Os-Prober Fail to Find Windows 10

I got 2 hard drives

  • Samsung nvme SSD (Linux)
  • Kingston SSD (Windows 10)

Boot options:

  • Storage: UEFI
  • Fast Boot: Disabled

Firmware options

Boot menu

This is working:

Fist I installed Arch Linux to Samsung nvme SSD. You can see the GRUB loader in this image. After that, I installed Windows 10. I have seen some comments about Windows EFI partition. But Windows 10 does not create an EFI partition. As you can seen in the image, There is a Windows boot record in Samsung nvme SSD (Windows is installed on Kingston SSD).

Now, I can load both Windows and Linux by selecting respective boot device from the boot menu. When I load Linux and repair the boot loader, os-prober will detect Windows partition and grub will add it to the menu. It will load Windows without any issue.

This is NOT working:

If I install Windows first and Linux after, os-prober can't find Windows 10.

NOTE:

  • In all above cases I disabled Windows 10 fast startup option.
  • In all above cases I made sure both operating systems are using UEFI
  • I installed Windows and Linux multiple times to make sure this behavior is consistent

Why os-prober failed to find Windows partition when Windows is installed first?

Marcus Vance

Marcus Vance

Cybersecurity & Digital Privacy Researcher

Marcus Vance is a cybersecurity auditor and technology writer dedicated to educating the public about online safety, data privacy regulations, enterprise security, and emerging cyber threats.