Change parititions location in dual system ( Windows + Arch )

Tomek_Cry · 2021-02-03 15:45:25

Hi.

I have two disk SSD + HDD. I have /boot (99MB), windows (50GB) and arch (50GB) partition on SSD. I want to move windows to HDD disk and resize arch partition on whole SSD disk.
Is it possible to do something like this without reinstalling systems ? Or if not.. it is at least possible to remove windows and resize only arch partition? Currently arch partition starts in half of SSD. What should I change in fstab or in grub files to make everything work ?

I want to avoid reinstalling Arch if it is posible.

Ferdinand · 2021-02-03 18:12:24

Three "kind of facts" spring to mind:
1) An ext4 partition can only grow from the end (at least gparted has that limitation)
2) The perceived speed benefit of a SSD is most prominent if the OS is on the SSD
3) Resizing partitions is prone to tears, grinding of teeth and general grief

Therefore, I would propose that you are best served by keeping your OSes on the SSD and use the HDD for /home and $USERPROFILE directories (documents and that stuff)

This doesn't really answer your question, I know - but unless you're churning away something awful on your user files, the SSD speed will give more responsive systems if you keep the OSes on it, and if you move your user files to the HDD then 50GB should be plenty for the OSes.

This topic probably has as many opinions as opionees, so I'm sure somebody will put me right and provide you with a better answer

Tomek_Cry · 2021-02-03 19:42:50

I agree with all of three.. I already have /home and users file on HDD, generally Arch size isn't problem, the problem is with windows.. which take about 40GB, and many of application which I need them doesn't have an option "select installation directory" and want to be installed on main partition ( I hate this.. wrrr.. ). Sometimes I spend a day after installation moving files by hand on other partition and it's not alweays work and sometimes if work the program can throw random errors during work time.

Other thing is that meny of this applications don't have arch version
I mostly spend my time on Arch so is the reason why I want to leave him on SSD.

twobooks · 2021-02-03 23:46:50

first of all you can try to move the paging file from SSD to HDD, that will save several gigabytes for your Windows system, however doing it will slow down Windows application especially when you run many applications at the same time, but still better than move the whole system out of SSD.

Tomek_Cry · 2021-02-08 23:04:18

Thanks for this suggestion, but I currently have paging file on HDD it's not big deal when you have a little bit more RAM
Unfortunately Windows is quite big even without it.

Last edited by Tomek_Cry (2021-02-08 23:05:14)

kermit63 · 2021-02-08 23:26:16

Is there still a Windows equivalent of a symbolic link?

The last windows version that I actively used was Windows XP, so pardon me if this is no longer available. Anyway, I remember moving a bunch of windows applications to another hard drive, then created symbolic links of each application folder to the new location, thus effectively moving a large chunk of hard drive space from the original drive.

After that, I was able to defrag and shrink the original windows partition.

Sorry but I can't remember the exact term Windows used for symbolic links. I'm an old man and this was about 20 years ago.

twobooks · 2021-02-09 00:20:34

480GB SSD only cost $75, add one if you have extra space, replace the old if not.

Arch Linux

#1 2021-02-03 15:45:25

Change parititions location in dual system ( Windows + Arch )

#2 2021-02-03 18:12:24

Re: Change parititions location in dual system ( Windows + Arch )

#3 2021-02-03 19:42:50

Re: Change parititions location in dual system ( Windows + Arch )

#4 2021-02-03 23:46:50

Re: Change parititions location in dual system ( Windows + Arch )

#5 2021-02-08 23:04:18

Re: Change parititions location in dual system ( Windows + Arch )

#6 2021-02-08 23:26:16

Re: Change parititions location in dual system ( Windows + Arch )

#7 2021-02-09 00:20:34

Re: Change parititions location in dual system ( Windows + Arch )

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