Dual Boot Windows and Omarchy (using systemd-boot) Configuration Guide

[OmarSkalli]

This guide walks you through adding a Windows boot option to systemd-boot on a dual-drive setup where Windows is installed on a separate hard drive.

Prerequisites

• Arch Linux installed with systemd-boot as the bootloader
• Windows is already installed on a separate drive
• Root access

1. Identify the Windows EFI System Partition

Run the following command to list disks and partitions:

lsblk --output NAME,PTTYPE,PARTLABEL,FSTYPE,FSVER,LABEL,FSSIZE,FSAVAIL,FSUSE%,MOUNTPOINTS

Look for the Windows EFI System Partition. It will typically:

• Be on the Windows drive (e.g. /dev/sdb2)
• Have FSTYPE as vfat
• Be labeled as an "EFI system partition"

For example, you might see a line:

sdb2   gpt    EFI system partition   vfat   FAT32

2. Mount the Windows EFI Partition

Create a temporary mount point and mount the Windows EFI partition. Make sure to mount the drive based on step 1 (sdb2 in our example, but yours might be different).

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/windows-efi
sudo mount /dev/sdb2 /mnt/windows-efi

Verify that it contains the Microsoft bootloader:

ls /mnt/windows-efi/EFI
# You should see a "Microsoft" folder

3. Copy the Windows Bootloader to Your Linux ESP

Copy the Microsoft bootloader folder into your Linux EFI system partition (usually mounted at /boot):

sudo cp -r /mnt/windows-efi/EFI/Microsoft /boot/EFI/

Then unmount the Windows EFI partition:

sudo umount /mnt/windows-efi

Delete the temporary mount point

sudo rmdir /mnt/windows-efi

4. Reboot and Test

Restart your machine and you should see a new entry:

reboot

You should now see "Windows 11" as a boot option in systemd-boot.

Done

You are should now be able to dual boot between Windows and Arch Linux with systemd-boot.

[pawlobanano]

I set it up almost the same before I found out your discussion post. It's great you wrote it!:)

I have a question to that - do you know if it will last as long as there is the source Windows installation available on disk? In other words, does the original Windows Bootloader change, e.g. during OS updates or not?

[OmarSkalli]

I'm not sure to be honest, as I haven't gone through a Windows OS update yet with this setup.

Because we're copying over the Bootloader from the windows partition, I imagine it's possible to get in a situation where we end up with an outdated version after an update, and no good way to know unless booting on windows simply doesn't work anymore.

[pawlobanano]

I'll keep working with Windows on my setup. I will add new comment here if I find something interesting happening.

[Shubham-Valesha]

Thank you soo much!

[douglascamata]

I followed the guide at https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/tutorial-add-a-systemd-boot-loader-menu-entry-for-a-windows-installation-using-a-separate-esp-partition/37431 and it worked perfectly for me. The only downside is that it involves a couple of reboots.

It seems to use something generic in systemd-boot that starts the Windows EFI boot (which stays intact). I did a few Windows update and never had issues.

[kromsam]

#948

this issue was dual boot related. i think i will write a manual-installation manual. (which is what you will need if you have both systems on the same disk)

[kleyson]

I used the guide 👉🏼 https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Limine.

Specifically editing the /boot/limini.conf and adding 👇🏼

/Window
    protocol: efi
    path: uuid(xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx):/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi

And finally executing limini-update.

I didn't go through any updates yet, but it shouldn't be a problem.

[Acero-AD]

I had the Windows installed in another disk so I had to go through a few more steps.

Adding to the /boot/limine.conf the following.

/Windows
comment: Windows Boot Manager
comment: order-priority=20
protocol: efi_chainload
image_path: boot():/EFI/Microsoft/bootmgfw.efi (where you have the .efi)

After this the Windows option appeared in the bootloader but choosing windows failed yet.

I had to boot a Windows USB and in the CMD run the following commands.

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot (this one gave me a access denied)
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd

And after rebooting i was able to go into windows.

[Quvist]

I wrote a thread on Omarchys official discord server, since this was a bit related, I'll post the thread, this is how you do it with Limine (First time using, seems like a solid bootloader) I also overwrite my EFI boot since it was on my linux drive (Boot partition) and since omarchy overwrites the whole drive you can guess what happened.

Fix: Omarchy/Limine Overwrote Windows Bootloader (Dual-Boot Restore)
Problem: After installing Omarchy with Limine, Windows disappeared from the boot menu. Will affect users with windows EFi entry on secondary drive, where windows is on the first drive.
Goal: Restore Windows EFI boot files and make it selectable in Limine.

---

1️⃣ Identify partitions in Linux
lsblk -f

nvme1n1p1 → vfat = Omarchy EFI
nvme0n1p1 → MSR (not mountable)
nvme0n1p3 → NTFS = Windows

For you it might say sdaXY instead. I use NVME SSDs.
Check if EFI has Microsoft:

sudo mount /dev/nvme1n1p1 /mnt/esp
ls /mnt/esp/EFI
sudo umount /mnt/esp

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2️⃣ Create Windows installer USB
Download ISO from Microsoft.
Use Rufus → select Standard Windows installation (not Windows To Go).
Write ISO to USB.

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3️⃣ Boot into Windows recovery
Boot USB → Repair your computer → Troubleshoot → Command Prompt.

diskpart
list vol

EFI (FAT32, 100–500 MB):

select vol X
assign letter=Z

Windows (NTFS, large, contains \Windows):

select vol Y
assign letter=B

Exit: exit

---

4️⃣ Rebuild Windows boot files
bcdboot B:\Windows /s Z: /f UEFI

Should say: Boot files successfully created.

---

5️⃣ Back in Linux
sudo mount /dev/nvme1n1p1 /mnt/esp
ls /mnt/esp/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
sudo umount /mnt/esp

---

6️⃣ Add Windows to Limine
Option A – Auto-detect:

sudo limine-scan

Option B – Manual:

/Windows
comment: Windows Boot Manager
protocol: efi_chainload
image_path: boot():/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi

---

7️⃣ Adjust boot order (optional)
sudo efibootmgr -v
sudo efibootmgr -o 0005,0000,0001

(change numbers to match your IDs)

---

Done! Windows boots again and is selectable in Limine.