Discussing a dual-boot setup between Linux and Windows
Discussing a dual-boot setup between Linux and Windows
I have two HDDs. One has Windows 10 inside, the other has important data I want to keep safe. I need free space on the second one and want Linux there while keeping Windows 10 on the first. I plan to make a partition on the second HDD, disconnect the Windows 10 drive, install Linux on that partition, but if I do this, will Windows still see the important data partition on the second drive? I understand Linux might not be recognized by Windows and won’t see Linux partitions, but will it detect the important data?
I’d consider Windows first mainly for security reasons. However, I’ve handled this before without any problems—depends on your needs. You can try Wubi (Windows Ubuntu Installer) if you want to install Ubuntu; it runs a bit slower than a full install but is secure.
Yes, that's acceptable. The "key data" remains on the HDD2 drive. You won't need to disconnect HDD1 during installation of Linux on the new partition—just choose a size you can recall. After installation, a GRUB menu will appear prompting you to select your operating system. If you switch partitions, you may need to force boot into Linux, which isn’t too concerning but feels extra. Either way, everything should work fine.
I complete the installation of all components, and everything functions well so far. I set the second hard drive as the main drive and installed GRUB there, which allows dual booting. If you don’t want that setup, I can switch the first drive to be primary and use Windows 10. The main concern is whether Windows updates will automatically apply to the non-primary drive when it boots, especially if Windows 10 is on the first drive and Linux on the second.