Linux noob here. Usually in Windows if I have a 1TB SSD, I make a 250GB partition for Windows and all of its things and I use the rest for a second partition where I install my stuff and store my files.

Usually in case Windows decides to go belly up, I still have my files. In more than 20 years it has never happened but I’ve always done it like that. I mean if Windows goes bad, I can still remove the drive and insert it into a different PC and copy my files away.

Should I shrink Partition 3 and make another one? Or keep it as it is? If I would, I read that I need to boot with a live usb to be able to shrink it. What kind of partition would I make?

  • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    I always make separate root and home partitions plus the EFI system partition. On a desktop, I will put home and root on separate drives.

    I use btrfs for root, so it gets a bit more complicated with subvolumes since I want to exclude some stuff from snapshots.

  • RiderExMachina@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    I personally always have a 50GB / (root) partition and then make another partition for my /home folder. That way if something goes FUBAR, I can easily reinstall without needing to migrate my data somewhere else first.

    • OrangeCorvus@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      I don’t know that’s how Pop OS configured it. I gave it the entire drive and it made the partitions and everything.

    • mothringer@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      There has to be a small unused area at the start for the partition table. 2MB is far more than is needed for that, but leaving less would tank performance due to the fs blocks and disk blocks not being aligned.

  • mudeth@lemmy.caEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Feels like good practice to have /home mounted on a separate partition if you want to install a different distro or reinstall but I’ve never had to test the theory.

    • NaN@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Works well for distrohopping too, I usually would rename my home to oldhome or something and then just move my files to the new one to prevent dotfiles from potentially causing issues.

      Also beware Debian installer with a luks encrypted drive. Where most things will unlock a previously-encrypted drive and use it, Debian installer will (or would, it’s been a while) reformat the encryption before it confirms any potential partition layout changes and you can end up with an empty drive before you know it.

    • Quazatron@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      This. For home use having a separate / and /home (and maybe a swap) formated as ext4 is solid and allows you to distro hop with ease. As you get more comfortable with Linux, you’ll learn about the luxury of LVM volumes and more exotic filesystems with compression and other features. What is important is to always keep fresh backups. BorgBackup is your friend, you can find a few graphical front ends for it to simplify things.