Using NTFS On Linux

[inner lark]

hey everyone small question,
so, i am installing linux mint on a laptop, i have 2 drives (NVME2)
the boot drive i am going to format it at ext4 so i can install linux on it

but, for the storage drive (secondary NVME2), it is currently with NTFS, and i am not certain if i'll keep using linux
so, i want to ask, will keeping the secondary NVME2 as NTFS corrupt the data or whatever on that partition or whatever?

i think i heard somewhere (not sure where) that linux over time will corrupt my NTFS data, and well, that is something i absolutely want to avoid 😅

(changing the secondary to ext 4 is not an option, as i can't even move the data out of it, because its large and all 😅 )

I don't have any intention of dual booting or anything, i want to uninstall windows from main drive, and install linux on main drive, and just continue using the system, and my biggest concern is data loss/corruption on secondary drive (NTFS)

[sage oar]

That is not true at all

The secondary drive, if ur not gonna use it with linux, don't even bother touching it

Just do the ext4 thing with the first drive and live peacefully

The "corruption" thingy is just miscommunication between Linux and windows, so if u dont use linux to copy anything onto the NTFS partition (writing on to it) you will be fine

[untold moat]

Linux will not corrupt your NTFS drive data.

[sage oar]

It will if u try to use the NTFS partition to store linux stuff

Or atleast windows will try to stop linux and corrupt itself in the process

@untold moat

[untold moat]

@sage oar What do you mean by linux stuff?

[sage oar]

Linux doesn't understand NTFS properly

So transferring stuff over from ext 4 to NTFS partitions causes data corruption

So like telling steam to install games onto the NTFS drive will break files

[untold moat]

When was the last time you tested transferring stuff over from ext 4 to NTFS partitions causes data corruption?
@sage oar

[sage oar]

Last week

If windows doesnt like it, the data just disappears

Not to mention NTFS partitions need defragmentation

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/617400/can-linux-corrupt-the-data-on-an-ntfs-partition#:~:text=And if you are worried,no real reason for that.&text=Yes%2C linux will 100%25 corrupt,NTFS partition sooner or later.

Can't believe I have to link this

[untold moat]

Ah alrighty.
So if you don't use windows there is no problem?

[sage oar]

Kinda is, then ur wasting storage space and still risk losing data

Cause as I said, linux mint store a file there and forget how to access it

[untold moat]

Ok.

[inner lark]

ah, no, i meant that, i want to continue using my secondary drive as storage, as in install games, copy/paste media into it and so on

so, i will be using the secondary drive, so i was wondering if installing the system on my main drive, and continuing to use the secondary drive normally would corrupt data or anything

though looking at the responses, looks like i won't be able to do that 😅

but i am curious about what you guys think of this?
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/15bfbyo/state_of_ntfs_support_in_linux/

looks too complicated for me to know for sure, i guess the only way to find out is if i were to just pray and hope it doesn't break 😅 (or switch to ext4)

[untold moat]

Or you could format your secondary drive to exFat.

[inner lark]

exFat?

never thought about it to be honest 😅 i always thought fat formats were for bootable stuff and the like

[untold moat]

exFat is another type of filesystem.

Supports very large files like NTFS.

[inner lark]

https://www.tutorialspoint.com/difference-between-fat32-exfat-and-ntfs-file-systems

interesting, but looks like it was initially made for flashes?

[sage oar]

Eh still wouldnt use it

[inner lark]

well, looks like i have bad luck, xD i guess i should try exFat sometime, which goki mentioned

[sage oar]

Wait

Is the second drive empty?

Like empty partitions

[inner lark]

i mean, no, its full of information, which makes everything all more difficult

[sage oar]

Ouf

[inner lark]

its a single partition too

[sage oar]

Ouf

[inner lark]

are there any other formats btw? to be fair i probably wouldn't commit to linux a 100%

maybe i'd need to go back to windows in future, or just put the secondary storage on another machine

i guess its messy and i need to make a choice xD

[sage oar]

I've only ever used ext4, ntfs and fat, so idk

[inner lark]

welp according to chatGPT

i know i at least won't lose my NVME2, lets just hope it goes well

even though on articles it appears to always say "ideal for flash thumb drives or sth"

[untold moat]

exFat is best to use on a Flashdrive as a Flashdrive can be plugged into a Linux,Windows or MacOS system.
Thus using exFat will ensure the flashdrive will work on any system you plug it into.

[inner lark]

ah, makes sense, makes sense, makes me wonder if (in the future when i get som external storage SSD) if i should make it exFAT

making it ext4 or NTFS feels limiting

[untold moat]

I recommend making any drive except a system drive that has an OS installed on it a exFat filesystem drive, being able to read/write files onto it on any system if need be is handy. Though if you don't want to use the drive on other systems then using Ext4 for Linux systems and NTFS for Windows system is an option.

[inner lark]

thanks for the help, exFat it is then 👍