Ubuntu – Windows 10 corrupts Ubuntu 18.04 partitions

dual-bootext4uefi

I have a dual boot machine, booting both Windows 10 and Ubuntu. Ubuntu 16.04 works fine, but each time after I boot Windows 10, Ubuntu 18.04 has a corrupted superblock, or so it says. The only way to solve this is to boot into Ubuntu 16.04 and correct it with the new e2fsck. I have installed Ubuntu 18.04 on two different partitions, but both get corrupted by Windows 10. The Computer is an Asus laptop with UEFI and a GPT hard disk. If you need more specific information to solve this, please let me know.

Currently Ubuntu 18.04 is hardly usable as the partition has to be corrected each time after I use Windows 10, which happens at least once a day.

Best Answer

In a dual boot configuration with Windows and Ubuntu, Ubuntu can easily read Windows NTFS partitions/disks, however, when booted into Windows, Windows can't natively read/mount Ubuntu ext[2-4] partitions/disks.

Many users try to remedy this by installing a Windows driver (like ext2fsd) that will allow them to read/mount ext[2-4] partitions.

My experience is that these Windows drivers can regularly corrupt the Ubuntu ext[2-4] partitions. Uninstall this driver in Windows, and fsck your Ubuntu partition, and you should be fine.

To check the file system on your Ubuntu partition...

  • boot to the GRUB menu
  • choose Advanced Options
  • choose Recovery mode
  • choose Root access
  • at the # prompt, type sudo fsck -f /
  • repeat the fsck command if there were errors
  • type reboot

If for some reason you can't do the above...

  • boot to a Ubuntu Live DVD/USB
  • start gparted and determine which /dev/sdaX is your Ubuntu EXT4 partition
  • quit gparted
  • open a terminal window
  • type sudo fsck -f /dev/sdaX # replacing X with the number you found earlier
  • repeat the fsck command if there were errors
  • type reboot
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