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I recently created a small Windows 11 installation alongside my existing Linux installation. I couldn't get the graphical Windows installer to do what I wanted - to create a partition in the free storage space, then install the operating system to it, and then use EFI System Partition that was already there.

I found a solution online, namely, to install Windows from the command line (with diskpart to create the partition, dism to write out the operating system from the WIM file, and bcdboot to place boot files into the EFI System Partition). The only problem I encountered was that I wasn't able to review the command prompt window with Windows Narrator. It read all of the command output, but the review commands didn't work for me, whether or not it was in scan mode. There may be a solution. I've only ever used Windows Narrator to install or set up the operating system, so I'm definitely not a Narrator expert.

I'm not a Windows system administration expert either, but I'm comfortable that I can delete and recreate it if needed. It's there primarily for testing purposes and for those situations in which Microsoft Office is the best pragmatic solution to a problem (although LibreOffice under Linux is undergoing accessibility improvements these days).
#accessibility #Windows #screenReaders #SystemAdministration

in reply to Jason J.G. White

For the use cases you mentioned, a VM running under Linux would work, and would be easier to deal with, but glad you got it working.
in reply to Bryan Smart

@bryansmart Yes, I've considered a VM. Two problems: (1) forwarding access to my USB-connected Braille display to the guest operating system, but having it still available to the host system when I'm not in the VM window. (2) Microsoft Windows in particular needs a retail licence to be run in a VM. My understanding is that the OEM licence that came with the machine only covers running it directly on the hardware, not virtualized. At this point, I'd rather not be buying that...