After much frustration and consideration I have decided that I'm going to install Linux Mint 16 XFCE alongside Windows 8 because the latter OS has been causing me some major problems of recent times. I also really miss the flexibility and customisability of Linux too.

I'm choosing Mint XFCE because it will run very quickly on my hardware and XFCE has been my DE of choice over the years due to it being lightweight whilst not sacrificing functionality.

In terms of the things I need to do:

Code:


Would I be wise to allocate 100GB for both OSes and then have a shared NTFS partition for Windows and Linux files?

In terms of partitions, I am thinking (in the below order):


Code:


Is this configuration sensible? Will it cause any problems?

Thanking everyone in advance.

EDIT: It would appear that I'm already using 63GB on Windows so, my thinking is that 200GB might be more apt for the Windows partition.

I'd say that's fine, just remember that NTFS has limited file permissions compared to ext4 if I remember right. Also, I think it being NTFS means you'll have to do occasional defrags.

I believe that there are drivers/programs you can download for windows that let you access ext4, at least read only, but I'm not sure if they work with windows 8. That might be something else to look in to.

Coming to think about it, is 800GB a little excessive for storage and are my OS partitions going to be too small?

If you have 100GB to allocate, I'd use 20GB as / and 80GB as /home

Normally, I just have one partition for / and have /home on that. Is it a better idea to have separate partitions?

Yes. That way you can nuke root and still keep your home data intact.

Fair point! Anyhow, the next step is to buy a 32GB memory stick and make a windows 8 recovery partition.

*BUMP!
I've had some more thought about this. Would I be better to have 500GB for Windows (because it's a data hog) and 200GB for Linux (for a bit more space for apps and stuff like that), leaving me with somewhere within the region of 300GB for shared NTFS storage. Otherwise 800GB for shared storage is quite a lot (certainly for my needs anyway ).

I don't like Mint XFCE, I prefere Xubuntu which uses XFCE. I don't, however, like the old packages. But it's your choice.

I have used xubuntu in the past, but to be honest, I like Mint XFCE better and have settled on it.

BUMP!
I purchased a 32GB memory stick which arrived a couple of days ago. Alas, I face yet another problem.



According to this article, if I choose not to clone the recovery partitions onto the drive, then I will not be able to have the ability to refresh or restore my PC. Unfortunately, my 32GB pen drive only has 28.8GB of space. This is somewhat problematic because to clone the recovery partitions to the drive I need 32GB of space or greater.

What is also quite strange is that the two recovery partitions on my system are composed of 100% free space.



The whole point of making the recovery drive is to ensure that windows 8 doesn't get harmed in the process, because my OEM supplied me with some good stuff (amongst the usual rubbish), such as sony movie studio platinum and such.

Is there another way? Can I shrink these partitions without damaging them?

Any ideas would be much appreciated.