I'm thinking about switching my laptop from Windows 10 to a Linux operating system because it really struggled with performance, and since Windows 10 is no longer supported, I feel it's time for a change. Most of my important files are stored on an external hard drive that I used with my Windows laptop. I'm wondering if I can still use that external drive on my laptop after installing Linux. Will I be able to access my data without any risk of being locked out or corrupting my files?
2 Answers
Yes, you can definitely use your external hard drive with Linux as long as you know the filesystem type. Do you happen to know if it uses NTFS? That would be helpful!
Linux supports NTFS, which is great! Just keep in mind to properly eject the drive from Windows before unplugging, and consider disabling the Windows fast startup option. If there are any filesystem issues, you might need to boot into Windows to fix them. There's a handy `ntfsfix` command in Linux that can help with some smaller issues, but for anything major, a proper Windows repair might be necessary.
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