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The time has come: how do I safely resize the C: partition and move Linux to that disk?
(lemmy.world)
It may be too much to ask but here it goes:
I have temporarily installed LMDE6 on an HDD where I had a bit of free space, worked with it, experienced Steam with Proton and now I am convinced: I want to move to Linux from Windows for good.
Have another disk, an SSD in which most of the space is taken up by the Windows C: partition. Would like to move Linux there after shrinking the Windows partition a bit more than what it currently occupies now.
I have tried to do this with Paragon on Windows, but after restarting no change can be seen, despite no error being presented. Tried from Linux with GParted but all attempts end up with an error when running ntfsresize.
So
- What do I use to do this and how do I do it safely? 2.How do I move the content of my current Linux partition (less than 50 GBs) to that disk keeping the bootloader and everything else working? And what filesystem is best to use?
Thank you in advance for your help!
Thank you for the thorough explanation.
I guess making a backup of the C: partition is a bit more complicated than just copying the data somewhere (which I anyway have lo space for anywhere), but just for my knowledge, is there a Linux software you would use to do that?
Given this situation I guess I need to wait until I can scavenge another SSD just for Linux and restart from zero there.
On my MB I have 2 slots for M.2 NVMe drives available. Could I use any of those without any problem or is there any hardware recommendation?
You don't need to make a copy of everything on the C: drive, only your personal stuff. You can easily reinstall any program if something goes south.
You can even make a copy of your files on your other HDD, if you have free space.
If you want to simply copy data, using the file manager is sufficient. If you want to copy the drive 'as is' then the command
ddis your best option. You can find tutorials online. Just don't mix if and of and you're good to go.You can buy a compatible NVME drive and it shall work without any problems. As with any drive, a good one will last longer, but any compatible drive is good. You can buy from Kingston, WD, Samsung, ...
I know this is days later, but having your personal, irreplaceable files backed up to external is just going to be a great practice to keep anyway. If your OS is your home, your external is your homeowner's insurance. Periodically update your backups. Timeshift is a great restore tool, but you should not rely solely on it.
The partitions where I have my OS contain just that. All programs and media/data are not there.
Yeah, it's a good way to do it. I still rather use external. That way if anything corrupts my internal drives or my GPU plug lights on fire (like the horror stories I've been hearing about some of the newer GPUs) then at least my personal files are saved and completely separate.
As a bonus, I have it in a fireproof safe. Hopefully its insulated enough where it won't heat the drive up too much if I ever had a fire in my apartment.