I'm currently using Windows 11 and have two disks: an SSD where the OS and some essential programs are installed (which I want to keep as is), and an HDD where I store personal files like photos and music, both formatted as NTFS. I plan to install Linux Mint on the SSD and completely remove Windows 11, not just set up a dual boot. Here are my concerns:
- Will installing Mint wipe my HDD as well?
- Can Mint access the files on my HDD?
4 Answers
Yes, if you want to start fresh with Mint, you can delete everything on the SSD during setup. However, your HDD will remain intact as long as you don’t select it for formatting. Just be aware that since you're using NTFS, there may be some performance hits with file access on Linux. If you don't need the NTFS compatibility, consider converting your HDD to ext4 for better performance.
Linux Mint's installer is pretty user-friendly and allows you to specify which drives to erase. Don't worry; your HDD will stay untouched if you don’t tell it to erase that one! Just make sure to back up any important files you want to keep just in case.
You mentioned you think your disks don't have partitions, but actually, every file system type has at least one partition. It's important to learn a bit about disk partitioning to know how it works.
No need to worry about wiping your HDD! The Mint installation will only erase the disk you choose, so you can install it on the SSD without affecting your HDD. To be extra cautious, you might consider unplugging the HDD during the installation process just to avoid any potential mix-ups. And about file access, Linux can read NTFS drives, although it might be a bit slower than using Linux-native file systems like ext4.
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