3StrandTech

Part 7 of the series is here! We’ve been talking about 10 things to do after installing Linux! We’ve discussed many things you can do with Linux so far, including how to update the system, setting up time shift backups and customizing the desktop, to name a few. During this guide we will set up a Shared Data Folder. A shared data partition is useful if you dual boot Windows and Linux because you can access it on either your Linux or Windows OS, facilitating easy data transfer. Lets get it set up!

Setting up the Shared Partition

For most of us, our Linux and Windows installs live on the same hard drive and its likely that we don’t have a second drive installed in our machine. If you do, awesome, I would recommend setting up your shared partition on the secondary drive if possible. The best way to start the process is to boot into your Windows install. Once you’re in your Windows install, type in “disk management” in the Start Search and then click Open when you see “Create and format hard disk partitions.”

Next, we need to find the drive best suited for this new partition. For most of us, it is going to be the same C: drive that Windows is installed on. The screenshot that I show below probably looks a little different than yours, so you’ll need to use your best judgement on this. As I’ve said before, I accept no responsibility for any unintended consequences that this may cause to your OS and/or PC. See my legal disclaimer for more information on this. Now, once you find the drive that you want to use for your shared partition, right click on it and then click “Shrink Volume”

Once you click “Shrink Volume,” you’ll see a screen similar to the one below. You’ll need to determine how much space to allocate based on your hard drive size and your individual needs. for me, 10 GB is what I’ll allocate. This screen determines the the size according to MBs, but most of us think and operate in terms of GBs. 10000 MBs = 10 GBs, so 10000 MBs it is for me. Once you’re ready, click “Shrink.”

When that action is completed, your disk management page should show a new partition and it will show “Unallocated” as you see below:

Next, right-click your new partition and click “New Simple Volume”

When the New Simple Volume Wizard appears, click “Next.”

On the “Volume Size” screen, click “Next.” You can allocate all of the space available to the drive.

On the “Drive Letter or Path” page, make sure that the “Assign the following drive letter:” you can assign whatever drive letter that you’d like, but I chose “D” for mine. Click “Next” when you’re ready to advance.

On the “Format Partition” page, select the “Format this volume with the following settings:” radio button. Choose “NTFS” as the file system. You can leave the “Allocation unit size:” as “Default” and give the partition a volume label that clearly indicates what it will be used for, such as “Transfer” or some other cool name. Click “Next” when all of your settings have been selected.

Once you get to the “Completing the New Simple Volume Wizard” page, review your settings if you’d like, then click “Finish.”

Fun fact: If you forget the name the drive (like I did), you can always go back to “Disk Management” and right click the drive and click on properties as I demonstrate below.

Once you get to the “Properties” screen, type in the new drive name and then click “Apply.” After that, restart your PC and then boot into your Linux install.

Once you’re in your Linux OS, click into your file manager.

Depending on your OS, this next screen might look different. for me, I had to click on “Other Locations.”

Once you’re able to see your other drives in your file manager, you should see the partition that you created in the list. I named mine “Transfer” in Windows and now it shows in my Linux install. Hopefully yours shows up as well. If it doesn’t, let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to help!

Lets test it to make sure that files in this volume will be accessible in both OS’s. Right click within the volume and then click “New Folder.”

Name the folder something meaning if you can. If not, lets name this one “Test.” Then click “Create.”

Open up a LibreOffice document, then type something simple. Click the save icon (as I indicate in the following screenshot).

On the save screen, be sure to save the file in your created partition. Also save the document in the “Word 2010-365 Document (.docx)” format. Click “Save” in the upper right of the save window.

If you get the following warning screen. Click the “Use Word 2010-365 Document Format.” After you save your doc, restart your PC and boot into your Windows install.

Once you’re in your Windows install, do a search for “Word” and open Word.

As you Open the file, navigate to your partition, then click into your test folder and open the test doc.

If your TestDoc opens, awesome! Nice work! If it doesn’t, still awesome! Just comment below that it didn’t open and I’ll do my best to help you.

Things you can (and can’t) use the shared partition for

This next part is very important, because while this shared partition is incredibly useful, it isn’t without its boundaries. The files that are ok to use in this shared partition are any that do not involve Linux system files, the Windows C:\Program Files, Windows system folders and anything similar. If you think of it this way, both Linux and Windows are like a house. You can change the flooring, wallpaper, you can even knock down a couple walls and put up different ones within reason.

You can’t, however, remove primary support beams that hold up an entire floor without potential consequences. The same is true for an OS; if you mess with or move critical files, that is like trying to switch out the foundation or remove a major support beam in a house: there is likely to be a catastrophic consequence. So what can you put in this drive? Well, anything that isn’t critical or immovable without major consequence. Documents, game saves (if compatible), project files, music, images, videos, etc. I hope this helps!

Wrap Up

In this guide we set up a shared disk partition, formatted it as NTFS so that Windows and Linux could both use it, then we tested it by creating and then opening a document in Linux and Windows to make sure it worked on both OS’s. The shared partition will make it easier to start migrating your digital life over to Linux as you start using your everyday files, pictures, and other data in Linux, even if the file is created in Windows. On the next part of the guide, we discuss something that could be intimidating: useful terminal commands in Linux! Don’t skip this part, you are quite capable of using terminal commands without fear or intimidation (you may even find the practice not only useful, but fun!). I hope to see you there! Have a GREAT day!

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