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What do I do with my existing NTFS drives? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I am about to try switching to Linux, and will start with a dual boot so I can still use Windows if necessary. I'm planning to buy a new M2 SSD for Linux.

But, I currently have 4 hard drives which are all formatted as NTFS for Windows. What considerations do I need to make regarding these existing drives, or for moving files between systems?

For instance, I assume Windows simply won't be able to see any of the files on my Linux drive. What about the other way around? Are there any downsides to accessing my files on NTFS drives through Linux? Am I able to move files around between my drives?

Do I need to convert any of my NTFS drives to a different format? (Or is that even possible without wiping the data?)

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Linux has NTFS functionality built in typically. But you're right it will be one way without getting third part software for windows.

No need to convert unless you plan on making the change to the penguin more permanent

As for dual booting be careful/cautious with maintaining windows. Microsoft has many many documented cases of fucking a Linux install while performing windows updates in dual boot environments.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

A couple of quick things: in UEFI, keep separate Linux and Windows efi partitions. Disable quick startup in Windows, as it "locks" any NTFS drives you touched in Windows before you booted back into Linux. (I always forget this and then wonder why a drive is read-only... Grr!) Don't try to install Linux Steam games to an NTFS drive, it doesn't work. Also, Windows and Linux have different default ways of dealing with the system clock. You can either do a registry entry edit to fix on the windows side, or there's a Linux fix that is also quite easy, but I forget what and I'm lazy. This is purely optional, but I like to set up grub customizer and set it to boot into "last selected", so when I'm updating Windows and it restarts, I don't boot back into Linux, and vice-versa. Also, don't try to run Windows installed Steam games. It doesn't work. Lastly, if you virtualize using VMware, your VMs have to "belong" to one host OS or the other, or you'll have no end to bugs. Personally, I wouldn't use VMWare on the Linux side at all, except school requires it.