFI folders in my C: drive(I'm certain that my windows is using UEFI boot).

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:20

Well, they're not in your C: drive because they're in a different partition. (The "C:" letter corresponds only to a single partition, not to the whole disk.) Normally Windows doesn't show its own EFI partition, though you can access it with mountvol /s. And yes, if the existing EFI partition has enough free space, you can just reuse it for Linux alongside Windows.

– grawity
Feb 14 at 12:23

@grawity Great! Thanks. It has almost 200mb free space.

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:31

Didn't Windows already have its own EFI partition?

– grawity
Feb 14 at 12:09

@grawity Do you mean I don't need to create another one for Manjaro and it will be fine? I read somewhere else too that Windows has an EFI partition itself but I don't find any EFI folders in my C: drive(I'm certain that my windows is using UEFI boot).

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:20

Well, they're not in your C: drive because they're in a different partition. (The "C:" letter corresponds only to a single partition, not to the whole disk.) Normally Windows doesn't show its own EFI partition, though you can access it with mountvol /s. And yes, if the existing EFI partition has enough free space, you can just reuse it for Linux alongside Windows.

– grawity
Feb 14 at 12:23

@grawity Great! Thanks. It has almost 200mb free space.

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:31

add a comment |

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

So the direct answer is (well, should be) to set the 'Hidden' and 'Do not automount' flags on the partition using gdisk or a similar tool.

Run gdisk /dev/sda (if that's your disk)

In main menu, use p to see the partition list

In main menu, use x to enter the expert menu

In expert menu, use a to change attributes, and enter your partition's number

In the attribute list, enable "62" (hidden) and "63" (do not automount) attributes

In expert menu, use w to write changes and exit.

And the indirect answer is you don't need the partition. One disk only needs a single EFI system partition, and multiple operating systems can share it.

Mount the Windows EFI partition somewhere temporary, e.g. /mnt/winefi;

Move the Mint EFI files to the Windows EFI partition (retaining the same folders etc.)

If Mint uses GRUB2, run grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt/winefi;

Reboot and see if it worked. If it did, delete the now-empty Mint EFI partition.

answered Feb 14 at 12:42

grawity

242k37510567

Thanks once again, I like the first way better, because a Windows update might overwrite the EFI partition.

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:54

1

It never does. In the design of EFI (which Microsoft participates in), the whole reason of having a partition is that the OS wouldn't need to overwrite everything; it'd just have its own EFI<vendor> subfolder.

– grawity
Feb 14 at 13:31

add a comment |

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1 Answer
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1 Answer
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oldest

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So the direct answer is (well, should be) to set the 'Hidden' and 'Do not automount' flags on the partition using gdisk or a similar tool.

Run gdisk /dev/sda (if that's your disk)

In main menu, use p to see the partition list

In main menu, use x to enter the expert menu

In expert menu, use a to change attributes, and enter your partition's number

In the attribute list, enable "62" (hidden) and "63" (do not automount) attributes

In expert menu, use w to write changes and exit.

And the indirect answer is you don't need the partition. One disk only needs a single EFI system partition, and multiple operating systems can share it.

Mount the Windows EFI partition somewhere temporary, e.g. /mnt/winefi;

Move the Mint EFI files to the Windows EFI partition (retaining the same folders etc.)

If Mint uses GRUB2, run grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt/winefi;

Reboot and see if it worked. If it did, delete the now-empty Mint EFI partition.

answered Feb 14 at 12:42

grawity

242k37510567

Thanks once again, I like the first way better, because a Windows update might overwrite the EFI partition.

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:54

1

It never does. In the design of EFI (which Microsoft participates in), the whole reason of having a partition is that the OS wouldn't need to overwrite everything; it'd just have its own EFI<vendor> subfolder.

– grawity
Feb 14 at 13:31

add a comment |

So the direct answer is (well, should be) to set the 'Hidden' and 'Do not automount' flags on the partition using gdisk or a similar tool.

Run gdisk /dev/sda (if that's your disk)

In main menu, use p to see the partition list

In main menu, use x to enter the expert menu

In expert menu, use a to change attributes, and enter your partition's number

In the attribute list, enable "62" (hidden) and "63" (do not automount) attributes

In expert menu, use w to write changes and exit.

And the indirect answer is you don't need the partition. One disk only needs a single EFI system partition, and multiple operating systems can share it.

Mount the Windows EFI partition somewhere temporary, e.g. /mnt/winefi;

Move the Mint EFI files to the Windows EFI partition (retaining the same folders etc.)

If Mint uses GRUB2, run grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt/winefi;

Reboot and see if it worked. If it did, delete the now-empty Mint EFI partition.

answered Feb 14 at 12:42

grawity

242k37510567

Thanks once again, I like the first way better, because a Windows update might overwrite the EFI partition.

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:54

1

It never does. In the design of EFI (which Microsoft participates in), the whole reason of having a partition is that the OS wouldn't need to overwrite everything; it'd just have its own EFI<vendor> subfolder.

– grawity
Feb 14 at 13:31

add a comment |

So the direct answer is (well, should be) to set the 'Hidden' and 'Do not automount' flags on the partition using gdisk or a similar tool.

Run gdisk /dev/sda (if that's your disk)

In main menu, use p to see the partition list

In main menu, use x to enter the expert menu

In expert menu, use a to change attributes, and enter your partition's number

In the attribute list, enable "62" (hidden) and "63" (do not automount) attributes

In expert menu, use w to write changes and exit.

And the indirect answer is you don't need the partition. One disk only needs a single EFI system partition, and multiple operating systems can share it.

Mount the Windows EFI partition somewhere temporary, e.g. /mnt/winefi;

Move the Mint EFI files to the Windows EFI partition (retaining the same folders etc.)

If Mint uses GRUB2, run grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt/winefi;

Reboot and see if it worked. If it did, delete the now-empty Mint EFI partition.

answered Feb 14 at 12:42

grawity

242k37510567

So the direct answer is (well, should be) to set the 'Hidden' and 'Do not automount' flags on the partition using gdisk or a similar tool.

Run gdisk /dev/sda (if that's your disk)

In main menu, use p to see the partition list

In main menu, use x to enter the expert menu

In expert menu, use a to change attributes, and enter your partition's number

In the attribute list, enable "62" (hidden) and "63" (do not automount) attributes

In expert menu, use w to write changes and exit.

And the indirect answer is you don't need the partition. One disk only needs a single EFI system partition, and multiple operating systems can share it.

Mount the Windows EFI partition somewhere temporary, e.g. /mnt/winefi;

Move the Mint EFI files to the Windows EFI partition (retaining the same folders etc.)

If Mint uses GRUB2, run grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt/winefi;

Reboot and see if it worked. If it did, delete the now-empty Mint EFI partition.

answered Feb 14 at 12:42

grawity

242k37510567

answered Feb 14 at 12:42

grawity

242k37510567

answered Feb 14 at 12:42

grawity

242k37510567

answered Feb 14 at 12:42

grawity

242k37510567

Thanks once again, I like the first way better, because a Windows update might overwrite the EFI partition.

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:54

1

It never does. In the design of EFI (which Microsoft participates in), the whole reason of having a partition is that the OS wouldn't need to overwrite everything; it'd just have its own EFI<vendor> subfolder.

– grawity
Feb 14 at 13:31

add a comment |

Thanks once again, I like the first way better, because a Windows update might overwrite the EFI partition.

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:54

1

It never does. In the design of EFI (which Microsoft participates in), the whole reason of having a partition is that the OS wouldn't need to overwrite everything; it'd just have its own EFI<vendor> subfolder.

– grawity
Feb 14 at 13:31

Thanks once again, I like the first way better, because a Windows update might overwrite the EFI partition.

– Moytaba
Feb 14 at 12:54

It never does. In the design of EFI (which Microsoft participates in), the whole reason of having a partition is that the OS wouldn't need to overwrite everything; it'd just have its own EFI<vendor> subfolder.

– grawity
Feb 14 at 13:31

add a comment |

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