0

I currently have Windows 7 installed on an SSD and just got another SSD which I want to install Ubuntu on. My current setup with Windows 7 is that I have all of my games and apps installed on the SSD, but I have all of the personal folders like "My Music," "My Videos," "Desktop" and others point to a regular HDD. That way whatever files I have on my desktop are actually stored on the regular HDD, and not the SSD. These files are ordinary files that any OS can open, such as pictures, videos, etc.

My question is whether I can get Ubuntu to use that same drive for the /home directory so that all of my personal files are stored on there as well, but without reformatting it. I would like to be able to still use it with the current setup that I have on Windows 7, but I would like Ubuntu to use it as well. Is there a way for me to do this? The HDD is formatted as NTFS.

Please let me know if I wasn't clear or if more detail is needed. Thanks

Mo2
  • 386
  • Your /home cannot be NTFS formatted. But you can easily link folders like Music, Documents etc into /home instead of using the default folders in /home. I keep my /home inside my / (root) and have two data partitions. All new data goes into my Linux formatted data partition, but I still have the old NTFS shared with XP partition for Firefox, Thunderbird profiles, photos for Picasa and some other data. Since not using XP I will make NTFS go away with next major reorg of my drives. – oldfred Aug 23 '14 at 04:33
  • What is the advantage and disadvantage of having the /home in the root? I just don't want to store my personal files on Ubuntu on a partition that I cannot access from Windows. That will just make things more complicated for me. It's okay if I can't access Ubuntu app files and such from Windows, but accessing personal files stored on my Ubuntu's /home from Windows is essential to me. Anyway to make this work? – Mo2 Aug 23 '14 at 04:45

1 Answers1

1

Yes, that should be easily doable. You can create new partition in the HDD for your home directory, and put the rest of the system files on the SSD. You won't have to format the HDD, but you'll probably have to shrink the partition storing your Windows documents to make room for your Ubuntu /home partition. Also, keep in mind you won't be able to access your Ubuntu documents from Windows (though you'll be able to access your Windows documents from Ubuntu) because Windows cannot read ext3/ext4 partitions.

To shrink the HDD partition storing your Windows documents, I'd recommend using the Disk Management tool in Windows. Right click on the partition and select "Shrink Volume," to create space for your Ubuntu documents.

After this you should be able to start installing. I don't have the Ubuntu installer in front of me right now but I'll try to describe the process as best I can.

  1. Boot the Ubuntu install CD and follow the installation prompts.

  2. When it gets to the disk partitioning section and asks how you want to install, select "Something Else" to go to the manual partitioning options

  3. Right click on the unallocated space in your new SSD where you want to install Ubuntu's system files. Click "Configure," and a dialogue box should pop up.

  4. Use the following settings:

    Use as: Ext4 Journaling File System
    Mount point: /

  5. Right click on the unallocated space in your HDD, where you want your Ubuntu /home partition to be. Click "Configure" again, and use the following settings:

    Use as: Ext4 Journaling File System
    Mount point: /home

That should be it! You can then proceed with the rest of the installation.

tlng5
  • 384
  • Thank you for that reply. I have a few questions.
    1. What about /boot and /swap? I know /swap is if you run out of RAM (which I have 12 GB of), so I doubt I'd need it, but just want to make sure. Not really sure what the benefit of /boot is though and where it would with the configuration you recommended.
    2. Is there anyway to what you suggested but without creating a new partition on the HDD? The main reason is because I want to be able to access my personal files on Ubuntu from my Windows partition. Is there anyway to make this work?
     – Mo2 Aug 23 '14 at 04:48
  • 1
    If you have 12 GB RAM, then I don't think swap is really necessary. You can add one if you want, but I don't think it'll affect much. There are rumors out there that putting a swap partition on an SSD will shorten the life of the SSD, but I'll leave it to you to decide whether there's any truth to them. A /boot partition is also generally unnecessary if you're not dealing w/ encryption, LVM, software RAID, etc. I have not heard of a way to make /home accessible to Windows natively; you could make it an NTFS but it's highly discouraged and will likely cause problems later on. – tlng5 Aug 23 '14 at 05:02
  • 1
    There are Windows programs you can install that are supposed to add ext4 support to Windows, allowing you to access Linux partitions. I have not tried any of them but you can take a look: http://www.howtogeek.com/112888/3-ways-to-access-your-linux-partitions-from-windows/ – tlng5 Aug 23 '14 at 05:05
  • thank you for that link. One other question I had is whether it's possible to make my original idea work somehow with symlink. I know Linux has something similar to it. – Mo2 Aug 23 '14 at 13:33
  • 1
    Either keep /home inside / (root) or have a smaller /home. Then create a larger NTFS shared data partition. Then you can link every folder in the shared NTFS data partition into /home. You can even delete the default Music, Documents, Videos etc entries and make those links. http://askubuntu.com/questions/223655/windows-ubuntu-dual-boot-share-files-between-os/223670#223670 – oldfred Aug 23 '14 at 14:25
  • @oldfred thank you for that link. So my last question (hopefully) is what purpose will the /home directory serve since I will be linking to a separate NTFS partition for my Documents and such? Can I also link the Desktop folder as well? – Mo2 Aug 23 '14 at 16:12
  • @Mo2 Even if you link your personal files and folders to a separate NTFS partition, my understanding is that you will still need an actual home folder because it contains hidden files that store important user settings and profile information. These files cannot be stored in an NTFS partition because file permissions, etc. don't quite work the same in NTFS. – tlng5 Aug 23 '14 at 21:58
  • I see. I ended up installing it with the /home being in the root. I figured if something goes wrong and I need to reformat I might as well reset my settings as well just in case they play a part in the problem. Thank you both for all of your help. Sorry I can't upvote you due to my vote rep. – Mo2 Aug 23 '14 at 23:30
  • 1
    You still can backup /home, so you can restore your settings. Some apps like Thunderbird and Firefox default to hidden folders for data. I also moved those to my shared data partition and modified the profile.ini to use correct location. Then I had same email & bookmarks in all my installs both Windows & multiple Ubuntu installs. – oldfred Aug 23 '14 at 23:55