Partition File Format for Linux

[DaemonWarrior44]

What file format should I choose in my partition to install Linux? I'm using GParted to make a partition for my OS, but I don't know what file format should I choose.

[ShadySocks]

ntfs for windows compatibility?

[evilarceus]

ext4. It's the default for modern distros.

[DaemonWarrior44]

2 minutes ago, ShadySocks said:

ntfs for windows compatibility?

I'm using that partition for Linux... Look at the picture, those are the only formats available.

[DaemonWarrior44]

4 minutes ago, evilarceus said:

ext4. It's the default for modern distros.

Okay

[DaemonWarrior44]

10 minutes ago, evilarceus said:

ext4. It's the default for modern distros.

What's this?

[Greenbeard]

@DaemonWarrior44 This video might be helpful. I haven't watched it myself, but it should hopefully have what you want. Skip to 2:58 in the video.

 

[DaemonWarrior44]

4 minutes ago, Greenbeard said:

@DaemonWarrior44 This video might be helpful. I haven't watched it myself, but it should hopefully have what you want. Skip to 2:58 in the video.

 

Oh, thanks! Well, I'll tell you tomorrow, I'm gonna sleep.

[evilarceus]

5 hours ago, DaemonWarrior44 said:

What's this?

You have to set the mount point for /dev/sda1 to /. You can do this by pressing "Change" on the bottom right left (EDIT: I don't know my directions).

[DaemonWarrior44]

6 hours ago, evilarceus said:

You have to set the mount point for /dev/sda1 to /. You can do this by pressing "Change" on the bottom right left (EDIT: I don't know my directions).

So, Ext4 file format + "/" mount point? K

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

7 hours ago, evilarceus said:

on the bottom right left (EDIT: I don't know my directions)

Here's a trick for next time:

 

Hold your hands in front of you, palms down.  Left is where the thumb is pointing to the right. 

 

----

 

On-topic : Yes, ext4 with "/" as mount point will do.

 

EDIT : I see that you plan on giving your Linux only 30GB of your 1TB drive.  Do you plan to use the rest for Windows? 

[DaemonWarrior44]

6 hours ago, Captain Chaos said:

Here's a trick for next time:

 

Hold your hands in front of you, palms down.  Left is where the thumb is pointing to the right. 

 

----

 

On-topic : Yes, ext4 with "/" as mount point will do.

 

EDIT : I see that you plan on giving your Linux only 30GB of your 1TB drive.  Do you plan to use the rest for Windows? 

I don't know how much space should I give to the OS, but I don't plan to use Linux forever, maybe in a few months I'll buy an OEM key for Windows, what do you think?
I mean, Ext4 files aren't compatible with FAT32 files, right? So, if I uninstall Linux and replace it with Windows, will I lost Ext4 files?
It's my first time building a PC and installing an OS, I don't really know what to do, ...

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Windows can't read disks that are formatted in ext4 (or most of the other formats in the list).  So plugging an ext4 disk into a Windows machine will indeed not give you access to your files.

Files that were on an ext4 formatted disk can be read just fine if you copy them to a disk/stick that is formatted in a way that Windows can read (FAT32 and NTFS for example).  So as long as you have a USB stick or a backup disk that is formatted in FAT or NTFS and copy your files over to that, you'll be able to use the files just fine once you install Windows.

[DaemonWarrior44]

Just now, Captain Chaos said:

Windows can't read disks that are formatted in ext4 (or most of the other formats in the list).  So plugging an ext4 disk into a Windows machine will indeed not give you access to your files.

Files that were on an ext4 formatted disk can be read just fine if you copy them to a disk/stick that is formatted in a way that Windows can read (FAT32 and NTFS for example).  So as long as you have a USB stick or a backup disk that is formatted in FAT or NTFS and copy your files over to that, you'll be able to use the files just fine once you install Windows.

So, how many gigs should I give to Linux (considering that I'm not using it forever)? And what should I do with the remaining disk space?

[DaemonWarrior44]

@Captain Chaos I mean, should I leave the remaining disk space as "unallocated" or do something else?

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

You can give it as much as you want, or stick with the 30GB it has now.  You can leave the rest unallocated, that's not a problem at all. 
If you install Windows later, you can always format the entire disk including the Linux partitions.  So the size of the partition doesn't really matter.  It's just that a bigger partition will allow you to store more files on there.

 

I was only wondering if you had left all that space to install Windows and Linux side-by-side, hence my question.

[DaemonWarrior44]

1 minute ago, Captain Chaos said:

It's just that a bigger partition will allow you to store more files on there.

I want to install a few games, could I install them in the unallocated space? Or should I install them in the OS partition?

[DaemonWarrior44]

@Captain Chaos Or should I make another partition exclusive for games?

[Greenbeard]

@DaemonWarrior44 Do you think that you want to install Linux and Windows? If yes give Linux half of the space and give it 8gb of swap space. Then leave the rest unallocated. If you want to be fancy (wouldn't recommend since you don't seem to be an advanced user) you could have a second partition for your /home directory. Also, yes you don't need a separate partition for games, they will use the same partition as the OS (unless you do the /home partition thing, again I don't recommend it). When you install Windows (assuming you want that) make sure you select custom install and do the partitions in the remaining unallocated space.

[DaemonWarrior44]

1 minute ago, Greenbeard said:

@DaemonWarrior44 Do you think that you want to install Linux and Windows? If yes give Linux half of the space and give it 8gb of swap space. Then leave the rest unallocated. If you want to be fancy (wouldn't recommend since you don't seem to be an advanced user) you could have a second partition for your /home directory. Also, yes you don't need a separate partition for games, they will use the same partition as the OS (unless you do the /home partition thing, again I don't recommend it). When you install Windows (assuming you want that) make sure you select custom install and do the partitions in the remaining unallocated space.

Okay, I already watched the video you shared, I'm about to install everything. Thank you all for helping me out with this, it's a whole new world for me, I really appreciate it.
When I'm done I'll post something here and mark this topic as solved,

[DaemonWarrior44]

Sorry, but... What's this? @Greenbeard @Captain Chaos

[DaemonWarrior44]

33 minutes ago, DaemonWarrior44 said:

Sorry, but... What's this? @Greenbeard @Captain Chaos

I ignored that and did just as the guy from the video @Greenbeard shared, unplugged the USB, turn the PC on again but it didn't work... It says "Select a proper boot device (...)"

[noahdvs]

If you use NTFS for your Linux partition instead of something like EXT4, Linux will be slower than it would normally be. I use an EXT4 partition for Linux that holds the OS and programs, an NTFS partition for Windows that holds the OS and programs and a separate harddrive formatted for NTFS for my files and steam games. That allows me to share files between operating systems. It also means that reinstalling an operating system or installing a new one is less of a big deal. I still have to copy settings to my personal files drive if I want to keep them when I reinstall, but it's better than having to copy every file of mine every time.

[DaemonWarrior44]

11 hours ago, noahdvs said:

If you use NTFS for your Linux partition instead of something like EXT4, Linux will be slower than it would normally be. I use an EXT4 partition for Linux that holds the OS and programs, an NTFS partition for Windows that holds the OS and programs and a separate harddrive formatted for NTFS for my files and steam games. That allows me to share files between operating systems. It also means that reinstalling an operating system or installing a new one is less of a big deal. I still have to copy settings to my personal files drive if I want to keep them when I reinstall, but it's better than having to copy every file of mine every time.

Yeah, I read that Ext4 files aren't quite compatible with NTFS or any other file format. But I've already installed it, I just did it with the default config (no custom partitions or anything like that). Thanks to all of you who helped me out with this.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Sorry for the late reply, busy day at work.

 

I see you went with the default settings.  That's just fine, nothing wrong with those.  I usually do the same. 

 

The "ext4 files" themselves aren't the issue, those are just regular files.  Windows just doesn't know how to read a drive that's formatted in ext4. 

If you copy the files from your ext4 drive to a drive that is formatted in ntfs, Windows will be able to read the files just fine.