I'm new to Linux and want to replace Windows with Linux Mint Xfce on my older Lenovo laptop. It has an i3-4030U, 16GB of RAM, a 119GB SSD containing Windows, and a 931GB HDD containing my photos, videos, and documents. I want to install Linux only on the SSD and leave the HDD completely untouched. I plan to boot Mint from a USB first and test it, then install it to the SSD. I don't currently have an external backup drive. What is the safest approach for avoiding mistakes during installation? Is carefully selecting the 119GB drive enough, or should I disconnect the HDD temporarily so the installer cannot use it for partitions or boot files? Once Linux is installed, will it automatically detect and allow me to access the existing NTFS partitions on the HDD?
4 Answers
You don’t necessarily have to remove the HDD physically. If it’s a SATA drive, disconnecting its SATA cable before starting the installation is a simple precaution. After Linux is installed, reconnect it and make sure the SSD is selected as the primary boot device in the firmware settings if needed.
If you aren’t completely confident identifying the correct drive and its partitions, temporarily disconnecting the HDD is the safest option. Install Linux with only the SSD connected, then shut down and reconnect the HDD afterward. This also prevents the installer from placing the bootloader or EFI files on the wrong drive. Drive sizes can help identify the SSD, but you still need to pay attention to the individual partitions.
It is possible to leave both drives connected and manually select the 119GB SSD during setup, but be very careful. Installers may reuse an existing EFI system partition if they find one, so the boot files could end up on the other drive even if Linux itself is installed on the SSD. Disconnecting the HDD avoids that risk and is preferable when you don’t have a backup.
Linux Mint usually won’t touch unrelated drives when the correct options are chosen, but disconnecting the data drive is still a good extra safeguard for a first installation.
After reconnecting the HDD, Linux Mint should detect its NTFS partitions automatically. They’ll normally appear in the file manager and can be mounted when you open them. Still, make a backup of important files before changing operating systems if possible, because no installation method is completely risk-free.
That makes sense. I was mainly worried about selecting the right drive but hadn’t considered the installer putting boot files somewhere else.