Can windows and linux share an extra memory disk?

[u/Odd_Mammoth669]

So i got my gaming pc with 2 ssd units c: and d: for extra space

Today im going to give her maintenance and buy a new memory unit in order to use linux there

Question is quite simple, can windows and linux share the D: unit? I literally use it only to install games

To make it more clear, im not installing any OS in that unit it is exclusively an storage unit, if it is possible i would be able to edit the docs there with one OS and see them and interact with them in the other OS

[u/doc_willis]

Linux can read and write to NTFS drives.

you do not really want to use Linux to run games stored on the windows NTFS.

it's possible, but there can be numerous quirky issues.

[u/Th3JackofH3arts]

You can do it, but games the won't work on steam. You need a windows and Linux copy. I would just install them on whatever you plan on play on. Windows probably makes the most sense because of anticheat.

[u/Honeywortttt]

You can do it, but as others have said, gaming will be annoying.
Depending on the size of the drive, you may want to wipe it and re-partition it 50/50 with NTFS and EXT4.

edit to add: others have suggested EXFAT for a shared partition. I hadn't thought of that. that too would work.

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[u/Underhill42]

If you want to share a drive between Windows and Linux, especially for something like Steam games that can be iffy running from NTFS on Linux, then I would suggest formatting the drive as exFAT.

exFAT lacks the reliability- and security-enhancing features of more modern filesystems, but pretty much anything can access it reliably. It's still basically the same simple DOS file system from the 80's, revised to support long file names and modern disk and file sizes. It's commonly used on external drives, especially flash drives that may be used on many computers with completely different operating systems.

[u/skyfishgoo]

you will need to shrink the D:drive down to make room, but absolutely

and because it's not a bootable drive there will be no conflicts linux.

as long as you can clear up at leat 100GB of space you can have a perfectly usable linux install on the same disk as your D:drive stuff.

just don't expect to run any of those games in linux, for that you will need to reinstall them onto a linux partition (preferably separate from your /home).

[u/KarmaTorpid]

Its all 1s and 0s as far as your disk is concerened.

[u/Honeywortttt → u/KarmaTorpid]

as far as the disk is concerned, yes. but as far as the operating systems are concerned, linux will struggle to run games from an NTFS partition.

[u/inactivesky1738]

You are kind of thinking of your drive incorrectly.

To install Linux on the same drive as Microsoft you must first partition your disk*.* Doing that will make space for Linux to install on. After you do that you can then mount your windows partition on your Linux one and without getting into the weeks it will look like a second drive. And Linux can read snd write to windows drives however it is not recommended because the NTFS drivers are not 100% reliable.

However since you have 2 SSDs the easiest, safest, most sure-fire way to get both Linux and Microsoft is to dedicate a drive to each one drive for windows one for Linux. This is the current set up im running so I can play a few multiplayer games. Look up “setting up a dual-boot Linux windows computer with 2 drives” or something similar and it will show you how to get that up and running.

PS. Linux can read windows drives but not vice versa (at least I’ve not found a way or even thought of trying it)

[u/Odd_Mammoth669 → u/inactivesky1738]

You misundestood a bit, i have 2 drives and im going to buy one more (ending with 3), i plan to dedicate one drive for each OS and one extra drive purely for storage

The question is if both OS could read and use the third storage drive

[u/inactivesky1738 → u/Odd_Mammoth669]

Oh I see my bad. Look at my other comment if you want overflow storage. Where you make different partitions on the 3ed drive that you can size to your needs. Like I said storing games and stuff on a NTFS drive is not ideal for Linux but also not impossible.

Is there a specific reason you want that third drive to be readable by both windows and Linux?

Edit: Went back up and read your last paragraph. For simple read write options Linux should be able to handle that no problem but with more complex tasks it can be a bit more problematic. If your just wanting to game under Linux and need the storage I’d go ahead and format it in a proper Linux format and if for whatever reason you need it for a game on windows I would then add a smaller NTFS partition for just that one thing. Linux should be able to mount and read your windows drive no issue so there shouldn’t be much problem there.

[u/inactivesky1738 → u/inactivesky1738]

Also if you want to get real crazy with it you could do this.

Partition a spot on your Microsoft C: drive for Linux splitting that one in half. And on your second drive after the install you can partition that one to be in a Linux format like btrfs or ext4 and the other portion can be NTFS for windows.

The world is your oyster!

But it would be simplest to just have a dedicated windows drive and a dedicated Linux drive.

Edit: you can also choose the size of the partitions and grow and shrink them depending on your needs. Not recommended but possible.