QA:Testcase dualboot with windows

Associated release criterion
This test case is associated with the Fedora_42_Final_Release_Criteria#windows-dual-boot release criterion. If you are doing release validation testing, a failure of this test case may be a breach of that release criterion. If so, please file a bug and nominate it as blocking the appropriate milestone, using the blocker bug nomination page.

Description

This test verifies that installing Fedora onto a machine with a pre-existing Windows installation will result in a functioning dual-boot system.

Setup

1. You must have a system with a typical, functioning Windows installation
   • Partition layout should be the same as the default layout created by a Windows installer or pre-installed by OEM. That usually consists of some small partition(s) at the beginning of the disk (recovery partition, system boot partition) and a single large NTFS partition spanning over the rest of the disk containing the Windows system itself.

How to test

1. Use Fedora Media Writer for Windows to create Fedora installation media.
2. Shrink the Windows partition and thus create sufficiently large free space at the end of the disk (at least 10 GB, more if you have lots of memory).
   • There are multiple ways to achieve that. One of the favorite ones is to boot a LiveCD, install gparted and use this tool to shrink the Windows partition.
   • Reboot to Windows after shrinking the partition to make sure it still works properly.
   • Using an external shrinking tool is recommended, but this step can also be done as part of the installation (the installer is able to shrink NTFS partitions. If you want to know how, look here). However, that functionality is not guaranteed by the installer team and doesn't have to work as well as the dedicated partitioning tools.
3. Boot the Fedora installer from your prepared medium.
4. The partitioning screen should automatically set up Fedora to be installed into the remaining free space and no manual changes should be necessary. You can also adjust layout manually, if you want - use only the free space that you prepared for this purpose.
5. Finish the installation
6. Reboot system after installation and choose "Windows" from the GRUB menu
7. After Windows boots successfully, reboot and choose Fedora from the GRUB menu

Expected Results

1. Fedora installer should boot normally
2. The partitioning screen should automatically set up Fedora to be installed into the remaining free space and no manual changes should be necessary
3. Installation should complete normally
4. Bootloader should show both "Fedora" and "Windows" options
5. Bootloader should have reasonable timeout, to allow choosing the system to boot
6. After rebooting into Windows, the system may run a disk check, which should complete without errors
7. When rebooting back into Fedora, the system should boot normally