Although Windows and Linux require different file systems and use different encryption techniques, the parallel installation does not necessarily mean double data storage. With VeraCrypt and NTFS, there is a common denominator for an encrypted data partition that both operating systems can handle. You’ll never miss audiobooks you downloaded under Windows again if you’re programming or maintaining servers under Linux.
This article describes how to integrate the common data heap into the desktop environments of both operating systems using customized standard paths and symbolic links in such a way that your pictures, documents, downloads, music and videos end up on the shared partition by default and these partitions can be used without additional ones when the system starts entering a password. In this way, the data partition behaves transparently, you hardly notice that it exists at all, and you can work as usual under both operating systems.
We chose VeraCrypt because the program has proven itself on Linux and Windows. Ideally, you should start setting up a VeraCrypt-encrypted data partition after shrinking Windows as described in the article “Tips for shrinking the data partition”: Open Windows Disk Management again, right-click on the previously released space and select select “New Simple Volume…” from the context menu. When considering the size of the future data heap, bear in mind that you still need space for the Linux installation – that should be at least 50 GB, with many applications it is better to be 100 GB.
