0

I have windows 10 on my main SSD, but space is limited. I'm fine for the time being but will need extra space some time in the future.

I am looking at dual booting with linux soon, so want to purchase a new HDD. If I assign the entire HDD to linux, would I be able to access that HDD for file storage whilst using Windows on the SSD? I could store things on that HDD that I dont use often (like photos I rarely look at, for example).

Alternatively, I could partition the HDD, use one partition for the linux boot and the rest for my cold storage, but if I an do it without I would prefer that.

pingu2k4
  • 183
  • 3
  • 14

1 Answers1

2

Accessin a "Linux" partition from Windows is challenging. Have a look at How to read ext4 partitions on Windows? on how to read the typical Linux partition.

If I were doing this, I might be inclined to partition the Linux install in such a way that it does not use LVM, has a relatively small (10-30gig) root partition, with the rest blank. I'd then create another partition formatted as VFAT or NTFS and mount it on /home as this will be visible in both Windows and Linux.

davidgo
  • 68,623
  • 13
  • 106
  • 163
  • Won't NTFS's lack of support for Linux file permissions cause problems in `/home`? – gronostaj Dec 05 '17 at 10:03
  • @gronostaj The idea is to create a different partition for data that can be shared between OSes. It's not `/home`, the answer clearly says *"mount it on..."*. –  Dec 05 '17 at 10:25
  • You are both correct. Of course, in a single-user system you may be able to get away with forcing the uid and gid to your typical user. – davidgo Dec 05 '17 at 10:27
  • Thanks for the answer and comments. So I will likely partition the HDD and put Linux – pingu2k4 Dec 05 '17 at 11:26
  • Can I just clarify? I would set an area as swap area, then mount /home with a format of VFAT or NTFS? Would I also need to mount / somewhere? I just watched this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNeJvujdB-0 and they dont mount /home, and also there doesnt appear to be an option for VFAT or NTFS. – pingu2k4 Dec 05 '17 at 12:58
  • The easiest way might be to create a sroot partition - say 30 gigs (which is where your OS will live) and a swap partition (typically equal to your RAM in size). Leave the rest of the disk blank. Install OS. Boot OS and create another partition type 07, and format as zNTFS or EXFAT. Create /home/(username)/shared and then add an appropriate line to /etc/fstab to mount it at that location. – davidgo Dec 05 '17 at 18:30