I’m planning on dual booting Windows and Linux on my computer, but each system from a separate hard drive, but what about my 3rd hard drive (which i use mostly for storing games, videos etc…) Should i use ExFAT? I can’t really use NTFS because Linux can’t write to it.
Linux can write NTFS just fine.
Another alternative is to use ext4 and then install something in Windows to read it, like Linux File Systems For Windows or similar. *
Linux can handle NTFS (the module is in the kernel). I have a partition formatted with NTFS made for this purpose (shared games files and data). You have to add a line in fstab with the right parameters though…
You have to add a line in fstab with the right parameters though…
You can also mount NTFS partitions manually as needed.
Of course…
What’s fstab?
It’s a text file that describes which partition and filesystem must be started (mounted) when the system boots. Generally it’s /etc/fstab. It’s a crucial configuration file.
I can’t really use NTFS because Linux can’t write to it.
This is not correct.
For example, there is the driver ntfs-3g. This allows read and write access to NTFS partitions. The disadvantage is that it uses FUSE and is therefore slower in some cases.
Since kernel 5.15, read and write access is also offered by the drivers provided by Paragon (ntfs3).
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NTFS
Because I personally use btrfs as file system for Linux, I use WinBtrfs under Windows.
ExtFAT would also be a possibility. However, one should be aware that the file system was originally designed only for flash memory storage such as USB sticks.
The snippet from the Google search “What is FUSE Linux” told me that, according to wiki.archlinux.org, it allows a non-priviledged user to “create their own filesystem without editing kernel code”. What does “creating my own filesystem” mean? And what does that have to do with editing kernel code? I’m really sorry for asking questions that are this basic, but it took me 5 years to find a website that explained well enough how to run an exe file with arguments, I’m just not that bright
Before FUSE was available every filesystem driver had to be part of the kernel and adding a driver meant modifying the kernel. With FUSE filesystem drivers can be installed as normal software without the need to modify the kernel.
exFAT supports R&W between approximately Linux 3+, Windows 8+, and Android 13+. It should also support macOS. NTFS is significantly more reliable and functional, but only supports R&W on specific Android apps, is read-only on macOS, but is perfectly usable on new versions of Linux, and Windows 7+.
Myself I have dual boot. For the sake of simplicity - let’s say I have 2 drives:
- 512GB NVME SSD - for OSes.
- 2TB SATA SSD - for games.
512gb ssd partitioned into 2 parts - 256 for Linux and 256 for Windows.
2TB ssd without partitions, but a plain BTRFS with zstd compression storage.
Guess what - There is WinBTRFS driver. I am also sharing the same Steam library (on 2TB ssd) between both OSes… 😅 Works like a charm. 👌👌👌
As others have said, use ntfs and just install ntfs-3g
which i use mostly for storing games
If you are trying to put your Steam games and share them between Windows and Linux, be prepared for a headache. I did this for a short period of time, and it worked OK, but tbh it really doesn’t seem worth it. You have to jump through some hoops to get Linux Steam to play nicely with NTFS, and your Linux Steam will fight your Windows Steam every time you switch between using one or the other. Putting my Proton/Linux games on my ext4 partition, a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. This might work better if you share the drive but have separate steam library folders for each OS, but at that point you might as well just have two separate partitions.
ExFAT works fine but I believe you lose journalling and other filesystem corruption recovery methods. Depending on the kernel version, NTFS3 is the NTFS driver bundled in the Linux kernel. I’ve tried it and it worked pretty well until it corrupted one of my data drives, and I’ve stuck with NTFS-3G since then, it’s been tried and tested for years at this point.
i think exfat is your best bet. linux can read/write on an ntfs drive but its slower (at least on my pc).
Remember that fat and exfat r very prone to data corruption, go with ntfs.
