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I have Windows 10 installed in a 1 TB SSD (C:) and I want to use linux. To do so, I want to a backup of C:\users\me to (E:), that is a 1 TB HDD that I want to use as storage.

Is it possible to reformat C:\ changing OS, without altering E:'s content in the process? Can I keep the data safe? Is this a good idea? how hard could it be?

nuwe
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  • If you want a useful way to back up the whole PC, make and verify a full disk image. Then make changes to you heart's content, knowing you can revert to the current state, at the worst. Backing up only part usually leaves essential parts out. – DrMoishe Pippik Feb 11 '24 at 01:23
  • %UserProfile% cannot be copied/moved to another partition because the hard links contained within will break upon moving, corrupting the entire User Profile. Once a User Profile is corrupted, there is no uncorrupting it - the only solution once corrupted is to create a new User Profile and copy the data over to it. To backup %UserProfile% capture a WIM: Dism /Capture-Image /ImageFile:"E:\UserProfile.wim" /CaptureDir:"C:\Users\Me" /Name:"User Profile Backup" /Description:"User Profile: Me 2024.02.11 @ 08:15" /Compress:Max /CheckIntegrity /Verify – JW0914 Feb 11 '24 at 14:14

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Is this a good idea? .......... No. Lots of stuff in Appdata that does not move easily. (Most of your software installation setups). User Profiles can be backed up but not readily moved. In the worst case, you can break your OS.

Back up your data, then format and set up things properly.

You can move and back up My Documents just fine if that satisfies you.

Another solution is to set up Linux in a Virtual Machine. I do this (VMware and Hyper-V both) and this is a solution that works very well and if safe for your host OS.

The VM solution lets you test the Linux you selected and then determine if something else fits your needs better.

I also note that you are using Windows 10 which goes out of support in a few months. VM's can be backed up and ported simply to a new machine.

John
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  • the thing is my PC is not running well so I want to reformat anyways. And I find good to switch from windows 10 to linux so the solution could suit me. I don't really care much about losing programs data because I can install everything back but I don't want to lose data from files. This is desktop, documents, etc – nuwe Feb 10 '24 at 21:29
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    I noted in my answer that you can safely and easily move My Documents. That may help you. – John Feb 10 '24 at 21:31
  • And after moving to E:/ which I already did, how can I be able to switch (only for C:) from win10 to linux without doing anything this data? – nuwe Feb 10 '24 at 22:08
  • If you never want Windows again, you can format for Linux. My approach allows a safety valve. You just need to be sure no Windows again until another computer or a complete rebuild. – John Feb 10 '24 at 22:12
  • %UserProfile% cannot be copied/moved to another partition because the hard links contained within will break upon moving, corrupting the entire User Profile. Hard links: %UserProfile%\Application Data, %UserProfile%\Local Settings, %UserProfile%\My Documents, etc. – JW0914 Feb 11 '24 at 14:15