I'm considering switching to CachyOS after comparing several Linux distributions. My plan is to wipe only the drive where Windows is currently installed and use it for Linux. However, I also have three NTFS drives containing games, photos, videos, documents, and other personal files. Will Linux be able to read and use those drives as they are, or would I need to reformat them first?
3 Answers
For general storage like pictures, videos, and documents, leaving the drives as NTFS should work. I’d avoid using NTFS for Linux applications or game installations, though. Games—especially Windows games run through Proton—tend to work more reliably from a Linux filesystem such as ext4 or btrfs.
A practical setup is to install Linux on the drive you’re replacing and leave the other drives alone at first. You can access the existing NTFS data from Linux and reformat only if you later decide you want better Linux performance. If you still plan to boot Windows, a shared exFAT data drive can also be useful, since both operating systems support it well.
You don’t need to reformat everything. Linux can read and write to NTFS drives, so your personal files should remain accessible after you mount them. However, NTFS support is not as seamless as using a native Linux filesystem, and permissions or repair issues can occasionally be awkward. It’s best to keep backups of anything important.
That makes sense. I mainly need the existing drives for personal files, so I’ll leave them intact and only consider changing the filesystem for games or Linux-specific storage later.