From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

I've wanted to switch to Linux for years but one thing keeps stopping
me: all my stuff is still on Windows.

Not just documents and photos. I mean everything. Old projects, music collections, browser profiles, saved passwords, software archives,
random folders from 10+ years ago, game saves, old chats, drivers,
forgotten utilities, etc. My current Windows drive basically feels like
a digital attic.

Part of me wants to do a clean break and force myself to fully adapt to
Linux.

Another part of me thinks that would be stupid and I'd eventually need something from the old system again.

So lately I've been considering installing Linux on a completely
separate SSD and just keeping the Windows drive disconnected and
untouched instead of wiping it.

Did anyone else here transition this way?

Was keeping the old drive useful in the long run, or did it just slow
down the transition because Windows was always there as a fallback?

I'm also curious about the non-technical side of this. I've used Windows
for most of my life, so changing operating systems feels oddly bigger
than just installing another OS.

Any regrets, advice, or things you wish you had backed up before switching?

Also interested in hearing whether people still dual boot in 2026 or if
most have moved to VMs / secondary machines / old preserved drives instead.

Thanks.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 2026-05-10, Oguz Kaan Ocal <oguzkaanocal3169@hotmail.com> wrote:

I've wanted to switch to Linux for years but one thing keeps stopping
me: all my stuff is still on Windows.

Not just documents and photos. I mean everything. Old projects, music collections, browser profiles, saved passwords, software archives,
random folders from 10+ years ago, game saves, old chats, drivers,
forgotten utilities, etc. My current Windows drive basically feels like
a digital attic.

Part of me wants to do a clean break and force myself to fully adapt to Linux.

Another part of me thinks that would be stupid and I'd eventually need something from the old system again.

So lately I've been considering installing Linux on a completely
separate SSD and just keeping the Windows drive disconnected and
untouched instead of wiping it.

Did anyone else here transition this way?

Was keeping the old drive useful in the long run, or did it just slow
down the transition because Windows was always there as a fallback?

I'm also curious about the non-technical side of this. I've used Windows
for most of my life, so changing operating systems feels oddly bigger
than just installing another OS.

Any regrets, advice, or things you wish you had backed up before switching?

Also interested in hearing whether people still dual boot in 2026 or if
most have moved to VMs / secondary machines / old preserved drives instead.

Thanks.

My file collections sounds a lot like yours but I started ages ago, so
it got moved from a Windows partition to CD's/DVD's then eventually back
on to a hard disk, more specifically, external drives using a Linux
native filesystem. Some of these files go back to the 90s.

When I first started with Linux I put an additional disk and installed
Linux on that, leaving my Windows partitions untouched. Back then
though, I did need Windows here and there, for games and various
programs as there was less software and some things I could only do on
Windows (such as use MSN Messgener), but that need dropped over the
years, and the need for Windows is now...zero.

I do not regret keeping Windows around, it was just a practical need and
I didn't see the value in going "cold turkey". I saw Windows as
complementary on my system, just another tool I had and back then, I
still used DOS. Why not have two Operating Systems? Linux reads
windows partitions just fine, so you can just leave your files there.

I would only consider moving your archive files to a Linux based
filesystem (preferably seperate to the OS) if you find you don't use, or
don't have windows, only because if you have an issue with say an NTFS partition and you don't have Windows, then you'll need to rely on the
ntfs tools that come with Linux to fix it, which may not be as
comprehensive as Windows.

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 2026-05-10 10:48, Oguz Kaan Ocal wrote:

I've wanted to switch to Linux for years but one thing keeps stopping
me: all my stuff is still on Windows.

Not just documents and photos. I mean everything. Old projects, music collections, browser profiles, saved passwords, software archives,
random folders from 10+ years ago, game saves, old chats, drivers,
forgotten utilities, etc. My current Windows drive basically feels like
a digital attic.

Part of me wants to do a clean break and force myself to fully adapt to Linux.

Another part of me thinks that would be stupid and I'd eventually need something from the old system again.

So lately I've been considering installing Linux on a completely
separate SSD and just keeping the Windows drive disconnected and
untouched instead of wiping it.

Did anyone else here transition this way?

Was keeping the old drive useful in the long run, or did it just slow
down the transition because Windows was always there as a fallback?

Keep it, of course. Install on a new disk.

I'm also curious about the non-technical side of this. I've used Windows
for most of my life, so changing operating systems feels oddly bigger
than just installing another OS.

Any regrets, advice, or things you wish you had backed up before switching?

Also interested in hearing whether people still dual boot in 2026 or if
most have moved to VMs / secondary machines / old preserved drives instead.

Thanks.

When I transitioned to Linux there were no virtual machines, so I double booted. Now you have the choice.

It is a slow process.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 2026-05-10, Oguz Kaan Ocal <oguzkaanocal3169@hotmail.com> wrote:

I've wanted to switch to Linux for years but one thing keeps stopping
me: all my stuff is still on Windows.

Not just documents and photos. I mean everything. Old projects, music collections, browser profiles, saved passwords, software archives,
random folders from 10+ years ago, game saves, old chats, drivers,
forgotten utilities, etc. My current Windows drive basically feels like
a digital attic.

<snip>

The 64-dollar question is: can some of those files only be read and/or processed by a Windows system? If so, you might have a problem.
However, the chances of this are probably small. Text files, photos,
music files... there should be a Linux utility that can handle all of
them. My primary transition was from an Amiga; drives were small in
those days, so there was plenty of room to copy that gigabyte of data
into a corner of my Linux box.

The laptop I'm writing this on is a Lenovo T410 which came with
Windows 7 installed. I've very seldom needed it, but I decided
to keep it around by re-partitioning the disk and making it dual-boot.
Beware - Windows tends to put a Master File Table smack in the middle
of its partition, and it's not movable by normal means. I found a
good abnormal means in the form of PefectDisk from Raxco; it enabled
me to shrink the Windows partition on my 250GB disk down to about 60GB.
I installed Linux in the freed-up space and made it the default on boot.

The one reason you'll likely need to keep Windows is if you're developing Windows software. I'm in this boat, but I do mostly back-end stuff that doesn't have much of a GUI requirement, so I just set up a virtual machine (using VirtualBox) and installed Windows XP on it. As someone once said,
the nice thing about having Microsoft in a window is that you can close it.
:-)
--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Growth for the sake of
\ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | growth is the ideology
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | of the cancer cell.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | -- Edward Abbey
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On Sun, 10 May 2026 11:48:36 +0300, Oguz Kaan Ocal wrote:

Another part of me thinks that would be stupid and I'd eventually need something from the old system again.

So lately I've been considering installing Linux on a completely
separate SSD and just keeping the Windows drive disconnected and
untouched instead of wiping it.

Did anyone else here transition this way?

Not exactly. I have a couple of Windows laptops, Win 11 and XP, that I
keep as Windows systems just in case. I've been using Linux for a long
time so most of my projects are either on Linux or lend themselves to
cross platform development so I could transfer them from Windows. My music
and photos are spread over thumbdrives and a WD Passport backup.

I understand the psychology and suffer from it myself but in reality if
it's something I haven't used in years I don't need it.

Also interested in hearing whether people still dual boot in 2026 or if
most have moved to VMs / secondary machines / old preserved drives
instead.

The last dual boot I did was about 2012. It was a Dell box that came with Windows 7 and I added SuSE. I found I only ever booted to 7 to make sure
it still worked. When I redid it I went with straight Fedora. I did the
same with a mini and Lenovo laptop that came with Windows 11. However, I
do have multiple machines and still have a straight Windows 11 laptop if I need it.

Keeping the Windows drive sounds like a plan. Even if your machine is SATA
a SATA SSD is a real improvement. If you have an extra bay just unplug the Windows drive, plug in the SSD and start fresh. At least when doing the install I'd suggest unplugging the Windows drive to avoid confusion.





--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On Sun, 10 May 2026 11:48:36 +0300, Oguz Kaan Ocal wrote:

Another part of me thinks that would be stupid and I'd eventually
need something from the old system again.

My personal philosophy is “never throw anything away”. ;)

There’s no harm in keeping the old Windows volume online, permanently
mounted read-only. Then every time you remember something you forgot
to transfer across, it’s there at your fingertips.

If your new drive is big enough, you could even take an image of the
Windows volume and work with that, and keep the original stored away
somewhere safe as a backup.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc



On 5/10/26 10:40, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

On 2026-05-10, Oguz Kaan Ocal <oguzkaanocal3169@hotmail.com> wrote:

I've wanted to switch to Linux for years but one thing keeps stopping
me: all my stuff is still on Windows.

Not just documents and photos. I mean everything. Old projects, music
collections, browser profiles, saved passwords, software archives,
random folders from 10+ years ago, game saves, old chats, drivers,
forgotten utilities, etc. My current Windows drive basically feels like
a digital attic.

<snip>

The 64-dollar question is: can some of those files only be read and/or processed by a Windows system? If so, you might have a problem.
However, the chances of this are probably small. Text files, photos,
music files... there should be a Linux utility that can handle all of
them. My primary transition was from an Amiga; drives were small in
those days, so there was plenty of room to copy that gigabyte of data
into a corner of my Linux box.

The laptop I'm writing this on is a Lenovo T410 which came with
Windows 7 installed. I've very seldom needed it, but I decided
to keep it around by re-partitioning the disk and making it dual-boot.
Beware - Windows tends to put a Master File Table smack in the middle
of its partition, and it's not movable by normal means. I found a
good abnormal means in the form of PefectDisk from Raxco; it enabled
me to shrink the Windows partition on my 250GB disk down to about 60GB.
I installed Linux in the freed-up space and made it the default on boot.

You can use or could at any rate. use the Windows disk tools to do the same thing. You reduce the on disk empty files to a very small number then
resize
the Windows partition. You can do the same thing with MagicPartEd a live bootable tool. You make your basic Linux partitions with GPartEd and if
it is not on your live install you have made a bad choice of your new OS.

I have moved files from the AmigaOS 3.9 to Windows XP to Mandrake
back in 2006 or so.
I finally cut Microsoft out of my computers. But I have never seen a Windows file I could not open in Linux or MS-DOS on the C-64 or the Amiga
aside from executables.

The one reason you'll likely need to keep Windows is if you're developing Windows software. I'm in this boat, but I do mostly back-end stuff that doesn't have much of a GUI requirement, so I just set up a virtual machine (using VirtualBox) and installed Windows XP on it. As someone once said,
the nice thing about having Microsoft in a window is that you can close it. :-)

Yes that is great thing about Virtual Machines. PCLinuxOS has GPartEd and
Virtual Box on the Install disk and easy to operate package managers.

bliss- Dell Precision 7730- PCLOS 2026.04- Linux 6.12.87 pclos1- KDE
Plasma 6.6.4



--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

Oguz Kaan Ocal <oguzkaanocal3169@hotmail.com> writes:

Not just documents and photos. I mean everything.

Take them with you.

Old projects, music collections

Take.

browser profiles, saved passwords,

Dump them, get new ones, not useful anymore.

software archives,

Take if they are special and you can't download them again easily.

random folders from 10+ years ago, game saves, old chats,

Dump them.

drivers,

Not needed anymore.

forgotten utilities, etc.

Leave them. Linux has 10 million.

Part of me wants to do a clean break and force myself to fully adapt
to Linux.

Yes, put Linux as the main system and leave the old Windows disk as
secondary. *If* you need something, copy it over. Dual booting is a
bitch, and Windows will try to kill anything else that you're
booting. Plus, you'll keep using what you already know (Windows) and not
move on.

Another part of me thinks that would be stupid and I'd eventually need something from the old system again.

When I left, wanted to take IDA, Ollie Debug, and some cool PHP IDE. I
put a bunch of stuff on CDs. Bordland C++. And of course I took my
virus collection. I didn't use 90% of it. Some stuff I did use for
Windows NT4, but that's for old time's sake.

So lately I've been considering installing Linux on a completely
separate SSD and just keeping the Windows drive disconnected and
untouched instead of wiping it.

Just leave it and mount it if you do want it later. Once you find you
don't, take the space for something else.

mount /dev/whatever /mnt/hd

Was keeping the old drive useful in the long run, or did it just slow
down the transition because Windows was always there as a fallback?

I didn't need it, really. You'll find new things to use.

I'm also curious about the non-technical side of this. I've used
Windows for most of my life, so changing operating systems feels oddly
bigger than just installing another OS.

Yes it is.

Any regrets, advice, or things you wish you had backed up before switching?

If you need Windows for work or school be careful. Much software is Windows-only, and most hardware is made for Windows (though it's better
than it was 10 years ago). Your bank might assume you're using Windows,
and if you need help your ISP will likely say they don't support
Linux. Also, if you game, gaming is... different on Linux. Don't expect
to AAA game like with Windows. Yes, you can, but it's more effort. This
as well has gotten better over the years.

Watch secure boot. Windows will *require* it and many Linux won't work
with it. This won't be a problem if you don't dual boot.

Also interested in hearing whether people still dual boot in 2026 or
if most have moved to VMs / secondary machines / old preserved drives instead.

If you need Windows at all, use a virtual machine. Dual booting is
sketchy - despite what some here will tell you.
--
PGP Key ID: 781C A3E2 C6ED 70A6 B356 7AF5 B510 542E D460 5CAE
"The Internet should always be the Wild West!"
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On Sun, 10 May 2026 11:48:36 +0300, Oguz Kaan Ocal <oguzkaanocal3169@hotmail.com> wrote:

I'm also curious about the non-technical side of this. I've used Windows
for most of my life, so changing operating systems feels oddly bigger
than just installing another OS.

Any regrets, advice, or things you wish you had backed up before switching?

Also interested in hearing whether people still dual boot in 2026 or if
most have moved to VMs / secondary machines / old preserved drives instead.

I've had dual-boot for years, and haven't really switched to Linux
because most of my data can only be accessed by Windows programs. Even
if I did switch, I'd still keep the old stuff. Some things on my
computer go back to the MS-DOS 3.3 on my first computer with a hard
drive back in 1987, and some go back even further, to stuff I stored
on floppies on an Osborne 3 running CP/M, though most of the Wordstar
files I had stored there I've long since converted to other word
processor formats.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On Mon, 11 May 2026 04:34:11 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

I've had dual-boot for years, and haven't really switched to Linux
because most of my data can only be accessed by Windows programs.

I assume you know how to fix things if a Windows update should screw
up the dual-booting. It shouldn’t be a difficult fix, but it can be unsettling for users who don’t know how to do that.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 5/10/26 23:29, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On Mon, 11 May 2026 04:34:11 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

I've had dual-boot for years, and haven't really switched to Linux
because most of my data can only be accessed by Windows programs.

I assume you know how to fix things if a Windows update should screw
up the dual-booting. It shouldn’t be a difficult fix, but it can be unsettling for users who don’t know how to do that.

I completely dumped Winders when Vista crapped
all over the universe.

NO regrets.

Rec MX Linux. It "Just Works". The XFCE spin
is perfectly adequate.

USED to be Debian ... but apparently Canonical
infiltrated too many of its rejects into the
Deb franchise. Now it DOESN'T necessarily
"Just Work". Bummer !

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 2026-05-11 05:29, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On Mon, 11 May 2026 04:34:11 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

I've had dual-boot for years, and haven't really switched to Linux
because most of my data can only be accessed by Windows programs.

I assume you know how to fix things if a Windows update should screw
up the dual-booting. It shouldn’t be a difficult fix, but it can be unsettling for users who don’t know how to do that.

That depends on how things are installed. I had windows beaten into
submission and it would not break things on updates. Only a major update might, and then it was just a question of replacing the MBR again.

MBR disk, bios. Windows partition marked bootable, but the MBR would
boot the Linux partition regardless.

It should be much easier with UEFI and GPT.

And you can have a virtual machine booting the old real disk.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

Charlie Gibbs wrote this screed in ALL-CAPS:

On 2026-05-10, Oguz Kaan Ocal <oguzkaanocal3169@hotmail.com> wrote:

I've wanted to switch to Linux for years but one thing keeps stopping
me: all my stuff is still on Windows.

Not just documents and photos. I mean everything. Old projects, music
collections, browser profiles, saved passwords, software archives,
random folders from 10+ years ago, game saves, old chats, drivers,
forgotten utilities, etc. My current Windows drive basically feels like
a digital attic.

<snip>

The 64-dollar question is: can some of those files only be read and/or processed by a Windows system? If so, you might have a problem.
However, the chances of this are probably small. Text files, photos,
music files... there should be a Linux utility that can handle all of
them. My primary transition was from an Amiga; drives were small in
those days, so there was plenty of room to copy that gigabyte of data
into a corner of my Linux box.

The laptop I'm writing this on is a Lenovo T410 which came with
Windows 7 installed. I've very seldom needed it, but I decided
to keep it around by re-partitioning the disk and making it dual-boot.
Beware - Windows tends to put a Master File Table smack in the middle
of its partition, and it's not movable by normal means. I found a
good abnormal means in the form of PefectDisk from Raxco; it enabled
me to shrink the Windows partition on my 250GB disk down to about 60GB.
I installed Linux in the freed-up space and made it the default on boot.

The one reason you'll likely need to keep Windows is if you're developing Windows software. I'm in this boat, but I do mostly back-end stuff that doesn't have much of a GUI requirement, so I just set up a virtual machine (using VirtualBox) and installed Windows XP on it. As someone once said,
the nice thing about having Microsoft in a window is that you can close it. :-)

I have some projects (C/C++) I want to build for Windows. I used a non-networked Win 10 in a VM for quite awhile, but now have a mini
PC dual-booting between Win 11 and Debian Sid.

But I don't like staying in the Win 11 too long because it is just
not a comfortable environment for me, even with VLC, Msys, and Git
Bash installed. I have a batch file that builds the code using
Mingw and creates an installer using NSIS. The simpler library
projects use Meson.

So now I'm considering installing Wine and using a Meson
cross-file so that I can work out most of the Windows issues while
basking in the comfort of Linux.
--
Many people feel that if you won't let them make you happy, they'll make you suffer.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 10/05/2026 09:48, Oguz Kaan Ocal wrote:

I've wanted to switch to Linux for years but one thing keeps stopping
me: all my stuff is still on Windows.

Not just documents and photos. I mean everything. Old projects, music collections, browser profiles, saved passwords, software archives,
random folders from 10+ years ago, game saves, old chats, drivers,
forgotten utilities, etc. My current Windows drive basically feels like
a digital attic.

Part of me wants to do a clean break and force myself to fully adapt to Linux.

Another part of me thinks that would be stupid and I'd eventually need something from the old system again.

So lately I've been considering installing Linux on a completely
separate SSD and just keeping the Windows drive disconnected and
untouched instead of wiping it.

Did anyone else here transition this way?

For a while I rand two machines.
Then I moved all my data onto a networked server running Linux and used
SAMBA on windows.
I now had three machines.

Then I build a virtualbox VM running XP and moved all my windows apps
onto that. As and when I needed them.

After a couple of years I installed Lux Mint, moved the VM onto that and switched off the windows machine.

The XP VM runs three programs only. Specialised Windows apps I could
find no direct alternative for.

Was keeping the old drive useful in the long run, or did it just slow
down the transition because Windows was always there as a fallback?

The first point is that windows generated DATA is accessible from Linux.

So that's the first thing to move to Linux, and then use SAMBA to let
the windows box still access it.

That's better than dual booting


Then I recommend building a windows VM to run the windows apps you still
need

Unless you are play9ing real time windows games that should allow you to switch off the windows box altogether

I'm also curious about the non-technical side of this. I've used Windows
for most of my life, so changing operating systems feels oddly bigger
than just installing another OS.

Any regrets, advice, or things you wish you had backed up before switching?

Npne at all really,. Having my XP virtual machine allowed me to access programs that were still needed by me - even 15 years on, I keep that going. Everything else went very smoothly, considering, once I discovered that
Linux Mint was designed to be as easy for a windows user to migrate to
as possible.

Also interested in hearing whether people still dual boot in 2026 or if
most have moved to VMs / secondary machines / old preserved drives instead.

VM all the way. Simply to reduce box clutter and allow simultaneous
access to both operating systems

E.g I have a ancient 2D and 3D CAD programs running on Windows, whose
outputs need post processing by Linux based tools in order to be usable
in their final form

Using virtual Box allows me to boot Windows in far less time than it
ever took on a real machine, and using MINT MATES virtual desktops I can switch between Windows and Linux applications in no rime at all. Data is
all held on a Linux network server and is fully accessible from either platform

It allows a fully integrated workflow between the platforms.

That, for me, when doing PCB , model, or 3D printing design, is very
important
--
In a Time of Universal Deceit, Telling the Truth Is a Revolutionary Act.

- George Orwell

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 10/05/2026 18:40, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

On 2026-05-10, Oguz Kaan Ocal <oguzkaanocal3169@hotmail.com> wrote:

I've wanted to switch to Linux for years but one thing keeps stopping
me: all my stuff is still on Windows.

Not just documents and photos. I mean everything. Old projects, music
collections, browser profiles, saved passwords, software archives,
random folders from 10+ years ago, game saves, old chats, drivers,
forgotten utilities, etc. My current Windows drive basically feels like
a digital attic.

<snip>

The 64-dollar question is: can some of those files only be read and/or processed by a Windows system? If so, you might have a problem.

Chances are high that this *will* be so. Sometimes you can get around
this by exporting in a more generic format, but sometimes the
application's native format is the only one that carries all the
information.

However, the chances of this are probably small. Text files, photos,
music files... there should be a Linux utility that can handle all of
them. My primary transition was from an Amiga; drives were small in
those days, so there was plenty of room to copy that gigabyte of data
into a corner of my Linux box.

Also RAM. My windows XP VM is a mere 3GB of RAM used.

There is also the option of installing WINE which gets better all the
time and running windows applications under that. I haven't tried it in
years though as my VM solution was good enough.

I think we all agree that dual booting is the worst option - I'd rather
buy a new machine to install Linux on, and gradually transition all the windows data and apps to it as and how it seems sensible.

Apart from insane RAM costs a decade old ex-business desktop is a very
good value for money option.
--
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign,
that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."

Jonathan Swift.

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 2026-05-10, Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Sun, 10 May 2026 11:48:36 +0300, Oguz Kaan Ocal wrote:

Another part of me thinks that would be stupid and I'd eventually
need something from the old system again.

My personal philosophy is “never throw anything away”. ;)

There’s no harm in keeping the old Windows volume online, permanently mounted read-only. Then every time you remember something you forgot
to transfer across, it’s there at your fingertips.

If your new drive is big enough, you could even take an image of the
Windows volume and work with that, and keep the original stored away somewhere safe as a backup.

I used to delete stuff, because I had no hard drive space. Nothing I
regret, but there are some things I wish I had kept, like old
schoolwork, some old projects, etc.

Hard drives are so, so cheap it makes no sense to delete files you don't
really want to delete, especially older files. Hard Disks are like 10c
per gigabyte.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 5/11/26 05:14, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-05-11 05:29, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On Mon, 11 May 2026 04:34:11 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

I've had dual-boot for years, and haven't really switched to Linux
because most of my data can only be accessed by Windows programs.

I assume you know how to fix things if a Windows update should screw
up the dual-booting. It shouldn’t be a difficult fix, but it can be
unsettling for users who don’t know how to do that.

That depends on how things are installed. I had windows beaten into submission and it would not break things on updates. Only a major update might, and then it was just a question of replacing the MBR again.

MBR disk, bios. Windows partition marked bootable, but the MBR would
boot the Linux partition regardless.

It should be much easier with UEFI and GPT.

And you can have a virtual machine booting the old real disk.

"Grub-Customizer" can do good things.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On Mon, 11 May 2026 03:29:22 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence DÿOliveiro
<ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Mon, 11 May 2026 04:34:11 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

I've had dual-boot for years, and haven't really switched to Linux
because most of my data can only be accessed by Windows programs.

I assume you know how to fix things if a Windows update should screw
up the dual-booting. It shouldn’t be a difficult fix, but it can be >unsettling for users who don’t know how to do that.

I think my Windows XP system is now grown-up, and long past the age of
needing updates.

I think I did once need to restore the dual-boot system, but it was so
long ago that I've forgotten what I did.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 5/12/26 01:26, Steve Hayes wrote:

On Mon, 11 May 2026 03:29:22 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence DÿOliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Mon, 11 May 2026 04:34:11 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

I've had dual-boot for years, and haven't really switched to Linux
because most of my data can only be accessed by Windows programs.

I assume you know how to fix things if a Windows update should screw
up the dual-booting. It shouldn’t be a difficult fix, but it can be
unsettling for users who don’t know how to do that.

I think my Windows XP system is now grown-up, and long past the age of needing updates.

I think I did once need to restore the dual-boot system, but it was so
long ago that I've forgotten what I did.

Most Linux distros did, still can, set up a unified
boot environment with various operating systems in
distinct disk partitions. Boot, choose.

It's kinda clunky, but DOES work.

However the more modern fix is virtual machines ...
you can run multiple systems/distros all within
a base distro. Just set up a couple of those.
IF you can get VirtualBox to work you can run
any Linux/Unix distro plus DOS and CP/M-86 and Win.
DO have a Win 1.1 VM saved somewhere (it was HORRIBLE).

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