Linux/Win 8.1 disk access

OK, so I have settled (for now at least lol) with running Mint 17 on my laptop, and thats been fine, but I also want to run Mint on my pain PC.

After the info I got back on previous posts i dont have the hardware to run Linux on bare metal with a Win VM for gaming, so I want to dual boot.

 

The question is as I have two hdd's (250GB SSD + 3TB HDD) if I dual boot win and linux off the SSD, will linux be able to access and use the files on the second 3TB drive? Its a single disk in NTFS format.  I think it should see the files fine but I had real problems with file ownership and access when setting up a samba share between Win 8.1 and my Mint laptop (but that could easily be me being a linux noob). 

I need to be sure as I have too many files to copy all of them for each system.

Thanks in advance

Yours truly

Yet another Linux Noob

    "will linux be able to access and use the files on the second 3TB drive"

You can either mount the NTFS drive automatically or as you need it manually.

As the hard drive is probably NTFS, all will be fine unless you want to execute files in Linux on the hard drive. If you format your hard drive to ext4 (which is executable-compatible), Windows won't be able to see it, or access the files at all. As long as you don't need to execute anything, you should be fine.

However, if you want to execute files from your hard drive, you could always segment it into two or three partitions: one being your Windows files, two being your ext4 Linux partition, and optionally three being all your media and stuff, so it's easy to access. Just make sure to backup all your stuff.

In linux you can acces all the files on an NTFS drive yes

Dual booting linux with Windows is a world of hurt:

- Both W7 and W8 can't perform some security updates when the boot process is governed by GRUB. That's because Windows does things with the system BIOS that are so secret that Microsoft uses proprietary access systems for that that refuse to work when the bootloader is not by Microsoft. This is on BIOS and UEFI machines. The only remedy is to remove the linux disk, keeping only the Windows disk in the system, and then do these essential security updates.

- W8 doesn't shut down, it goes into hibernation. For that reason, when you dual boot and switch to linux, W8 crashes even when it's not running. If you disable the fastboot "feature" in W8, your boot times increase beyond W7 level.

- W7/W8 are known for breaking regularly, in which case you have to "repair" the system. This process will delete the linux bootloader.

- Every time you access an NTFS volume in W7/W8 after having accessed it in linux, it will show the "Drive problem blah blah. Do you wish to check and repair the disk?", and if you click "yes", your linux install will be destroyed or linux will be unable to mount the volume automatically afterwards.

- Microsoft has changed the Secure Boot keys for W8 family products. This means that the Secure Boot keys in the UEFI will be overwritten if you're not careful and just add them. This "security update" from W8 replaced the database holding the keys in the UEFI, instead of just adding the new keys. This means that - depending on the linux distro you have installed - your system will refuse to start, either because the linux distro isn't signed with those replaced keys, or because W8 doesn't work with the new keys (which is a big problem for the moment, there are thousands of locked computers out there right now).

- Using an archaic handicapped filesystem like NTFS in linux is suboptimal. Linux' own filesystems perform MUCH better, don't fragment, don't waste as much space, and are much more secure and have much more features.

Really, if you're going to waste perfectly good hardware on a Windows software console downgrade for gaming, reserve a PC just for that (and preferably a PC that you can easily disconnect from the network, only connecting it to let Steam phone home from time to time when everything else on your network is disconnected or behind a solid linux firewall), and use Linux on your main machines. If you can't do a passthrough virtualization to run Windows, that's a bummer, but dual booting is just not worth the huge amounts of bullcrap you'll have to put up with.

I understand that you would want to run Windows for some things, but you really don't need to subject yourself to all of that crap for that. If you're a Windows PC gamer, that means that you are willing to spend more money than console or linux gamers on your entertainment. So why not do it right, and dedicate a machine to it? It'll be well worth it because it'll avoid a huge waste of time and energy. Or upgrade to a machine that's capable of PCI passthrough virtualization, depending on what's cheaper...

For the love of God - No one tell Zoltan where I live - I'm afraid he will come to my house, find me using windows and beat me to death with my own computer!

 

Ok, what if I leave Win 8 on the ssd, and install Linux on the 3TB hdd on its own partition?

 

Yes I know its just a game box, but I want to do everything in linux that I can possibly do, and my celeron laptop just doesnt cut it for some things, I need my GPU.

Swap that around. There is no benefit in gaming performance from SSD's, most gaming portfolios are larger than what an SSD can hold anyway, and Windows makes your SSD wear much faster than linux. The linux system is what, 15 GB max? Hell of a lot of performance for the money on an SSD, plus you can keep Windows with it's wear and tear away from the SSD by formatting it in a Linux format.

If you have a failing system update from Windows, just unplug the SSD, and you're all good. Just keep the linux bootloader on the Linux SSD, if you unplug it, Windows will just start with it's own bootloader on the HDD. The HDD is NTFS then, which is suboptimal, but it's better than wasting an SSD on Windows for gaming. Plus you can encrypt the SSD like usual with Linux, and keep all your Linux stuff on there. You can save your work done in Linux or Windows on the HDD, accessible to both.

Linux on the SSD makes a lot more sense in every aspect.

Don't worry about using Windows. It's sometimes a necessary evil. I've been forced to use Windows (mind you W7, wouldn't touch W8 or 8.1 with a poking stick while wearing a hazmat suit lol) this week, for the first time in 1.5 years. It's an ordeal, but I've negotiated a huge terror fee lol.

My problem with Windows is that it's sad that Microsoft gets away with such crap. Microsoft is capable of much better software than that, but they don't have to because people are dumb enough to keep giving them money for the spyware archaic broken crap it is.

Microsoft - through the acquisition of Nokia - has between 100 and 200 patents that are relevant on Android devices. Those are mainly Nokia mobile phone patents, there is only the FAT32 Microsoft patent basically. As a consequence, Microsoft gets a lot of money from Android phones through the Nokia patents for the phone functionality, but gets nearly nothing from Android tablets because they have no phone functionality. That's why Microsoft only makes MS-Office for Android available for Android phones, and not for tablets. Not that MS-Office for Android is such a great software, it's like MS-Office for Mac, not even compatible with MS-Office for Windows in all aspects, in fact, LibreOffice and Kingsoft Office are more compatible with MS-Office for Windows files than MS-Office for Android and Mac, but hey, people buy it.

I've mentioned before that I work with Microsoft products and services. Some of those are really good. The reason why I use such strong language against Windows is obviously to compensate for the strong lies that Microsoft permits itself all the time to con the consumers. I've also mentioned before that I like Microsoft's attitude towards non-US civil rights more than for example Google's or Facebook's or Apple's, which are much worse than Microsoft in many aspects, and in the end, they all pay Microsoft just to be able to exist.

I don't agree with the patent system, and a recent judgment in the US (of all places) has underlined the fact that there is a growing awareness that the US patent system needs to be revised to make room for real innovation and fair business models, but I'm also for respecting the law, so right now, I think that people should in the first place adapt their habits and make themselves less dependent on patent-wielding US corporations, instead of breaking the law by pirating software and stuff like that, because that only fuels the corporate blitzkrieg against the consumers. If nobody that knows that there are alternatives speaks up and promotes the (often much better) alternatives, that would be very sad in my opinion. Why would anyone refrain him/herself from strong comments against the very instruments that block innovation.

To once again put it in the words of Adam Curry: "Is that what the technological revolution has come to... Netflix and Facebook?".

I would WANT to see new innovative products coming out of Microsoft, I would want Microsoft to pay correct wages to developers, and not squeeze them dry like lemons and then throw them away, I would want Microsoft to do what it is capable of, namely delivering great innovative software. They just don't, because they don't have to. Linux is always a work in progress, and always has to try and keep up despite industry boycotts, yet it has evolved to be much more capable than Windows. Do you think that's normal? That free and open source software spearheads innovation? Without reasonable budgets? With volunteer developers? Let me tell you, the state the software industry is in now, that's not what we all pay Microsoft and Adobe and game studios for! It's a fucking disgrace! And I believe that it needs to be said, shouted, repeated, etc... until they change it.

Ok, So install linux on the SSD, and dedicate the entire drive to it.

Install Win 8.1 on the 3TB HDD and set it as the second boot device.

Use GRUB to boot into either OS and if/when trying to boot into Windows the computer says

Nein, Nein, Nein!  Das ist nicht akzeptabel!

use hot plug to remove the ssd and boot windows directly.

Both systems can see all files on the windows drive, and can read and write them, as long as Linux does not need to execute any programs on the windows drive. (which it wont, it just need read access to various assets like audio, art and 3D files) through linux programs installed on the linux drive

If you turn off Hybrid shutdown in win8 you should be able to mount the partition on linux, otherwise you will run into an error that will only allow you to mount in in read-only mode.

i think that answers your question.

lol

Just get rid of Windows. Sure there might be some games you will miss, but there are tons of other games to be played. Most games run just fine in Wine anyway.