[SOLVED] Clean install while keeping secondary drives as is

[Punk Solar]

I am a Windows 10 user looking to switch to Kubuntu 25.10.
I have practiced setting up Kubuntu via Virtual machines, and I am ready to perform a clean install to completely replace the Windows partitions on my boot drive.
The only problem is that I have three other drives plugged into this PC that I'd very much love to avoid having to reformat and reinstall everything on.

So this isn't so much a 'I have a problem' thread as it is a 'how to avoid the problem' thread, but I'll just ask:
How do I clean install Kubuntu on my C drive while keeping my secondary drives untouched?

Since I don't have image permissions just yet I'll clarify it in text: The secondary drives use NTFS file systems.

[claydoh]

The installer should not touch the other drives unless you tell it to, but the safest thing to do to guarantee it is to physically unplug the other drives temporarily.

Chucking up a quick virtual machine in virt-manager with two drives for an example:


The left is the empty virtual drive, and the right is an existing Lubuntu install. Pretend this is Windows


It should select your existing EFI partition, as seen here.


But if you worry about accidentally picking the wrong drive, go ahead and unplug the ones you don't want used. Install Kubuntu, and then reattach.

[Punk Solar]

The installer should not touch the other drives unless you tell it to, but the safest thing to do to guarantee it is to physically unplug the other drives temporarily.

Chucking up a quick virtual machine in virt-manager with two drives for an example:


The left is the empty virtual drive, and the right is an existing Lubuntu install. Pretend this is Windows


It should select your existing EFI partition, as seen here.


But if you worry about accidentally picking the wrong drive, go ahead and unplug the ones you don't want used. Install Kubuntu, and then reattach.

So it's really that simple?
Just ensure I'm only reformatting the main drive, and Ubuntu can read all the files on the secondary drives just fine? There's no hidden Windows formatting differences that'd make my other stuff unusable?

[claydoh]

So it's really that simple?

Pretty much. Some people do disconnect drives just to be safe. I don't ever recall doing that myself, but I might just have forgotten the (I assume) one time I did.

Just ensure I'm only reformatting the main drive, and Ubuntu can read all the files on the secondary drives just fine? There's no hidden Windows formatting differences that'd make my other stuff unusable?

Yes. There is nothing about NTFS or other Windows file systems that do anything odd or special, except maybe bitlocker encrypted stuff, not sure if that would have an effect on reformatting, though. It doesn't seem like it would. It definitely does if resizing the partition for dual booting. If it did affect reformatting, the installer would fail, and you would need to disable bitlocker and try again, like you would do (temporarily) if wanting to resize the Windows drive,.

[Punk Solar]

Pretty much. Some people do disconnect drives just to be safe. I don't ever recall doing that myself, but I might just have forgotten the (I assume) one time I did.


Yes. There is nothing about NTFS or other Windows file systems that do anything odd or special, except maybe bitlocker encrypted stuff, not sure if that would have an effect on reformatting, though. It doesn't seem like it would. It definitely does if resizing the partition for dual booting. If it did affect reformatting, the installer would fail, and you would need to disable bitlocker and try again, like you would do (temporarily) if wanting to resize the Windows drive,.

I haven't done any Bitlocker, so I guess there's nothing I have to worry about. Thank you so much for helping me figure out the one thing stopping me from making the change over.