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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Use work laptop as personal device by dual booting on a separate internal drive? (lemmy.one)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

IT will ask you the next day what you did to thier computer.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (4 children)

From a technical perspective I'm curious - how would they know a drive has been added without physically inspecting the laptop?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Microsoft system administrators have full access to any physical device information, this includes a report on new internal devices or changes. Your company may not be so serious about security, but why on earth are you willing to risk your livelihood on this?

[–] w2tpmf 12 points 10 months ago

Not just Windows sys admins ... I have this access to MacBooks, tablets, and phones in my company.

Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android ... If it's in use in an enterprise environment that knows what they're doing, they have full access to the device.

[–] BetaDoggo_ 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The drive is visible to the OS so if they have any kind of management software in place which looks for hardware changes it will be noticed.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Quite interesting. Thank you for the information!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

Intel IME can snitch on this kind of thing. Completely independent of the OS too.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I'm glad you asked, people provided some great answers.

Good rule of thumb is just don't mess with company property at all, cuz they'll know. For example I simply turned a wall TV on one weekend so my skeleton crew had something to do, and I was asked why a few days later. If it's electronic they can track it.