Set up Linux on a specific drive while keeping other partitions intact.
Set up Linux on a specific drive while keeping other partitions intact.
You can set up Linux Mint on a separate partition without affecting your Windows 10 system. Use an external drive or a dedicated SSD for the Linux installation to keep your main hard drive intact. Ext4 file system works well for this purpose. Since you don’t have enough space on your SSD and limited internet bandwidth, consider using a cloud-based setup or a lightweight distribution that requires minimal storage.
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Changing the size of an active partition in Windows isn't recommended unless you've already saved everything. After creating a partition, you'd need a physical media like a CD or USB drive with the installer and boot from it. The guided installation would then set up Linux Mint on the new secondary partition. By default, Linux loads the GRUB bootloader first. You can later choose your preferred Windows boot option from the menu to return to normal settings without any data loss. However, modifying a drive that contains important files carries risks. If you're testing Linux, a budget external hard drive or a faster USB stick would be suitable alternatives, offering a temporary fix without altering your main drives.
Unused space available. In Disk Management right-click your HDD partition and reduce it to the required size for the Linux installation. Shrinking volumes doesn’t erase any data. This is what you need to do in Windows. Now you have free space ready for installing Linux. Spoiler: It works!
Open GParted, pick your disk, choose "Resize/Move," adjust the window size, format what’s left, and then set up Mint.