Replicating the Destruction of Dual Boot (GNU/Linux) by Microsoft-Friendly UEFI Implementations

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2014-04-11 12:51:20 UTC
Modified: 2014-04-11 12:51:20 UTC

Hammer

Summary: Reports of "loss of Linux dual-booting" due to Windows Update are investigated further; FSF award to Garrett faces opposition

IT WAS recently reported in Reddit that UEFI was used by Microsoft Windows to wipe out GNU/Linux. Windows Update rendered GNU/Linux unbootable and allegedly turned 'secure' boot on to achieve this.

According to this new analysis from Jamie the UEFI explorer, it's not an isolated incident. He starts by stating: "I can finally report that yes, there is a problem — but it's generally not as serious as has been reported." He also writes: "While I found that I was able to 'fix' the loss of Linux dual-booting on both of my systems, I am NOT trying to say that everyone who has posted claims about dual-boot being 'destroyed' by Windows Update is wrong. I certainly have enough experience with UEFI boot configuration to know that all sorts of strange things are possible, and it may well be that some systems, with some configurations, really do get more seriously damaged by Windows Update than mine have. One very obvious example might be that the Linux items could get deleted from the boot object list. If that happened you would have to use efibootmgr to put them back again."

But who would know how to do this and how many people would just turn away from GNU/Linux at this stage? This is why UEFI should face a boycott and antitrust complaints against Microsoft get bolstered. I wholeheartedly disgree with FSF for giving Garrett an award. This can be a PR disaster waiting to happen, a bit like Miguel de Icaza and Theo de Raadt and getting such an award before their FSF bashing. Apparently I am not alone in disagreeing with the FSF; Sam Varghese expressed similar concerns, having opposed 'secure' boot for quite some time along with many others. He writes: "The Free Software Foundation has given an annual award this year for work that enslaves people to the demands of Microsoft - something that flies in the face of all that the organisation has stood for since its founding."

This has indeed been a bizarre move and it can help weaken existing complaints (in Europe) over Microsoft's UEFI tricks. ⬆

Almost 5,000 Known Gemini Capsules: It is now just 98 short of 5k
If You Value Privacy, Follow the Likes of Eben Moglen, Phil Zimmermann, and Richard Stallman, Not Back Doors' Boosters Who Mislabel Themselves as Security Experts: Signal is not really secure
Writer's Block is Not a Problem to Us, Only a Lack of Time: Or timewasting by aggressive militants who try to silence us [...] People who experience writer's block very often find it depressing (it feels unproductive) and sometimes come to the conclusion that perhaps writing isn't for them
March Plans for Techrights: next month we plan to start the series about how the SRA failed
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) on Slop and Breach of Confidentiality: They should absolutely not ignore this
If You Want More Verifiable (Auditable) Security, Use GNU Linux-Libre: GNU/Linux will never be 100% secure
Microsoft XBox Can't Stop Talking About Slop: Will we see more "prepared" (under embargo) Microsoft propaganda released simultaneously at 9PM tonight?
Rust Will Not Inherit the Earth, It Barely Deserves a Place on the Planet: Rust - like Haskell and many other short-lived fetishes - will come and go
Truth Versus Fiction: IBM's Collapse Due to Money Crunch, Not Slop Disguised as Code: core issue is financial
Priceless leaks found in crowdfunding campaign: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 26, 2026: IRC logs for Thursday, February 26, 2026
[Video] "New RMS [Richard Stallman] Positive Media" Reaches Millions of Viewers This Week: Assuming 5+ million people will watch this on the first week, that's good publicity for the Free software movement
Another Quiet Slop Day Passes By: the number of slopfarms we can locate/track is fast decreasing
Gemini Links 26/02/2026: Sending a Thesis and Lupa/Onion ("Lupa now lists Gemini .onion addresses"): Links for the day
Links 26/02/2026: Bcachefs Man Bonkers, "Seven Journalists Convicted for Taking Photos at Courtroom": Links for the day
Links 26/02/2026: "Peak Mental Sharpness" and "The Whole Economy Pays the Amazon Tax": Links for the day
"Community" Site Deleted by Jeffrey Epstein-Connected 'Linux' Foundation Had Interview Where Eben Moglen Spoke of GPLv3 and of DRM, Back Doors Etc.: Deleting what happened or what was said two decades ago
Richard Stallman (Free Software Foundation) and Eben Moglen (Columbia Law School) Explained 25 Years Ago That Proprietary Software (and Proprietary Firmware) Would Lead to Back Doors: a fortnight after the 9/11 terror attacks in the US
Giving to the Community Versus Taking From the Community (or Worse, Attacking the Community): some people bring no contributions, only harm
LLM Slop Will Try to 'Rewrite' History of UNIX and GNU/Linux: We occasionally see slopfarms spreading misinformation about UNIX, GNU, and Linux
Where Does the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Stand on Machine-Generated Legal Documents and Copy-pasting One Client's Lawsuit to Start Another (for American Serial Strangler)?: Now that many law firms cheat (copypasta, paper DOoS, LLM slop, breaches of rules, even defaming the other side) the SRA cannot keep up
Of Course Android is Not Free Software: That Android is not about freedom should not be so shocking
Talking About Blackboxes: Having just reposted a couple of articles from Alex Oliva
Microsoft Slop is Already Killing XBox: Microsoft will fail at alleviating such concerns
Two Weeks Have Passed and It Looks Like Conde Nast's Ars Sloppica Sacked "Senior" "AI" "Reporter" Benj Edwards But Did Not Remove All His LLM-Produced 'Articles': the editorial standards at Conde Nast's Ars Sloppica are a joke
Alex Oliva (GNU Linux-Libre): Stricter is Less Popular: Reprinted with permission from Alex Oliva
Fraud and Crimes at Microsoft: A lot of these American companies simply cheat and even bribe
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 25, 2026: IRC logs for Wednesday, February 25, 2026
FSF's Alex Oliva on Hardware Black Boxes: Reprinted with permission from Alex Oliva
What Microsoft Hides Underneath: In recent years a lot of this shell game was played via "Open" "AI" [sic]
A Lot of Slopfarms Died, Google News Feeds the Few Which Survived and Still Target "Linux": Many just simply died
Links 25/02/2026: Fifth Year of War in Ukraine, Dihydroxyacetone Man Looking to Start More Wars: Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/02/2026: Retired a Year, Illness, Losing a Lung, and "Back to Gemini": Links for the day
The Register MS Published a Ponzi Scheme-Boosting Fake Article This Morning. It Mentions "AI" 30 Times.: Will credibility be left after the bubble pops entirely?
They Try to Ruin Linux, Too ("Attestation" in GNU/Linux): In the context of Web browsers, this isn't unprecedented and we wrote a lot about it
Mozzarella Company: All Our Cheese Comes With Mold Now, But You Can Ask the Seller to Remove the Mold: If you reject and oppose slop, do not download/use Firefox
Stallman Was Right About Back Doors: I had some conversations with Dr. Stallman about security and back doors
Australian Signals Directorate ex-employee sold back doors to Russia: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
IBM Debt-Loading and Liability (Toxic Asset) Offloading: One can hope that IBM will be subjected to the same attention Kyndryl received, but this boils down to politics
Links 25/02/2026: 'Hybrid Warfare' and "Boycott the State of the Union": Links for the day
IBM (and Red Hat) Can Disappear in the Coming Years, Along With Kyndryl (Debt Twice as Big as Its 'Worth'): No wonder Red Hat workers tell us they hate IBM
Software Freedom is Science, But It Also Sustains Life: In some sense, Software Freedom can be explained in the context of nourishing people
“Xbox, like a lot of businesses that aren’t the core AI business, is being sunsetted.": There has been a lot of narrative control lately, including at 9PM on a Friday
3,300 Capsules Known to Lupa and Currently Accessible: Gemini Protocol turns 7 this summer
When it Comes to Firmware, the FSF and Its Founder RMS Won the Argument (But Not the Fight, Yet): The "whataboutism" tactics are physiological manipulation means of discouraging those who move in the correct direction
Austria Tackles Digital Weapon Disguised as "Social" and/or "Media": Are we seeing the end days of Social Control Media?
Nothing Over the Horizon for XBox: XBox is not even being sold in many places anymore
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Contradicting Itself: You Can Use Slop to Cheat Clients, But You Can Also Face Disciplinary Actions Over Slop: Where does the SRA stand on the matter?
In Praise of Eben Moglen: Hopefully Professor Moglen will be with us for many decades to come and become an active speaker on issues such as Software Freedom
Sunsetting IBM (for the Benefit of Few Corrupt Officials and Wall Street Speculators): IBM will not (and cannot) survive for much longer [...] The issue is bad leadership, not any particular nationality/race
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, February 24, 2026: IRC logs for Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Gemini Links 25/02/2026: Rise of Solar in 2025 and Smallnet Protocols: Links for the day

Replicating the Destruction of Dual Boot (GNU/Linux) by Microsoft-Friendly UEFI Implementations

Recent Techrights' Posts