I'm new to using Linux and I need some help with setting up my system. I have three drives on my PC: one for Windows OS, a second SSD dedicated just for Windows games, and finally, I recently installed Linux Mint Cinnamon on a 128GB drive. My goal is to ensure that Linux Mint doesn't interfere with my Windows games drive; I want it to be solely for Windows use. I have a few questions:
1. Is Linux going to automatically mount my Windows games drive?
2. If it does get mounted, will Linux be able to read or write to it?
3. If it mounts, can I still boot into Windows and play my games without any issues?
4. What's the best method to ensure Linux completely ignores that drive? Should I disable auto-mount in Disk Utility, edit fstab, or something else?
I just want to make sure that both operating systems keep their drives separate and avoid any accidental changes to my game files.
3 Answers
Linux is pretty good about not touching drives it doesn't have permission for. Your concern should be more about Windows, which historically has been known to mess with Linux partitions. Just to be safe, it’s a good idea to back up your data.
Actually, Linux won't mess with your games drive by itself. If it does see it, you'll have to provide your password to mount it, and it will read it as read-only unless you change that. As long as you keep it unmounted, you should be able to boot into Windows and play your games normally.
Don't worry, Linux won't automatically mount your Windows games drive unless you specifically tell it to. You have to mount it manually, so it's safe from any accidental changes.
Yeah, I’m just testing Linux for now with a temporary setup, so I’m keeping it minimal. No important files on the Linux drive.