Look inside Linux partitions from Windows

Message

Evil20071 · #1 Post by **Evil20071** » Wed 07 Jan 2009, 22:53

That's right. They've made it possible with one simple addon. I have tested it under XP and Vista and it works with absolutely 0 problems. Very handy if you somehow crash your installation and wish to either recover files or replace them from inside windows.

Download the EX2IFS and install.

Found it trying to fix my dual boot with Puppy after upgrading to Vista.

Source

bambuko · #2 Post by **bambuko** » Wed 07 Jan 2009, 23:07

there is apparently 4 versions available:
http://uranus.chrysocome.net/linux/ext2ifs.htm
Aitch reported:
"...I tried Ext2IFS and lost a hard drive when windoze tried to run chkdsk on all drive partitions- grrr
This maybe due to 2 (different??) versions of ext2ifs?..."
so proceed carefully

Evil20071 · #3 Post by **Evil20071** » Wed 07 Jan 2009, 23:15

I've not yet checked on that. Didn't ever read that was an issue. >.>

mikeb · #4 Post by **mikeb** » Thu 08 Jan 2009, 02:08

there is apparently 4 versions available:

The article refers to version 0.3 and other separate drivers for the same purpose....the latest download is for 1.11 which includes vista compatability....there were several programs for doing this avalable a while ago and some were a bit erm... iffy...but this driver seems to have matured nicely.

Been using this on shared partitions for several months now and no nasties as yet...there are also windows ported versions of ext2 tools available..

regards

mike

davids45 · #5 Post by **davids45** » Thu 08 Jan 2009, 02:31

G'day,
I'm aware of three Windows programs that, when run, make Linux drives visible and possibly accessible by XP.
My experience with the one I use (I think it is Ext2IFS - I'm at work at present on an MS computer) is that if XP changes its drives allocations or has a problem with the drives (partitions), I have to re-run Ext2IFS to "re-set" the Linux partitions for Windows to "find" them again.
The partitions are not affected in any way, it's just Windows loses the ability to read them (temporarily). Re-sizing or adding partitions with GParted may also require a re-run of Ext2IFS to reset the info. for XP.

Cannot recall any issue with chkdsk or XP checking an ntfs drive on start-up, vis-a-vis Ext2IFS.

So far (months), I have not had a problem using a large Ext2-formatted partition for all my shared data (Linux/XP). The only ntfs partitions on my 320GB drive are one for XP (10GB) and one for Windows programs (also about 10GB). The Windows programs save to the Ext2 partition without problem.

David S.

luck_gh0st · #6 Post by **luck_gh0st** » Thu 08 Jan 2009, 18:09

This is cool! last year I found a similar program for Win called LTOOLS!
even so I'm looking forward to trying this.
It's good to have options.

jamesbond · #7 Post by **jamesbond** » Fri 09 Jan 2009, 00:16

Ext2IFS used to work for me but then stopped working (even the latest version 1.11a didn't work) - the partition shows up as a blank volume and XP kindly offers to format it

I don't know the reason but I suspect its because of this? "inode size bigger than 128 bytes is not supported" (listed in the FAQ).
So I recently switched to this Ext2Fsd and it's now working.

mikeb · #8 Post by **mikeb** » Fri 09 Jan 2009, 01:16

Looks like was a problem for Ext2Fsd too until recently....

2, flexible-inode-size supported. recent Linux are using 256-byte
inode that fails 0.45 and before to show all the files.

Now how recent is recent?

regards

mike

canbyte · #9 Post by **canbyte** » Thu 12 Feb 2009, 05:53

Instead of war between my puppy and win98 boxes not wanting to share (is win98 the 'cat' of the pc world?!) maybe i should take the win98 box (nice large hd), partition it and put puppy on the other partition then let win98 grab files from puppy as needed. ie Sidesteps lan problems with win98??

Does this program work with win98?

Does it allow a winXP box to look into/ share files from puppy? Right now puppy can see into /share winXP files but not other way around.

mikeb · #10 Post by **mikeb** » Thu 12 Feb 2009, 17:29

This may be of use
http://www.chrysocome.net/explore2fs

it's a standalone program that can read ext2/3 and runs in most versions of windows for browsing ... can even access 2/3fs image files such as pup_save.sfs

regards

mike

canbyte · #11 Post by **canbyte** » Fri 13 Feb 2009, 01:39

Thanks for the link mikeb. Indeed, it looks like it is for a dual boot box so windows can get files from the linux side. Win98 supported too which is just what i was looking for. There are strong warnings in the download package as to safety in writing files, ie "do not use in production machines...... why would you anyway?". So I'll wait till i'm ready for a reformat before playing around with this.

re:

Now how recent is recent?

I noticed v1.06 (recommended for win98) was dated 2004

FYI: Link re luck_gh0st's LTOOLS, article by author
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4138

dicktater · #12 Post by **dicktater** » Mon 16 Feb 2009, 10:08

Here's what I have been using for a while with no problems whatsoever in 2K & XP:

Linux Reader for Windows

http://www.diskinternals.com/linux-reader/

DiskInternals Linux Reader is a new easy way to do this. This program plays the role of a bridge between your Windows and Ext2/Ext3 Linux file systems. This easy-to-use tool runs under Windows and allows you to browse Ext2/Ext3 Linux file systems and extract files from there.

There are a number of evident merits of the program, which you should know. First of all, DiskInternals Linux Reader is absolutely free. Secondly, the program provides for read-only access and does not allow you to make records in Ext2/Ext3 file system partitions. This guarantees that the interference in an alterative file system will not affect the work of Linux later. Apart from this, it is necessary to note, that it gives you an opportunity to use common Windows Explorer for extracting data. A preview option for pictures is one more pleasant point, which is worth mentioning.

How to get safe and quick access to Ext2/Ext3 Linux file systems? DiskInternals Linux Reader is an easy and short way to solve the problem!

While saving, it ignores file security policies. It means that it is possible to access absolutely any file on a Linux disk from Windows. The program can create and open images of Ext2/Ext3 disks.

Linux Reader is 100% FREE.

I've used Linux Reader primarily to copy needed files on Linux partitions of my multi-boot machines without the hassle of rebooting.

Other free tools from DiskInernals:

Map Drive 1.0 (beta)
Access Linux or Raid disk by drive letter! 1.2 Mb

Raid 2 Raid 1.0
Freeware Raid Reader! 2.2 Mb

DiskInternals Linux Reader 1.1
Freeware Linux Ext2/Ext3 Reader for Windows! 0.7 Mb

DiskInternals NTFS Reader 2.1
Free NTFS Reader for Windows 95, 98, Me! 0.7 Mb

DiskInternals ZIP Repair 1.0
Easy and free fix for damaged zip files 0.4 Mb

DiskInternals Address Book Recovery 1.1
Recover Windows Address Book for Free! 1.0 Mb

No, I don't work for DiskInternals. But, I do appreciate what they have given to us geeks.

On another note, this blog may be interesting to some visitors here:

Windows Dynamic Disks readable with Puppy Linux 4

http://www.puppylinux.org/community/blo ... py-linux-4

Nice to know that this is possible though, I haven't tried it yet myself.

canbyte · #13 Post by **canbyte** » Tue 17 Feb 2009, 02:18

Thanks for that link dicktater. I'll try it out when i get a dual boot or boot-puppy-in-windows going.

I'm still confused as to whether you need to use one of these apps when on a windows box on a lan (ie NOT a dual boot box). Is the reason i cannot see puppypc from winXP due to the fact that i have not installed Linuxreader or whatever?? Even if i can get winXP to detect puppypc, comments here lead me to believe that i will see no files or filestructure on puppy - correct????

mikeb · #14 Post by **mikeb** » Tue 17 Feb 2009, 03:10

On a lan eh...the thread started as about a windows driver for linux partitions on a dual boot...crosseyed we go...but in answer to your question as long as the machine can handle the file system locally then that's fine....permissions of files may not be transferred and symlinks may not work but otherwise there should be no problem and usually some form of tcp/ip transfer is used...samba/netbios......http....ftp etc

regards

mike

canbyte · #15 Post by **canbyte** » Tue 17 Feb 2009, 06:08

Hi Mike, thanks for that. Please forgive my denseness but i want to make sure i got that right as to which machine is which.

as long as the machine can handle the file system locally then that's fine

So if i insert the assumed words right, no need to reply - others will understand that:

as long as the [Windows] machine can handle the [other/ Unix] file system [ie filetypes] locally then [it will see the file / path] fine - ie in a dual boot machine this translation, or navigation of the file structure is handled by the apps mentioned above, in a lan the translation is handled by samba or equivalent.

Whew, something got pounded into my thikc skull!

mikeb · #16 Post by **mikeb** » Tue 17 Feb 2009, 14:10

On lan, if the machine your are browsing can handle the filesystem then ok....eg windows machine browsing puppy machine can see files on the puppy machine whether they are ext2, xfs, reiserfs etc.

now reduce that sentence

mike

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Look inside Linux partitions from Windows

Look inside Linux partitions from Windows

Not just for Emergencies - OK for normal use too.

Works with Win98?, Works in LAN?

Linux Reader for Windows