I've read some guides on dual-booting Ubuntu and Windows 8, but all of the guides I have read are about older versions of Ubuntu. They recommend disabling Secure Boot because there is a bug in the Ubuntu installer that deletes the Windows 8 bootloader altogether. Is disabling this still necessary in Ubuntu 14.04? Can I enable it again after I am done installing? Also, on a related note, I KNOW that disabling Fast boot is needed for the installation, but after the installation is done, can I re-enable that too?
Disable Secure Boot – Is Disabling Secure Boot Needed for Ubuntu 14.04 Dual-Boot with Windows 8 UEFI?
14.04dual-bootuefiwindows 8
Best Answer
You've actually raised four distinct issues:
I hope this clarifies matters.
EDIT:
Recent versions of Ubuntu (I don't recall precisely when this started, but 16.04 is affected) tightened Secure Boot controls, making these versions susceptible to the "follow-on effects" I noted earlier. Specifically, third-party kernel modules (drivers) may not load unless you jump through hoops to sign them, as described here. Drivers for ATI and Nvidia video cards and for VirtualBox are commonly cited as reasons to disable Secure Boot to work around these problems, but there are other unsigned drivers that affect some systems. Secure Boot does offer benefits, at least in theory, so if you're up to the technical challenge, I encourage leaving it active and signing any kernel modules you need. (Personally, I'm not a fan of proprietary video modules, but some people do need them to get adequate performance with some games and applications. If you don't need them, using the standard open source drivers is an adequate workaround.)