I'm transitioning from Windows to Linux and have a few questions. I'm currently using an older Windows 10 laptop that can't be upgraded to Windows 11. This is mainly for personal use, particularly for storing my photos and videos, which are taking up a lot of space. I plan to backup everything to a portable drive and switch over to Linux Mint in the process. My specific questions are: 1. Will a WD My Passport portable drive work with Linux? 2. Given my laptop specs—Intel i7-7700HQ, Nvidia GTX 1060M, 16GB RAM, and both an SSD and HDD—will Linux run smoothly on it?
3 Answers
You're all set! Those specs are more than enough for Linux Mint; it should run smoothly. The GTX 1060M is getting older, and while it’s considered "legacy" by Nvidia right now, it should hold up for a while—at least until around 2028 for newer kernels, based on past experiences.
You're right to consider backups! It sounds like you've got a lot of content—are you using automatic backups? I’d suggest powering down the external drive after use because they can be slow compared to internal drives, but it's a helpful option for extra storage.
Yes, you can definitely use portable hard drives like the WD My Passport with Linux! Just make sure to boot from a Linux Mint installation stick to check if everything works as expected. Once you plug in the WD drive, you should be able to see it and get read/write access. Just a heads up that other users have reported some issues with these drives on forums, though it varies by case.
This was my plan. I haven't bought the WD drive yet—just wanted to confirm it works before I spend the cash.
Yeah, I’m a bit of a digital hoarder! I have automatic backups set up from Google Drive, and I'm okay with manually backing up photos to Google Photos. Document syncing would be the real win for me!