Booting system from SD card on surface pro 5

Question

Hello.

I know that the question may seem weird, so I'll say what I was trying to accomplish, Linux on SD card. I know that the Microsoft forum is not the best place for Linux questions, but I was looking for help everywhere (stack overflow, Reddit, GitHub etc.) and I have even more questions... and of course no answers.

I'll try to skip all the Linux questions and keep it at the windows and hardware part because I know it's not your job.

I'm wondering if it's possible to boot another os on Surface Pro 5(well, I know I can because I did it, but what are the limitations? Why does one run without a problem and the other just doesn't)?

Can I boot from SD card?

Can I install bootloader on pen drive and boot OS that is on SD card?

And most important, how much can I shrink windows partition on surface? I tried to shrink it, and I've got something around 11GB of free space on a fresh win11 install. Keep in mind that there was 80GB of free space on the disk, so it's a little bit weird for me. Of course, I've installed software to shrink the partition and broke my windows, and I'm fixing it right now. If you know how to shrink the windows partition to about 70GB that would be great.

Ps: Yes, I know it's windows forum. I'm just looking for a computer enthusiast that is willing to help.

Answer 1

Hi FranekKorulczyk!

Thank you for giving us some time to check on this.

While Microsoft does not officially support booting from an SD card on Surface Pro 5, it is possible to do so. However, there may be limitations depending on the specific OS and hardware configuration. As for installing a bootloader on a pen drive and booting an OS from an SD card, it may be possible but it would depend on the specific bootloader and OS being used.

Regarding shrinking the Windows partition, the amount of space that can be shrunk will depend on the amount of data and programs currently on the partition. It is recommended to backup important data before attempting to shrink the partition. You can use the built-in Disk Management tool in Windows to shrink the partition. Simply right-click on the partition and select "Shrink Volume". The tool will then calculate the amount of space that can be shrunk.

Regards,

RodelioP.

Answer 2

Hi FranekKorulczyk!

Thanks for reaching Microsoft Community. We're here to help and let's work on this together.

Please allow us to further check this on resources. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Regards,

RodelioP.

Answer 3

Hi Rodelio P.!

Thank you for replying. I'm glad that you're willing to help!

There is no rush, this is not the kind of problem that I need a solution right now.

If you need any additional information, I can provide it.

Regards,

Franek.

Answer 4

Hi!

Thank you for responding.

I'm surprised that booting from SD card isn't "as easy" as booting form USB stick. I mean it's shown as a boot option in the UEFI and I can choose it to be the first option.

Thank god I backed up all important files before doing it. I used the Disk Management tool and it calculated 11GB on fresh windows 11 install and that bothered me. But as I can see it's not that easy to shrink it more.

Thank you for your replies you were very helpful. I'll mark your answer as a solution and thank's again for your help.

Answer 5

Hi FranekKorulczyk!

Thanks for getting back to us!

Always our pleasure to help, we're happy everything is working good now. If you do need further help, please create a new thread to discuss your concerns through this link: Create a new question or start a discussion (microsoft.com) as we will not be monitoring this thread going forward.

Thank you for understanding.

Regards,

RodelioP.