I'm planning to replace Windows 11 with Linux Mint, but I'm new to Linux and can't currently afford an external drive for a backup. My Lenovo LOQ 15ARP9 has two 512 GB NVMe drives. Both currently contain Windows installations, along with astrophotography files and games. I have roughly 70 GB free on the boot drive and 40 GB free on the other one, and I already have a USB drive prepared with Linux Mint.
My initial plan is to shrink an existing partition, keep my personal files in one partition, and install Linux Mint in the newly created space. I'd also like to remove the unused Windows installation from the second drive. Is this reasonably safe, and what should I do to avoid losing my data? I may need to back up around 600–800 GB of files, so free cloud storage may not be practical.
4 Answers
A 3-2-1 backup is the ideal rule: keep three copies of important data, on two different types of storage, with one copy elsewhere. If that isn’t possible, at least create one temporary copy of the irreplaceable astrophotography files before resizing or installing. The installation itself is usually straightforward; the dangerous part is performing disk changes without another copy of your data.
Since both NVMe drives have Windows installed, identify which drive is actually used for booting before deleting anything. Check Disk Management and the firmware boot settings, and keep the current installation intact until Mint is working and your files are confirmed safe. Afterward, you can delete the unused Windows partitions and reuse that space, but make sure they don’t contain the EFI or recovery partitions needed by the active installation.
The safest approach is to make a real backup before changing partitions. Copy your personal files to another physical drive if possible; cloud storage is unlikely to provide 600–800 GB for free, and uploading that much data can take a long time. You don’t need to back up Windows itself, and Steam games can usually be reinstalled later. Game saves may be synchronized through Steam Cloud, but verify important saves manually rather than assuming they are protected.
Resizing a partition can work, but it always carries some risk, especially if the only copy of your files is on that drive. From Windows, remove unnecessary files and use Disk Management to shrink the partition, then install Mint into the unallocated space. Do not format the partition containing your personal files. During installation, carefully check the target disk and partition because choosing the wrong option can erase everything.
Linux can read and write NTFS, but it’s generally better to use a Linux-native filesystem for the Mint installation. NTFS is fine as temporary shared storage, but avoid relying on it for a Linux system or game library unless you have a specific reason.
That makes sense. I was hoping there might be a free cloud option, but I may need to find or borrow another drive for the important files.