Ok so I don’t wanna jinx myself and say that it’s 100% certain that I will be able to fully/succesfully transition to linux this time, but judging by my experience so far I am at least comfortable enough to stop dual booting(and maybe start learning about VM’s, but that’s a seperate issue). So that brings up the following questions:
Do I just right click>delete the first 4 partitions(pics below) from the ssd and the microsoft reserved partitions from the hdds and then use the newfound unallocated space to extend the linux partitions? Or is there some special procedure I must follow?
Once that’s done and windows is no more can I simply shift+delete certain folders and files left over on my hdds like $RECYCLE.BIN, msdownld.tmp, [Originals], System Volume Information, bootTel.dat, etc.? Can doing that cause any problems? Does linux use/care about these in any way, shape or form?
The best way to solve all of your questions is to back up to an external device or cloud service or both, delete all the partitions (on the drive you want to install Linux on) so that only empty space is left, then reinstall.
Because your EFI and Swap are ahead of (to the left of to be accurate) your root and home partitions, even if you delete the Windows-related drives, you’d have to try to move the empty space to the right of 2-4 important drives. This is a risk I would not recommend taking, but it is what you would need to do without reinstalling.
Either way, you should always back up before doing pretty much anything related to moving, resizing, or deleting partitions.
The only way I know of to guarantee that none of your files become corrupted and possibly unusable or even lost forever is to do my first suggestion.
Another method is to delete the Windows-related partitions and both the EFI and Swap, then recreate the EFI and Swap at the beginning. After this, resize the empty space into the Root partition, load up your EndeavourOS Live USB and reinstall your bootloader.
Far more complicated. So much so that one of the experts here, or just someone with more experience, would have to come help you.
Again, the first suggestion is simplest and safest.
Another option would be to format the unallocated space you will get after deleting all the Windows partitions to some Linux compatible filesystem and mount it somewhere convenient and use it as extra data storage.
I’ll leave it for tomorrow then… Does linux at least have any “export” options for I dunno, settings, list of apps installed, etc.? Anything I can do to make reinstalling and resetting everything I’ve done for the past almost two weeks days less painful?
Yes I saw but I really want to use that extra space to increase the size of my / a bit, and my /home a lot. And swap too, but that I found a guide online that(according to it) says increasing the swap partition is fairly easy, basically you delete it and and create a new swap partition being careful to set the starting point the same as the partition you deleted.
But if I can’t easily increase the / and /home too without risc of corruption and stuff then…
Sigh, guess I will…
Any suggestions about how I can make the process less painful(assuming linux offers any) like I asked above would be very very welcome.
These commands will export two files in your home directory with separate lists for AUR and Repo packages respectively.
As for app settings/configs, install something like unison to copy files from your home partition to one of your empty drives. You should probably use one drive just for backups, or at least a large partition on one of the drives.
After you reinstall, DO NOT just copy all of your previous home partition to your new home partition. Do it SELECTIVELY. Copy only the configs and files that are important.
Only you can determine what is important, but if you believe everything is, you’re wrong .
Also, ensure your username is the exact same as before.
Preserving your configs depends on your desktop environment as well as installed apps. I have restored most of the settings in my XFCE and KDE desktops when I switch between them.
Whether you do a reinstall or modify partitions I recommend backing up these configs.
Because it will save you a lot of time if something goes wrong.
And what about my second question from the original post, anyone know the answer to that one? I mean fine, I wipe the ssd and reinstall linux cleanly on it, but what about those tiny windows partitions on the hdds and the left over folders/files on them that I mentioned?
Ohhh, and keep in mind there is no way I can afford to back up all that data. Maybe I can upload a few GB’s here and there to the cloud, but backing up 21 TB is out of the question!..
And let me add a number please
Just so I don’t go crazy doing all of this for nothing and having to redo it in just 2 months time, can I really do it now or should I just wait until I change the hardware(mobo+cpu+ram will change, everything else remains the same)? For example with this clean reinstall will linux know to mount stuff by UUID so I don’t have to worry about editing fstab?
Or what about having to do things like what the following reddit user describes in the post I’m gonna quote below:
For query #3, I’d say if you have to ask… then wait.
→ That seems like a tedious, if not complicated, task.
For the Microsoft reserved partitions, if they have no actual data, just files for booting or using Windows, then you don’t need them.
I’m not sure what you could possibly have on those drives for all of them to be full (I JUST NOTICED), nor do you need to tell us what’s on them.
Regardless, three things to consider:
Backing up is essential regardless of how much data you have.
If you have lots of important data, it’s even more essential.
Bad things happen at bad times. A disk could fail at any time. An electrical surge could mess things up. You were using Windows — a virus could’ve gotten to all of that.
It’s your system, so don’t feel compelled to make any changes based on my opinions.
Yeah, I know, I know, ideally I’d have a raid set up and everything, but I just can’t afford it atm, so if one of those drives fails or something I’m F-ED!!
Anyway, thank you for all the advice. Gonna turn in now, good night.
There’s been a trend for manufacturers to use these as a way to restore Windows instead of providing physical media, but I believe that partition is automatically created by Windows 11 (maybe 10?) installs.
Yeap, 10. I wouldn’t touch 11 even if you beat me!!! Ads inside the operating system, freaking copilot?! ?! ?! Nooooooooooo thanks!!!
I don’t mind sharing if you’re curious. This might sound pathetic(I really couldn’t give a rats arse) but basically it’s my life.
I don’t have a family or career or stuff like that, the only thing I really have to show for all my time on this earth is the collection of games/movies/music/etc. that I have amassed over the decades…
