Hi all, I’m planning to do a clean install of Linux Mint on my laptop and completely remove Windows. I have about 300GB of personal data on the system and only one SSD, so everything is currently stored on that single drive.
Here’s what I want to do:
- Back up all my data safely, without losing any metadata (timestamps, folder structure, etc.).
- Wipe Windows and do a clean install of Linux Mint.
- Restore my data with everything intact—timestamps, folder structure, and metadata.
- Be able to open or run file types that are only supported by Windows, like certain .exe, .msi, or specific file types.
I don’t have a second internal drive, so I’ll probably use an external hard drive or cloud storage.
What i want to know is:
1.What’s the best way to back up and restore my data safely while preserving all metadata?
2.What tools or methods should I use for backup and restore?
3.How can I access or use files that are only supported by Windows once I’ve switched to Linux? Are there workarounds or compatibility layers?
I’m fairly new to Linux, so beginner-friendly advice would be awesome.
Thanks in advance!
You most likely aren’t going to be able to retain timestamps unless you permanently keep a Windows partition. Linux uses a different drive format and permission scheme. Structure, absolutely; timestamp and owners and other little Windows things, not realistic.
Also unless you back stuff up you run a risk of losing it. No way around that period.
The gist of what you’ll do is resize your Windows partition, create a new partition for a Linux install, and mount your Windows partition in Linux until you’re able to move data over. You probably want to dual boot at least until you’re sure Linux can properly access the data you need.
Useful links
rsync -t ought to keep the modification timestamp, but will probably lose the creation timestamp
AFAIK you are correct, which is why I called out wonky timestamps. This blogpost goes into some interesting ways to mess with timestamps. I think it’s probably more effort than it’s worth unless we get more context on why timestamps are important.