I currently have a Dell laptop that runs Windows for work. I use an external SSD via the Thunderbolt port to boot Linux allowing me to use the laptop as a personal device on a completely separate drive. All I have to do is F12 at boot, then select boot from USB drive.

However, this laptop is only using 1 of the 2 internal M.2 ports. Can I install Linux on a 2nd M.2 drive? I would want the laptop to normally boot Windows without a trace of the second option unless the drive is specified from the BIOS boot options.

Will this cause any issues with Windows? Will I be messing anything up? For the external drive setup, I installed Linux on a different computer, then transferred the SSD to the external drive. Can I do the same for the M.2 SSD – install Linux on my PC, then transfer that drive to the laptop?

Any thoughts or comments are welcome.

Edit: Thank you everyone! This was a great discussion with a lot of great and thoughtful responses. I really appreciate the replies and all the valuable information and opinions given here.

  • @pivot_root
    6•11 months ago

    Just because people do it doesn’t mean you should.

    Using a separate SSD and OS might work fine for protecting your data from company monitoring software, but it doesn’t protect company data from your rogue OS. If your company has a dedicated security team, your head will roll when they find out you put the company at risk. And if they don’t, you better hope IT is either apathetic or incompetent.

    It’s not worth the risk of losing your job for being a liability. They might not be able to tell future employers why you are no longer employed with them, but “we would not hire {you} again if given the opportunity” speaks for itself.

    Just buy a shitty laptop and use that.