I would use two different disks, the one that you have already for windows and a second one for Linux. When you’re ready to install Linux Unplug the windows disk, so that you can’t screw it up ( been there, did that 😭) then when you need to use either the Linux or Windows Just choose the start up disk in bios at booting, usually F11, a tiny bit longer than dual booting, but it will save you a lot of hassle. Dual booting is rather dangerous as windows has the annoying habit of wiping Linux grub setups when updating, and Linux has the annoying habit of wiping everything, two different disks, much easier.

Timeshift for the system, works perfectly, if you screw up the system, bad update for instance just start it, and you’ll be back up running in less than ten minutes. Simple Cron backups for data, documents etc, just in case you delete a folder, document, image etc . Both of these options to a second internal HD

Okay, at least that gives me an idea, thanks

Thanks will check that out 👍

I’m going to do the same later this year as like you my setup is 10 years plus, though I’ll re-install Arch again What MB, GPU card etc did you buy? , as I’m out of touch with the latest equipment now, so would be grateful for a heads up

How about Cron? If it’s just for copying your files / data, super easy to set up and extremely rapid, it doesn’t do snapshots, it’s just a simple ‘copy my file to another place’, but it works 👍

Use timeshift, install it, just chose where you want the backups to be installed, preferably a second HD or SD Flash. Chose when like once a day, week at start up for instance and forget it. Then if you screw up your Linux, just start in console mode, timeshift --restore and five mins later your up and running.

If you want just your data to be copied, then Cron

Both are standard Linux programs, often already installed depending on what Linux you have

Though to late to help you, when you get it working again, install Timeshift, so that instead of faffing around to try and suss out what went wrong, you just start timeshift – restore from the console and a couple of minutes later you’ll have your working setup back. It’s saved my bacon quite a few times in the last couple of years, especially when you can’t login to your DE.

I’m running a Debian Bookworm on a Zotac Tiny PC, plus Docker and Mosquitto with HomeAssitant supervisor installed and a Sonoff usb dongle P. No ZigBee2MQTT. To begin with the Dongle was recognised by HA, natively running ZHA, all worked okay. Then I added ZigBee2MQTT as a add-on in HA, linked it to my Mosquitto account, added MQTT as an add-on as you need it as well. The difference is enormous, as I now have a ZigBee Dashboard, many more options were seen by the ZigBee2MQTT on the devices that I had installed that weren’t seen by the ZHA, I was even able to update certain firmware on my switches.

Exactly the same for me, 26Hb, no Swap installed, never had a freeze or a problem in the two years using Arch

Grab a second SSD or HD, that way, keep windows in one as it will be probably be supplied with the computer. Add Linux to the other disk, Debian maybe, EndeavourOs much better. ThNo dual boot. And when starting to computer just choose which disk you want to use (F8 or F12 often) and later if and when ready, you wipe the windows HD and use it for backups

It sounds like the best option would be a dual boot, Linux for everything except games and when you want to play just boot into Windows. If you do this i would strongly suggest a two HD set up, one for windows and one for Linux, for two reasons, if you don’t like Linux then you still have the original windows setup, two Windows will at one moment wipe the dual boot grub and you’ll ‘lose’ the Linux startup, unless you have one OS per Hard Disk. I don’t game anymore. Like you I also have an old card Gtx760 🤣🤣

Like you i switched from about 30 years of windows to Linux almost three years ago, Ubuntu, Mint, Manjaro, Endeavour before ending up with Arch which I find perfect. I also have two PCs running Debian for HomeAssitant setups in two homes but I don’t like Debian I sometimes use my wife’s Windows setup for Garmin Express as that’s the only windows program that I need. So keep on going, Windows is not missed,

Thanks, I thought so, but preferred to ask. Thrn yes much better than a Pi and if yours is like mine then not much bigger

First dopey question, what is a NUC? It’s probably a computer but? If so same’ish story here went from a Pi4 to a Lenovo Tiny PC (reconditioned from Amazon at 100 euros) then sold the raspberry for 65 euros 🤣 Far faster and better, installed Debian Bookworm, Docker and then did a new Mosquitto and HA supervisor installation. Far better 👍

Try this journalctl -xb -u cronie. It will show you any errors

Timeshift. Easy to set up. Easy to use, only takes a couple of minutes to ‘re-set’ your system back, if you break it. If you want just to backup files, documents etc then Cron. I use both. They are standard Linux programs and easy to use

Are you in windows or Linux?

They must have got this right finally. I tried that years ago, it took hours, where as Dropbox took a couple of seconds. And as I only use DB for that now. Never bothered changing it

It’s just that Diaro and others diary apps are setup so that you see the date, title, tags, just like a paper version, again, something that you can’t easily do in Joplin