I'm planning to switch from Linux Mint to Arch Linux and I'm a bit confused about my partitions. I can identify the one used by Mint, but there are also two other partitions: one is 260MB and the other is 1.95GB. I suspect the larger one might be the boot loader. Should I delete the data on these partitions now, or is it better to format them during the Arch installation? Thanks in advance for any advice!
2 Answers
Definitely format those partitions if you’re planning to switch. You want a clean slate for Arch. Just keep in mind if you have any important files or configurations on those partitions, make a backup first! You can do partitioning during the Arch installation, too, so don't stress too much about having everything cleared beforehand.
It sounds like the 1.95GB partition is indeed your EFI system partition for the boot loader, and it’s formatted as FAT32. If you're not planning on keeping Linux Mint, you can safely format that partition along with the other one during the Arch installation. Just make sure you have everything backed up if there's any data you might need. Also, when you do the pacstrap, don't forget to install a text editor like nano or vim; you'll definitely need it!
Got it! So I can go ahead and clear out those partitions before I start the install?