How to install Linux without touching the Windows 10 boot drive

[Tuvoc]

HI, I've experimented with Linux over the last decade or more. Always went back to Windows but had great difficulty getting rid of it again completely. Main issue is of course the bootloader that is installed on the primary drive. I want to try Garuda Linux now, but do it in a way that does not touch the Windows boot SDD in any way.

I have a boot SSD
plus a second HDD

I want the SSD completely untouched, so the Linux bootloader to go on the second HDD and Garuda itself on a partition on that drive.

How do I make that happen ? Of course I know I would have to access the motherboard boot menu F11 whenever I would boot Linux, that is fine. But if I simply let the machine start up uninterrupted, it would boot directly into Windows. If I can achieve this, I would quite happily keep both and spend several months getting up to speed on Linux. Never tried an Arch based distro before.

Any help appreciated. Maybe when installing Linux, disconnect the SSD so it simply isn't visible ? Or a more elegant solution. Thanks.

 

[Tuvoc]

Thank you for your advice. Yes I thought that was the most bulletproof way of doing it so I'll use that method. It is theoretically possible by doing manual partitioning during install, but I'm not sure I'd do that correctly.

 

[Tuvoc]

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm going to use a virtual machine initially to spend some time with Garuda and a couple of other distros. I'll then choose one and install it properly on the second HDD by temporarily disconnecting the Windows SSD.

What are the chances of these smaller less common distros like Garuda falling by the wayside and being abandoned ? Of course the underlying Arch, Debian etc will still be around. OK it won't be a disaster if that were to happen, but I'm wondering if sticking to some of the bigger names is better.

Saw Gnome 40 desktop just now, that is impressive and that is your primary interaction with the OS. Widely supported as well by many distos.