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ext3 file support in Windows

(10 posts)
  • Started 4 years ago by jmcguire
  • Latest reply from jmcguire
  • Topic Viewed 2775 times

jmcguire
jmcguire
Posts: 552

I was hoping to get input from the Linux users as to the best utility to add ext3 support to Windows.

The following link, I have found the most information on:
http://www.fs-driver.org/index.html

I found this link though, and it seems to support journalism (though there seems to be more warnings of corrupting data)
http://ext2fsd.sourceforge.net/

I am somewhat afraid on un-mounting incorrectly when using the first, but not as much as the second program just bugging out.
Would everyone say that the first link is the best way to go, the second, or a completely different route.

Posted 4 years ago #
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thegeek
The Geek
Posts: 2059

I've never had good luck with any of those tools... much better to create a shared partition using FAT32 or NTFS and share files that way.

Posted 4 years ago #
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jmcguire
jmcguire
Posts: 552

I had considered creating a FAT32 partition. I don't have an XP disc though, just a restore disc, and I don't want to mess up my Master Boot Record (though I am using Grub).

I plan on doing a clean install of Intrepid Ibex, do you know if Grub will find Windows XP installed even if the Master Boot Record is screwed up beforehand?

If that would work, I will just wait on Intrepid Ibex and use Gparted to partition off a little of my 160GB to share files between Win and Lin.

Posted 4 years ago #
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jd2066
jd2066
Posts: 3814

@The Geek: Interesting, what problems did you have?
I use the fs-driver.org one on my laptop and it seems to work just fine. The only big problems being no permission support and no way to check the file system so if there was an error preventing it from mounting I would need to boot into Linux to check it.

More recently when I got my desktop I decided to go the other way and store data on my NTFS partition and access it on Linux with NTFS-3G.

Posted 4 years ago #
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thegeek
The Geek
Posts: 2059

It just doesn't seem to be terribly stable, I've had crashes from that driver and then errors. I've just found the NTFS-3G method to work better for me.

Posted 4 years ago #
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jack7h3r1pp3r
jack7h3r1pp3r
Posts: 2815

i know that you can get a gparted live disk and it looks pretty easy to use

Posted 4 years ago #
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jmcguire
jmcguire
Posts: 552

I looked at NTFS-3G and it seems to be a very nice program (apparently it is alredy in Ubuntu).

I used GParted to partition my 160GB HDD with Windows on it. (It didn't mess up the GRUB bootloader by the way.)

Posted 4 years ago #
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jmcguire
jmcguire
Posts: 552

Before I format the hard drive, I was wondering whether NTFS or FAT32 would be better. I would assume NTFS, because I know from a Windows standpoint it is better, and Linux can now read and write to it, but would there be a reason to use FAT32 instead?

I would also like to re-map My Documents, My Music, My Videos (in Win and Lin) to point to the same folder on the new partition, which I may need assistance with.

Posted 4 years ago #
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raphoenix
raphoenix
Posts: 14920

jmcguire,
Info from some sites.
http://www.ntfs.com/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-ntfs/
http://www.geocities.com/epark.....HOWTO.html
Will add more if you like.
Kindest Regards,
Rick P. ♥ :)

Posted 4 years ago #
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jmcguire
jmcguire
Posts: 552

@raphoenix

I believe those websites were sufficient. It seems that it is very easy for linux to read NTFS partitions now, and with some of the limitations on FAT32, I believe I will be formatting my partition as NTFS.

Thank you very much.

Posted 4 years ago #
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