Long post; skip to the questions section for tl;dr
Objective:
I’m trying to dual-boot Qubes and Windows.
I want my boot files on an SSD while having the rest of my user files on an HDD, for both Qubes and Windows.
Background:
I’ve read through the documentation on how to dual-boot Windows (https://github.com/Qubes-Community/Contents/blob/master/docs/configuration/multiboot.md) which implies that another OS is already installed.
Both drives will be formatted so this will be a fresh start.
On Windows, I want the Users folder and maybe even the Program Files and ProgramData folder on the HDD.
This is best done when doing a fresh install of Windows. (the tutorial on how to do so: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1964-move-users-folder-location-windows-10-a.html)
I’ve read through the documentation for secondary storage for qubes (https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/secondary-storage/) and it seems that to use it I need to wipe the HDD.
Therein lies my dilemma. To install Windows I need to have use the HDD, but to use it for Qubes I need to wipe it. The obvious solution would be to install Qubes first but I am quite new to the process. I was only barely able to install Qubes after a lot of research and trial and error. The only thing I know about logical volumes and thin pools are from the documentation.
Questions:
Will windows be able to recognize the LVM thin pool or volume group, etc.?
Can both Windows and Qubes share the same storage section, and can they both share a filesystem? (ie. NTFS)
If not, what filesystem would the Qubes secondary storage use?
I would like to be able to access some user files across operating systems. That sounds terribly insecure, and I think having a qube as medium of transfer could be a possible solution.
How can I implement a secure way to transfer files between OSes in a secure manner natively? (If it isn’t feasible I’ll just have to resort to using a USB I suppose).
What would be the basic steps for a Qubes first dual boot installation?
I’ll add more questions as I come across them.