I'm facing a unique situation while helping my brother set up Linux on his Windows laptop. He wants to ditch Windows completely and switch to a Linux-only setup on his single 1 TB SSD that currently contains two NTFS partitions: one for his OS and one for games and files. Here's the breakdown of his setup:
1. A 250 MB EFI partition
2. A 140 GB NTFS OS partition (C: drive)
3. An 800 GB NTFS storage partition for games, music, and files
4. A recovery partition
5. 500 MB unallocated space
We want to install Linux on the OS partition while leaving the 800 GB storage partition untouched so that all his data remains intact. Since we won't have Windows anymore, do you think there will be issues, such as from hibernation? Ideally, we'd prefer not to format the storage partition to ext4 unless absolutely necessary. Here are my specific questions:
1) Is it feasible to keep the NTFS storage partition intact for future Windows installations?
2) After installing Linux, can we set the storage NTFS partition as /home while using the 140 GB as root?
3) Can I increase the size of the EFI partition by using the unallocated space, preferably without disrupting anything while still in Windows?
4 Answers
I really wouldn't recommend trying this. If anything goes wrong, your brother could be really upset, and it's not worth damaging your relationship over something this complicated.
Definitely make sure to back up anything important before proceeding! If you're thinking about resizing the EFI partition, be cautious. A lot of people prefer to leave it as is unless absolutely necessary. If 250 MB is working for Fedora, you may not need to touch it.
Using an NTFS partition for /home in Linux isn't recommended. Linux tends to struggle with NTFS permission systems, and you could run into performance issues because NTFS support is still a bit shaky on Linux. It’s better to format the storage partition to a Linux-friendly file system like ext4, which would save you a lot of headaches down the line.
Totally agree with you. I had a rough time when I tried to mix NTFS with Linux. I think a backup is a smart move before making any changes.
Yeah, NTFS support isn't foolproof, and not having Windows around might not stop you from getting into trouble. You could definitely end up needing to troubleshoot file system issues without the proper tools. If you want to make your life easier, consider reformatting it to ext4, which Linux works with just fine.
I hear you. Just hoping for a way to avoid that, but it sounds like we might have no choice. And honestly, if we switch to ext4, I wonder if you lose the benefit of having separate partitions for system and files.
Exactly! I want to keep things simple. As for the EFI, if it’s sufficient for what we need, it’s probably better not to mess with it.