How to read ext4 partitions in Windows? [closed]Mount Ubuntu's partition on Windows 7How to access Ubuntu Files from Windows on a dual-boot machineHow to access Ubuntu 11.04 files in Windows 7?Windows files in Ubuntu and vice versaIs it possible to transfer files from windows 7 to ubuntu? using dual bootHow do I access Ubuntu filesystem from Windows on dualboot?What is the best freeware app for Windows to mount EXT4 partitions (from a GPT 4TB Disk) as RW, safely without corrupting the EXT4 partition?Write access to Linux ext3 partition from Windows 7The Ubuntu partition on my hard disk is not detected on Windows. What to do?windows 10 not detecting other disk partionsShare Ext4 Partition Over NetworkHow could I mount an ext4 partition and have write permission?Copy a file from one ext4 partition to otherWill resizing ext4 partitions with Windows destroy the installed Ubuntu?Expanding ext4 and shrinking NTFS partitions on the local driveCan not move files to trash from ext4 partitionPrevent Windows 10 from formatting ext4 partition on pendrive

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How to read ext4 partitions in Windows? [closed]


Mount Ubuntu's partition on Windows 7How to access Ubuntu Files from Windows on a dual-boot machineHow to access Ubuntu 11.04 files in Windows 7?Windows files in Ubuntu and vice versaIs it possible to transfer files from windows 7 to ubuntu? using dual bootHow do I access Ubuntu filesystem from Windows on dualboot?What is the best freeware app for Windows to mount EXT4 partitions (from a GPT 4TB Disk) as RW, safely without corrupting the EXT4 partition?Write access to Linux ext3 partition from Windows 7The Ubuntu partition on my hard disk is not detected on Windows. What to do?windows 10 not detecting other disk partionsShare Ext4 Partition Over NetworkHow could I mount an ext4 partition and have write permission?Copy a file from one ext4 partition to otherWill resizing ext4 partitions with Windows destroy the installed Ubuntu?Expanding ext4 and shrinking NTFS partitions on the local driveCan not move files to trash from ext4 partitionPrevent Windows 10 from formatting ext4 partition on pendrive






.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty
margin-bottom:0;









58


















I have two questions on ext4:



  1. Is there currently a way to mount an ext4 partition in Windows (XP/Vista/7) to get basic read support?

  2. If not, are there any plans to support this someday?









share|improve this question






















  • 1





    askubuntu.com/questions/108067/…

    – Tachyons
    Apr 24 '12 at 15:33






  • 1





    okey i understand that i have to do this whit ext2read but it opens and ti looks that i cant see any files

    – The Aivons
    Apr 24 '12 at 15:44






  • 1





    @TheLordofTime Re-check.

    – htorque
    Apr 8 '13 at 16:45






  • 1





    You can boot from a linux live cd , from which you can copy files between windows drives and ext4.

    – djangofan
    Jul 20 '13 at 17:51







  • 3





    I think this question was unfairly closed, but there are great answers on SuperUser.com - How to read ext4 partitions on Windows?

    – Dan Dascalescu
    Aug 15 '16 at 9:46


















58


















I have two questions on ext4:



  1. Is there currently a way to mount an ext4 partition in Windows (XP/Vista/7) to get basic read support?

  2. If not, are there any plans to support this someday?









share|improve this question






















  • 1





    askubuntu.com/questions/108067/…

    – Tachyons
    Apr 24 '12 at 15:33






  • 1





    okey i understand that i have to do this whit ext2read but it opens and ti looks that i cant see any files

    – The Aivons
    Apr 24 '12 at 15:44






  • 1





    @TheLordofTime Re-check.

    – htorque
    Apr 8 '13 at 16:45






  • 1





    You can boot from a linux live cd , from which you can copy files between windows drives and ext4.

    – djangofan
    Jul 20 '13 at 17:51







  • 3





    I think this question was unfairly closed, but there are great answers on SuperUser.com - How to read ext4 partitions on Windows?

    – Dan Dascalescu
    Aug 15 '16 at 9:46














58













58









58


26






I have two questions on ext4:



  1. Is there currently a way to mount an ext4 partition in Windows (XP/Vista/7) to get basic read support?

  2. If not, are there any plans to support this someday?









share|improve this question
















I have two questions on ext4:



  1. Is there currently a way to mount an ext4 partition in Windows (XP/Vista/7) to get basic read support?

  2. If not, are there any plans to support this someday?







Closed. This question is off-topic. It is not currently accepting answers.









Closed. This question is off-topic. It is not currently accepting answers.







Closed. This question is off-topic. It is not currently accepting answers.





Closed. This question is off-topic. It is not currently accepting answers.









Want to improve this question? Update the question so it's on-topic for Ask Ubuntu.


Closed 6 years ago.











Want to improve this question? Update the question so it's on-topic for Ask Ubuntu.


Closed 6 years ago.







windows ext4






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Mar 24 '13 at 19:05









Jorge Castro

61.6k110 gold badges437 silver badges631 bronze badges




61.6k110 gold badges437 silver badges631 bronze badges










asked Oct 28 '10 at 7:46









htorquehtorque

55.6k33 gold badges180 silver badges213 bronze badges




55.6k33 gold badges180 silver badges213 bronze badges










  • 1





    askubuntu.com/questions/108067/…

    – Tachyons
    Apr 24 '12 at 15:33






  • 1





    okey i understand that i have to do this whit ext2read but it opens and ti looks that i cant see any files

    – The Aivons
    Apr 24 '12 at 15:44






  • 1





    @TheLordofTime Re-check.

    – htorque
    Apr 8 '13 at 16:45






  • 1





    You can boot from a linux live cd , from which you can copy files between windows drives and ext4.

    – djangofan
    Jul 20 '13 at 17:51







  • 3





    I think this question was unfairly closed, but there are great answers on SuperUser.com - How to read ext4 partitions on Windows?

    – Dan Dascalescu
    Aug 15 '16 at 9:46













  • 1





    askubuntu.com/questions/108067/…

    – Tachyons
    Apr 24 '12 at 15:33






  • 1





    okey i understand that i have to do this whit ext2read but it opens and ti looks that i cant see any files

    – The Aivons
    Apr 24 '12 at 15:44






  • 1





    @TheLordofTime Re-check.

    – htorque
    Apr 8 '13 at 16:45






  • 1





    You can boot from a linux live cd , from which you can copy files between windows drives and ext4.

    – djangofan
    Jul 20 '13 at 17:51







  • 3





    I think this question was unfairly closed, but there are great answers on SuperUser.com - How to read ext4 partitions on Windows?

    – Dan Dascalescu
    Aug 15 '16 at 9:46








1




1





askubuntu.com/questions/108067/…

– Tachyons
Apr 24 '12 at 15:33





askubuntu.com/questions/108067/…

– Tachyons
Apr 24 '12 at 15:33




1




1





okey i understand that i have to do this whit ext2read but it opens and ti looks that i cant see any files

– The Aivons
Apr 24 '12 at 15:44





okey i understand that i have to do this whit ext2read but it opens and ti looks that i cant see any files

– The Aivons
Apr 24 '12 at 15:44




1




1





@TheLordofTime Re-check.

– htorque
Apr 8 '13 at 16:45





@TheLordofTime Re-check.

– htorque
Apr 8 '13 at 16:45




1




1





You can boot from a linux live cd , from which you can copy files between windows drives and ext4.

– djangofan
Jul 20 '13 at 17:51






You can boot from a linux live cd , from which you can copy files between windows drives and ext4.

– djangofan
Jul 20 '13 at 17:51





3




3





I think this question was unfairly closed, but there are great answers on SuperUser.com - How to read ext4 partitions on Windows?

– Dan Dascalescu
Aug 15 '16 at 9:46






I think this question was unfairly closed, but there are great answers on SuperUser.com - How to read ext4 partitions on Windows?

– Dan Dascalescu
Aug 15 '16 at 9:46











10 Answers
10






active

oldest

votes


















32



















There was a utility called ext2read to browse Ext partitions in Windows (including Ext4 partitions) which may not work anymore as mentioned in the comment below by @heynnema and could corrupt your partitions.



The project isn't updated since 2012






share|improve this answer



























  • Nice to know, I knew only about ext2/3 support for Windows. Unfortunately, this is not an IFS driver, so you can't mount a filesystem with it?

    – JanC
    Oct 28 '10 at 8:08











  • You can find documentation about what IFS is on MSDN.

    – JanC
    Oct 28 '10 at 8:14











  • Great, I tried ext2read some time ago but back then it didn't support extents. Works fine now. :-) As for the second part of my question: it was more about third party tools, not "Hey Linux guys, make this work". ;-) I shouldn't have asked about both filesystems - I'd be happy to mark your entry as answer but I still have no clue if there's something that allows me to read btrfs partitions in Winodws.

    – htorque
    Oct 28 '10 at 8:24












  • No problem. I havn't tried btrfs. Hopefully someone answers your question completely including the second part :-)

    – Chakra
    Oct 28 '10 at 9:03







  • 2





    Remove ext2fs/ext2read ASAP, it'll corrupt your Ubuntu partition. You can't read linux partitions from Windows, period. Create an extra NTFS partition if you wish to share files.

    – heynnema
    Oct 1 at 18:56


















24



















ext4 has some support through the older ext2* projects. btrfs has no current Windows support. New filesystems are always going to have a period where there's no support on another operating system and, frankly, that's going to suck.



It should also be mentioned that projects that try to read the filesystem into another system are always going to give you an increased risk of noshing up your partition.



So with that in mind, there is one solution that would take perhaps 30 minutes to an hour to set up that would give you near-native speed, any Linux partition support and would be just as safe (or very close to) as mounting it from Linux: Virtualise!



Yeah I'm suggesting you give up 300megs of RAM and a gig of disk space to run Ubuntu Server from within Windows. Most modern virtualisation systems like Virtualbox and VMWare allow you to pass the VM an entire disk or partition so that's what you'd do. Mount it from within virtual-ubuntu, install samba, share the ubuntu-mounted disks and mount the shares from within Windows.



It sounds like a lot of overhead but Ubuntu server is pretty slick and it won't need much in the way of resources. Once installed, you could probably get away with 150megs of RAM for it.






share|improve this answer



























  • Yes, that sounds like a good universal solution. However, for my ext4-read-only-case ext2read seems to work fine - plus, it's a portable one-file exe. :) Too bad I can't accept two answers. :(

    – htorque
    Oct 28 '10 at 12:55











  • I've actually run Ubuntu server with as little as 64Mb of memory, it just takes a larger swap partition.

    – Perkins
    May 14 '12 at 22:50











  • And... you could just as easily use a lighter distro, such as PuppyLinux to conserve on RAM and/or disk space.

    – Nathan Osman
    Mar 30 '13 at 20:56


















11



















If you're talking about a dual-boot system, Windows cannot natively read Linux-formated partitions. Therefore, you have two options.



Recommended solution - Shared storage



Create a NTFS partition that will hold the files that you wish to be accessible from both Windows and Ubuntu, and store your files there.



This is the recommended, safe solution.



Alternate solution - Third-party software



Software is available for Windows that allows you to read and write to Linux partitions, to some extent.



One example of such software is Ext2Fsd. Ext2Fsd has limited EXT4 support. By default, it will load the filesystems in read-only mode, but you can enable read-write mode if you really want to. This is, however, not recommended.



  • EXT4 partitions mounted using Ext2Fsd will be displayed as EXT3. This is normal.

Note that these features of the fourth extended filesystem are unsuported:



  • Journal: log-based operations, external journal

  • Extent: size truncating & expanding, file deletion

  • Extended Attributes: ACL support


  • Note: an error may be displayed after installing Ext2Fsd; the application still works.


After installation, restart your computer and open Ext2 Volume Manager from the Start menu.



This is where you assign or change the drive letters for your Linux partitions, mount and unmount them, or perform other operations.



If you want to enable write support for an EXT4 filesystem, select Ext2 Management, uncheck the Mount volume in readonly mode box and then click Apply.



You can also select if you want your Linux partition to be automatically mounted on startup (you shouldn't use this option for USB drives and removable media).



Note: this solution is far from perfect and data corruption may occur on your Linux partition. Use this at your own risk!






share|improve this answer




















  • 3





    There is a problem with shared NTFS storage - all files will appear in Linux to be executable, because NTFS doesn't support the executable attribute.

    – Dan Dascalescu
    Aug 15 '16 at 9:47


















7



















To read ext4 you can use Ext2Fsd. It's a driver for Windows. The name suggest that it only work with ext2 and the site say that it work with ext2 and ext3 but last versions support ext4 too.






share|improve this answer

























  • I followed the instructions but it doesn't seem to work with Win 7 (well, the web page states it doesn't support Win 7 and ext4 extents).

    – htorque
    Oct 28 '10 at 8:51











  • working well with win10 :)

    – vipin8169
    Nov 15 '16 at 4:10











  • This doesn't work in Windows 10. Shows nothing. Same with all of the other suggested third party software. none of them detect any drives

    – thephpdev
    Oct 6 '18 at 19:55



















6



















An alternative is to install CoLinux on the windows machine and set it up with a minimal system (enough to mount the filesystem in question) and Samba. Then just mount your FS, and share it to windows. Not exactly elegant, but works nicely and doesn't risk filesystem corruption due to faulty drivers.



If a CoLinux install from scratch is too much hassle, try AndLinux, which is CoLinux with an OS already good to go out of the box. Installs in twenty minutes. You'll still need to set up the mounting, but the filesystem shares should already be good to go.






share|improve this answer




















  • 1





    I'd say it is definitely worth a try. It has a good chance for being much lighter than full virtualization. I just wonder by how much?

    – Adam Ryczkowski
    Feb 25 '13 at 8:31






  • 1





    Depends on what you're doing with it. CoLinux is the linux kernel compiled as a windows executable, so memory can stay shared instead of eating a big chunk even if it has no immediate use for it. Also, there's no virtualization overhead. On old hardware, that's a big deal. On a modern processor with virtualization extensions it matters a lot less.

    – Perkins
    Sep 21 '16 at 22:27


















3



















You can install Linux in a virtual machine then bind the physical drives or partitions directly to it. Then set up the machine to be accessible over Samba/CIFS and map the shares to drive letters in Windows Explorer.



There is a guide for doing this in VirtualBox.



That's probably the simplest way and should work transparently after setup correctly. It should work with any filesystem that Linux supports and not have to much around with horribly out of date (and possibly unstable) 3rd party utils.



With some work you might even be able to make your entire main Linux distro bootable from within Windows.






share|improve this answer

























  • I like this guide for your approach, which currently is the one that allows to write to the disk without errors. ubuntugeek.com/howto-access-ext3-partition-from-windows.html

    – Ferroao
    Sep 14 '17 at 13:36


















1



















You can use ex2explore for accessing ubuntu file from windows






share|improve this answer


































    1



















    You could try booting into an Ubuntu live CD and mounting your existing Ubuntu partition from there, but if it crashed badly enough I don't know if this would work.






    share|improve this answer
































      0



















      You need to install Samba into Ubuntu and set up a shere folder in the Ubuntu partition. You can then map to that network resource from windows.






      share|improve this answer

























      • The drive would have to be in a separate machine (or controlled by a separate VM) running Ubuntu (or some other OS that can access the partitions). If you install Ubuntu on a hard drive and set up a Samba server, then attach the hard drive to a computer running Windows, no Ubuntu OS will be running, no Samba server will be running, and no files will be accessible. When Windows accesses a Samba share, it's not reading from an ext2/3/4 or btrfs partition--the OS running on the server is accessing it to expose the share, and Windows is accessing the share.

        – Eliah Kagan
        Jul 17 '12 at 3:35











      • You are correct if the drive with the partition is installed in the windows machine. But the question was if the partition could be mounted. And by mapping to separate machine it can be.

        – sbtech
        Jul 17 '12 at 23:25






      • 2





        I don't think it's accurate to say that Windows is mounting the partition in that case. The Ubuntu system is mounting the partition and sharing its contents and the Windows system is accessing the share. Windows is not doing anything with the partition at all. Windows does not even know the partition exists--for all the Windows system knows, the partition's root may not be a mount point at all.

        – Eliah Kagan
        Jul 18 '12 at 0:09



















      0



















      Via a network or locally? If it is from other computers on the network, then you will probably want to configure Samba on your Ubuntu computer.



      https://help.ubuntu.com/11.10/serverguide/C/samba-fileserver.html



      If you are dual booting the computer and want to access Ubuntu from Windows, you could try ext2read. I haven't tested it, but it apparently supports most standard Linux file systems.



      The other option is to boot off a live CD / USB stick. Then you will be able to copy the files off to another location. Maybe another USB device or network location.






      share|improve this answer


































        10 Answers
        10






        active

        oldest

        votes








        10 Answers
        10






        active

        oldest

        votes









        active

        oldest

        votes






        active

        oldest

        votes









        32



















        There was a utility called ext2read to browse Ext partitions in Windows (including Ext4 partitions) which may not work anymore as mentioned in the comment below by @heynnema and could corrupt your partitions.



        The project isn't updated since 2012






        share|improve this answer



























        • Nice to know, I knew only about ext2/3 support for Windows. Unfortunately, this is not an IFS driver, so you can't mount a filesystem with it?

          – JanC
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:08











        • You can find documentation about what IFS is on MSDN.

          – JanC
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:14











        • Great, I tried ext2read some time ago but back then it didn't support extents. Works fine now. :-) As for the second part of my question: it was more about third party tools, not "Hey Linux guys, make this work". ;-) I shouldn't have asked about both filesystems - I'd be happy to mark your entry as answer but I still have no clue if there's something that allows me to read btrfs partitions in Winodws.

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:24












        • No problem. I havn't tried btrfs. Hopefully someone answers your question completely including the second part :-)

          – Chakra
          Oct 28 '10 at 9:03







        • 2





          Remove ext2fs/ext2read ASAP, it'll corrupt your Ubuntu partition. You can't read linux partitions from Windows, period. Create an extra NTFS partition if you wish to share files.

          – heynnema
          Oct 1 at 18:56















        32



















        There was a utility called ext2read to browse Ext partitions in Windows (including Ext4 partitions) which may not work anymore as mentioned in the comment below by @heynnema and could corrupt your partitions.



        The project isn't updated since 2012






        share|improve this answer



























        • Nice to know, I knew only about ext2/3 support for Windows. Unfortunately, this is not an IFS driver, so you can't mount a filesystem with it?

          – JanC
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:08











        • You can find documentation about what IFS is on MSDN.

          – JanC
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:14











        • Great, I tried ext2read some time ago but back then it didn't support extents. Works fine now. :-) As for the second part of my question: it was more about third party tools, not "Hey Linux guys, make this work". ;-) I shouldn't have asked about both filesystems - I'd be happy to mark your entry as answer but I still have no clue if there's something that allows me to read btrfs partitions in Winodws.

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:24












        • No problem. I havn't tried btrfs. Hopefully someone answers your question completely including the second part :-)

          – Chakra
          Oct 28 '10 at 9:03







        • 2





          Remove ext2fs/ext2read ASAP, it'll corrupt your Ubuntu partition. You can't read linux partitions from Windows, period. Create an extra NTFS partition if you wish to share files.

          – heynnema
          Oct 1 at 18:56













        32















        32











        32









        There was a utility called ext2read to browse Ext partitions in Windows (including Ext4 partitions) which may not work anymore as mentioned in the comment below by @heynnema and could corrupt your partitions.



        The project isn't updated since 2012






        share|improve this answer
















        There was a utility called ext2read to browse Ext partitions in Windows (including Ext4 partitions) which may not work anymore as mentioned in the comment below by @heynnema and could corrupt your partitions.



        The project isn't updated since 2012







        share|improve this answer















        share|improve this answer




        share|improve this answer








        edited Oct 7 at 6:17

























        answered Oct 28 '10 at 7:54









        ChakraChakra

        2,97218 silver badges24 bronze badges




        2,97218 silver badges24 bronze badges















        • Nice to know, I knew only about ext2/3 support for Windows. Unfortunately, this is not an IFS driver, so you can't mount a filesystem with it?

          – JanC
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:08











        • You can find documentation about what IFS is on MSDN.

          – JanC
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:14











        • Great, I tried ext2read some time ago but back then it didn't support extents. Works fine now. :-) As for the second part of my question: it was more about third party tools, not "Hey Linux guys, make this work". ;-) I shouldn't have asked about both filesystems - I'd be happy to mark your entry as answer but I still have no clue if there's something that allows me to read btrfs partitions in Winodws.

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:24












        • No problem. I havn't tried btrfs. Hopefully someone answers your question completely including the second part :-)

          – Chakra
          Oct 28 '10 at 9:03







        • 2





          Remove ext2fs/ext2read ASAP, it'll corrupt your Ubuntu partition. You can't read linux partitions from Windows, period. Create an extra NTFS partition if you wish to share files.

          – heynnema
          Oct 1 at 18:56

















        • Nice to know, I knew only about ext2/3 support for Windows. Unfortunately, this is not an IFS driver, so you can't mount a filesystem with it?

          – JanC
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:08











        • You can find documentation about what IFS is on MSDN.

          – JanC
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:14











        • Great, I tried ext2read some time ago but back then it didn't support extents. Works fine now. :-) As for the second part of my question: it was more about third party tools, not "Hey Linux guys, make this work". ;-) I shouldn't have asked about both filesystems - I'd be happy to mark your entry as answer but I still have no clue if there's something that allows me to read btrfs partitions in Winodws.

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:24












        • No problem. I havn't tried btrfs. Hopefully someone answers your question completely including the second part :-)

          – Chakra
          Oct 28 '10 at 9:03







        • 2





          Remove ext2fs/ext2read ASAP, it'll corrupt your Ubuntu partition. You can't read linux partitions from Windows, period. Create an extra NTFS partition if you wish to share files.

          – heynnema
          Oct 1 at 18:56
















        Nice to know, I knew only about ext2/3 support for Windows. Unfortunately, this is not an IFS driver, so you can't mount a filesystem with it?

        – JanC
        Oct 28 '10 at 8:08





        Nice to know, I knew only about ext2/3 support for Windows. Unfortunately, this is not an IFS driver, so you can't mount a filesystem with it?

        – JanC
        Oct 28 '10 at 8:08













        You can find documentation about what IFS is on MSDN.

        – JanC
        Oct 28 '10 at 8:14





        You can find documentation about what IFS is on MSDN.

        – JanC
        Oct 28 '10 at 8:14













        Great, I tried ext2read some time ago but back then it didn't support extents. Works fine now. :-) As for the second part of my question: it was more about third party tools, not "Hey Linux guys, make this work". ;-) I shouldn't have asked about both filesystems - I'd be happy to mark your entry as answer but I still have no clue if there's something that allows me to read btrfs partitions in Winodws.

        – htorque
        Oct 28 '10 at 8:24






        Great, I tried ext2read some time ago but back then it didn't support extents. Works fine now. :-) As for the second part of my question: it was more about third party tools, not "Hey Linux guys, make this work". ;-) I shouldn't have asked about both filesystems - I'd be happy to mark your entry as answer but I still have no clue if there's something that allows me to read btrfs partitions in Winodws.

        – htorque
        Oct 28 '10 at 8:24














        No problem. I havn't tried btrfs. Hopefully someone answers your question completely including the second part :-)

        – Chakra
        Oct 28 '10 at 9:03






        No problem. I havn't tried btrfs. Hopefully someone answers your question completely including the second part :-)

        – Chakra
        Oct 28 '10 at 9:03





        2




        2





        Remove ext2fs/ext2read ASAP, it'll corrupt your Ubuntu partition. You can't read linux partitions from Windows, period. Create an extra NTFS partition if you wish to share files.

        – heynnema
        Oct 1 at 18:56





        Remove ext2fs/ext2read ASAP, it'll corrupt your Ubuntu partition. You can't read linux partitions from Windows, period. Create an extra NTFS partition if you wish to share files.

        – heynnema
        Oct 1 at 18:56













        24



















        ext4 has some support through the older ext2* projects. btrfs has no current Windows support. New filesystems are always going to have a period where there's no support on another operating system and, frankly, that's going to suck.



        It should also be mentioned that projects that try to read the filesystem into another system are always going to give you an increased risk of noshing up your partition.



        So with that in mind, there is one solution that would take perhaps 30 minutes to an hour to set up that would give you near-native speed, any Linux partition support and would be just as safe (or very close to) as mounting it from Linux: Virtualise!



        Yeah I'm suggesting you give up 300megs of RAM and a gig of disk space to run Ubuntu Server from within Windows. Most modern virtualisation systems like Virtualbox and VMWare allow you to pass the VM an entire disk or partition so that's what you'd do. Mount it from within virtual-ubuntu, install samba, share the ubuntu-mounted disks and mount the shares from within Windows.



        It sounds like a lot of overhead but Ubuntu server is pretty slick and it won't need much in the way of resources. Once installed, you could probably get away with 150megs of RAM for it.






        share|improve this answer



























        • Yes, that sounds like a good universal solution. However, for my ext4-read-only-case ext2read seems to work fine - plus, it's a portable one-file exe. :) Too bad I can't accept two answers. :(

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 12:55











        • I've actually run Ubuntu server with as little as 64Mb of memory, it just takes a larger swap partition.

          – Perkins
          May 14 '12 at 22:50











        • And... you could just as easily use a lighter distro, such as PuppyLinux to conserve on RAM and/or disk space.

          – Nathan Osman
          Mar 30 '13 at 20:56















        24



















        ext4 has some support through the older ext2* projects. btrfs has no current Windows support. New filesystems are always going to have a period where there's no support on another operating system and, frankly, that's going to suck.



        It should also be mentioned that projects that try to read the filesystem into another system are always going to give you an increased risk of noshing up your partition.



        So with that in mind, there is one solution that would take perhaps 30 minutes to an hour to set up that would give you near-native speed, any Linux partition support and would be just as safe (or very close to) as mounting it from Linux: Virtualise!



        Yeah I'm suggesting you give up 300megs of RAM and a gig of disk space to run Ubuntu Server from within Windows. Most modern virtualisation systems like Virtualbox and VMWare allow you to pass the VM an entire disk or partition so that's what you'd do. Mount it from within virtual-ubuntu, install samba, share the ubuntu-mounted disks and mount the shares from within Windows.



        It sounds like a lot of overhead but Ubuntu server is pretty slick and it won't need much in the way of resources. Once installed, you could probably get away with 150megs of RAM for it.






        share|improve this answer



























        • Yes, that sounds like a good universal solution. However, for my ext4-read-only-case ext2read seems to work fine - plus, it's a portable one-file exe. :) Too bad I can't accept two answers. :(

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 12:55











        • I've actually run Ubuntu server with as little as 64Mb of memory, it just takes a larger swap partition.

          – Perkins
          May 14 '12 at 22:50











        • And... you could just as easily use a lighter distro, such as PuppyLinux to conserve on RAM and/or disk space.

          – Nathan Osman
          Mar 30 '13 at 20:56













        24















        24











        24









        ext4 has some support through the older ext2* projects. btrfs has no current Windows support. New filesystems are always going to have a period where there's no support on another operating system and, frankly, that's going to suck.



        It should also be mentioned that projects that try to read the filesystem into another system are always going to give you an increased risk of noshing up your partition.



        So with that in mind, there is one solution that would take perhaps 30 minutes to an hour to set up that would give you near-native speed, any Linux partition support and would be just as safe (or very close to) as mounting it from Linux: Virtualise!



        Yeah I'm suggesting you give up 300megs of RAM and a gig of disk space to run Ubuntu Server from within Windows. Most modern virtualisation systems like Virtualbox and VMWare allow you to pass the VM an entire disk or partition so that's what you'd do. Mount it from within virtual-ubuntu, install samba, share the ubuntu-mounted disks and mount the shares from within Windows.



        It sounds like a lot of overhead but Ubuntu server is pretty slick and it won't need much in the way of resources. Once installed, you could probably get away with 150megs of RAM for it.






        share|improve this answer
















        ext4 has some support through the older ext2* projects. btrfs has no current Windows support. New filesystems are always going to have a period where there's no support on another operating system and, frankly, that's going to suck.



        It should also be mentioned that projects that try to read the filesystem into another system are always going to give you an increased risk of noshing up your partition.



        So with that in mind, there is one solution that would take perhaps 30 minutes to an hour to set up that would give you near-native speed, any Linux partition support and would be just as safe (or very close to) as mounting it from Linux: Virtualise!



        Yeah I'm suggesting you give up 300megs of RAM and a gig of disk space to run Ubuntu Server from within Windows. Most modern virtualisation systems like Virtualbox and VMWare allow you to pass the VM an entire disk or partition so that's what you'd do. Mount it from within virtual-ubuntu, install samba, share the ubuntu-mounted disks and mount the shares from within Windows.



        It sounds like a lot of overhead but Ubuntu server is pretty slick and it won't need much in the way of resources. Once installed, you could probably get away with 150megs of RAM for it.







        share|improve this answer















        share|improve this answer




        share|improve this answer








        edited Oct 18 '11 at 12:37









        Community

        1




        1










        answered Oct 28 '10 at 9:34









        OliOli

        248k98 gold badges601 silver badges784 bronze badges




        248k98 gold badges601 silver badges784 bronze badges















        • Yes, that sounds like a good universal solution. However, for my ext4-read-only-case ext2read seems to work fine - plus, it's a portable one-file exe. :) Too bad I can't accept two answers. :(

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 12:55











        • I've actually run Ubuntu server with as little as 64Mb of memory, it just takes a larger swap partition.

          – Perkins
          May 14 '12 at 22:50











        • And... you could just as easily use a lighter distro, such as PuppyLinux to conserve on RAM and/or disk space.

          – Nathan Osman
          Mar 30 '13 at 20:56

















        • Yes, that sounds like a good universal solution. However, for my ext4-read-only-case ext2read seems to work fine - plus, it's a portable one-file exe. :) Too bad I can't accept two answers. :(

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 12:55











        • I've actually run Ubuntu server with as little as 64Mb of memory, it just takes a larger swap partition.

          – Perkins
          May 14 '12 at 22:50











        • And... you could just as easily use a lighter distro, such as PuppyLinux to conserve on RAM and/or disk space.

          – Nathan Osman
          Mar 30 '13 at 20:56
















        Yes, that sounds like a good universal solution. However, for my ext4-read-only-case ext2read seems to work fine - plus, it's a portable one-file exe. :) Too bad I can't accept two answers. :(

        – htorque
        Oct 28 '10 at 12:55





        Yes, that sounds like a good universal solution. However, for my ext4-read-only-case ext2read seems to work fine - plus, it's a portable one-file exe. :) Too bad I can't accept two answers. :(

        – htorque
        Oct 28 '10 at 12:55













        I've actually run Ubuntu server with as little as 64Mb of memory, it just takes a larger swap partition.

        – Perkins
        May 14 '12 at 22:50





        I've actually run Ubuntu server with as little as 64Mb of memory, it just takes a larger swap partition.

        – Perkins
        May 14 '12 at 22:50













        And... you could just as easily use a lighter distro, such as PuppyLinux to conserve on RAM and/or disk space.

        – Nathan Osman
        Mar 30 '13 at 20:56





        And... you could just as easily use a lighter distro, such as PuppyLinux to conserve on RAM and/or disk space.

        – Nathan Osman
        Mar 30 '13 at 20:56











        11



















        If you're talking about a dual-boot system, Windows cannot natively read Linux-formated partitions. Therefore, you have two options.



        Recommended solution - Shared storage



        Create a NTFS partition that will hold the files that you wish to be accessible from both Windows and Ubuntu, and store your files there.



        This is the recommended, safe solution.



        Alternate solution - Third-party software



        Software is available for Windows that allows you to read and write to Linux partitions, to some extent.



        One example of such software is Ext2Fsd. Ext2Fsd has limited EXT4 support. By default, it will load the filesystems in read-only mode, but you can enable read-write mode if you really want to. This is, however, not recommended.



        • EXT4 partitions mounted using Ext2Fsd will be displayed as EXT3. This is normal.

        Note that these features of the fourth extended filesystem are unsuported:



        • Journal: log-based operations, external journal

        • Extent: size truncating & expanding, file deletion

        • Extended Attributes: ACL support


        • Note: an error may be displayed after installing Ext2Fsd; the application still works.


        After installation, restart your computer and open Ext2 Volume Manager from the Start menu.



        This is where you assign or change the drive letters for your Linux partitions, mount and unmount them, or perform other operations.



        If you want to enable write support for an EXT4 filesystem, select Ext2 Management, uncheck the Mount volume in readonly mode box and then click Apply.



        You can also select if you want your Linux partition to be automatically mounted on startup (you shouldn't use this option for USB drives and removable media).



        Note: this solution is far from perfect and data corruption may occur on your Linux partition. Use this at your own risk!






        share|improve this answer




















        • 3





          There is a problem with shared NTFS storage - all files will appear in Linux to be executable, because NTFS doesn't support the executable attribute.

          – Dan Dascalescu
          Aug 15 '16 at 9:47















        11



















        If you're talking about a dual-boot system, Windows cannot natively read Linux-formated partitions. Therefore, you have two options.



        Recommended solution - Shared storage



        Create a NTFS partition that will hold the files that you wish to be accessible from both Windows and Ubuntu, and store your files there.



        This is the recommended, safe solution.



        Alternate solution - Third-party software



        Software is available for Windows that allows you to read and write to Linux partitions, to some extent.



        One example of such software is Ext2Fsd. Ext2Fsd has limited EXT4 support. By default, it will load the filesystems in read-only mode, but you can enable read-write mode if you really want to. This is, however, not recommended.



        • EXT4 partitions mounted using Ext2Fsd will be displayed as EXT3. This is normal.

        Note that these features of the fourth extended filesystem are unsuported:



        • Journal: log-based operations, external journal

        • Extent: size truncating & expanding, file deletion

        • Extended Attributes: ACL support


        • Note: an error may be displayed after installing Ext2Fsd; the application still works.


        After installation, restart your computer and open Ext2 Volume Manager from the Start menu.



        This is where you assign or change the drive letters for your Linux partitions, mount and unmount them, or perform other operations.



        If you want to enable write support for an EXT4 filesystem, select Ext2 Management, uncheck the Mount volume in readonly mode box and then click Apply.



        You can also select if you want your Linux partition to be automatically mounted on startup (you shouldn't use this option for USB drives and removable media).



        Note: this solution is far from perfect and data corruption may occur on your Linux partition. Use this at your own risk!






        share|improve this answer




















        • 3





          There is a problem with shared NTFS storage - all files will appear in Linux to be executable, because NTFS doesn't support the executable attribute.

          – Dan Dascalescu
          Aug 15 '16 at 9:47













        11















        11











        11









        If you're talking about a dual-boot system, Windows cannot natively read Linux-formated partitions. Therefore, you have two options.



        Recommended solution - Shared storage



        Create a NTFS partition that will hold the files that you wish to be accessible from both Windows and Ubuntu, and store your files there.



        This is the recommended, safe solution.



        Alternate solution - Third-party software



        Software is available for Windows that allows you to read and write to Linux partitions, to some extent.



        One example of such software is Ext2Fsd. Ext2Fsd has limited EXT4 support. By default, it will load the filesystems in read-only mode, but you can enable read-write mode if you really want to. This is, however, not recommended.



        • EXT4 partitions mounted using Ext2Fsd will be displayed as EXT3. This is normal.

        Note that these features of the fourth extended filesystem are unsuported:



        • Journal: log-based operations, external journal

        • Extent: size truncating & expanding, file deletion

        • Extended Attributes: ACL support


        • Note: an error may be displayed after installing Ext2Fsd; the application still works.


        After installation, restart your computer and open Ext2 Volume Manager from the Start menu.



        This is where you assign or change the drive letters for your Linux partitions, mount and unmount them, or perform other operations.



        If you want to enable write support for an EXT4 filesystem, select Ext2 Management, uncheck the Mount volume in readonly mode box and then click Apply.



        You can also select if you want your Linux partition to be automatically mounted on startup (you shouldn't use this option for USB drives and removable media).



        Note: this solution is far from perfect and data corruption may occur on your Linux partition. Use this at your own risk!






        share|improve this answer














        If you're talking about a dual-boot system, Windows cannot natively read Linux-formated partitions. Therefore, you have two options.



        Recommended solution - Shared storage



        Create a NTFS partition that will hold the files that you wish to be accessible from both Windows and Ubuntu, and store your files there.



        This is the recommended, safe solution.



        Alternate solution - Third-party software



        Software is available for Windows that allows you to read and write to Linux partitions, to some extent.



        One example of such software is Ext2Fsd. Ext2Fsd has limited EXT4 support. By default, it will load the filesystems in read-only mode, but you can enable read-write mode if you really want to. This is, however, not recommended.



        • EXT4 partitions mounted using Ext2Fsd will be displayed as EXT3. This is normal.

        Note that these features of the fourth extended filesystem are unsuported:



        • Journal: log-based operations, external journal

        • Extent: size truncating & expanding, file deletion

        • Extended Attributes: ACL support


        • Note: an error may be displayed after installing Ext2Fsd; the application still works.


        After installation, restart your computer and open Ext2 Volume Manager from the Start menu.



        This is where you assign or change the drive letters for your Linux partitions, mount and unmount them, or perform other operations.



        If you want to enable write support for an EXT4 filesystem, select Ext2 Management, uncheck the Mount volume in readonly mode box and then click Apply.



        You can also select if you want your Linux partition to be automatically mounted on startup (you shouldn't use this option for USB drives and removable media).



        Note: this solution is far from perfect and data corruption may occur on your Linux partition. Use this at your own risk!







        share|improve this answer













        share|improve this answer




        share|improve this answer










        answered Apr 24 '12 at 15:40









        SirCharloSirCharlo

        32.4k8 gold badges64 silver badges78 bronze badges




        32.4k8 gold badges64 silver badges78 bronze badges










        • 3





          There is a problem with shared NTFS storage - all files will appear in Linux to be executable, because NTFS doesn't support the executable attribute.

          – Dan Dascalescu
          Aug 15 '16 at 9:47












        • 3





          There is a problem with shared NTFS storage - all files will appear in Linux to be executable, because NTFS doesn't support the executable attribute.

          – Dan Dascalescu
          Aug 15 '16 at 9:47







        3




        3





        There is a problem with shared NTFS storage - all files will appear in Linux to be executable, because NTFS doesn't support the executable attribute.

        – Dan Dascalescu
        Aug 15 '16 at 9:47





        There is a problem with shared NTFS storage - all files will appear in Linux to be executable, because NTFS doesn't support the executable attribute.

        – Dan Dascalescu
        Aug 15 '16 at 9:47











        7



















        To read ext4 you can use Ext2Fsd. It's a driver for Windows. The name suggest that it only work with ext2 and the site say that it work with ext2 and ext3 but last versions support ext4 too.






        share|improve this answer

























        • I followed the instructions but it doesn't seem to work with Win 7 (well, the web page states it doesn't support Win 7 and ext4 extents).

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:51











        • working well with win10 :)

          – vipin8169
          Nov 15 '16 at 4:10











        • This doesn't work in Windows 10. Shows nothing. Same with all of the other suggested third party software. none of them detect any drives

          – thephpdev
          Oct 6 '18 at 19:55
















        7



















        To read ext4 you can use Ext2Fsd. It's a driver for Windows. The name suggest that it only work with ext2 and the site say that it work with ext2 and ext3 but last versions support ext4 too.






        share|improve this answer

























        • I followed the instructions but it doesn't seem to work with Win 7 (well, the web page states it doesn't support Win 7 and ext4 extents).

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:51











        • working well with win10 :)

          – vipin8169
          Nov 15 '16 at 4:10











        • This doesn't work in Windows 10. Shows nothing. Same with all of the other suggested third party software. none of them detect any drives

          – thephpdev
          Oct 6 '18 at 19:55














        7















        7











        7









        To read ext4 you can use Ext2Fsd. It's a driver for Windows. The name suggest that it only work with ext2 and the site say that it work with ext2 and ext3 but last versions support ext4 too.






        share|improve this answer














        To read ext4 you can use Ext2Fsd. It's a driver for Windows. The name suggest that it only work with ext2 and the site say that it work with ext2 and ext3 but last versions support ext4 too.







        share|improve this answer













        share|improve this answer




        share|improve this answer










        answered Oct 28 '10 at 8:27









        Nyamiou The GaleanthropeNyamiou The Galeanthrope

        2,38315 silver badges25 bronze badges




        2,38315 silver badges25 bronze badges















        • I followed the instructions but it doesn't seem to work with Win 7 (well, the web page states it doesn't support Win 7 and ext4 extents).

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:51











        • working well with win10 :)

          – vipin8169
          Nov 15 '16 at 4:10











        • This doesn't work in Windows 10. Shows nothing. Same with all of the other suggested third party software. none of them detect any drives

          – thephpdev
          Oct 6 '18 at 19:55


















        • I followed the instructions but it doesn't seem to work with Win 7 (well, the web page states it doesn't support Win 7 and ext4 extents).

          – htorque
          Oct 28 '10 at 8:51











        • working well with win10 :)

          – vipin8169
          Nov 15 '16 at 4:10











        • This doesn't work in Windows 10. Shows nothing. Same with all of the other suggested third party software. none of them detect any drives

          – thephpdev
          Oct 6 '18 at 19:55

















        I followed the instructions but it doesn't seem to work with Win 7 (well, the web page states it doesn't support Win 7 and ext4 extents).

        – htorque
        Oct 28 '10 at 8:51





        I followed the instructions but it doesn't seem to work with Win 7 (well, the web page states it doesn't support Win 7 and ext4 extents).

        – htorque
        Oct 28 '10 at 8:51













        working well with win10 :)

        – vipin8169
        Nov 15 '16 at 4:10





        working well with win10 :)

        – vipin8169
        Nov 15 '16 at 4:10













        This doesn't work in Windows 10. Shows nothing. Same with all of the other suggested third party software. none of them detect any drives

        – thephpdev
        Oct 6 '18 at 19:55






        This doesn't work in Windows 10. Shows nothing. Same with all of the other suggested third party software. none of them detect any drives

        – thephpdev
        Oct 6 '18 at 19:55












        6



















        An alternative is to install CoLinux on the windows machine and set it up with a minimal system (enough to mount the filesystem in question) and Samba. Then just mount your FS, and share it to windows. Not exactly elegant, but works nicely and doesn't risk filesystem corruption due to faulty drivers.



        If a CoLinux install from scratch is too much hassle, try AndLinux, which is CoLinux with an OS already good to go out of the box. Installs in twenty minutes. You'll still need to set up the mounting, but the filesystem shares should already be good to go.






        share|improve this answer




















        • 1





          I'd say it is definitely worth a try. It has a good chance for being much lighter than full virtualization. I just wonder by how much?

          – Adam Ryczkowski
          Feb 25 '13 at 8:31






        • 1





          Depends on what you're doing with it. CoLinux is the linux kernel compiled as a windows executable, so memory can stay shared instead of eating a big chunk even if it has no immediate use for it. Also, there's no virtualization overhead. On old hardware, that's a big deal. On a modern processor with virtualization extensions it matters a lot less.

          – Perkins
          Sep 21 '16 at 22:27















        6



















        An alternative is to install CoLinux on the windows machine and set it up with a minimal system (enough to mount the filesystem in question) and Samba. Then just mount your FS, and share it to windows. Not exactly elegant, but works nicely and doesn't risk filesystem corruption due to faulty drivers.



        If a CoLinux install from scratch is too much hassle, try AndLinux, which is CoLinux with an OS already good to go out of the box. Installs in twenty minutes. You'll still need to set up the mounting, but the filesystem shares should already be good to go.






        share|improve this answer




















        • 1





          I'd say it is definitely worth a try. It has a good chance for being much lighter than full virtualization. I just wonder by how much?

          – Adam Ryczkowski
          Feb 25 '13 at 8:31






        • 1





          Depends on what you're doing with it. CoLinux is the linux kernel compiled as a windows executable, so memory can stay shared instead of eating a big chunk even if it has no immediate use for it. Also, there's no virtualization overhead. On old hardware, that's a big deal. On a modern processor with virtualization extensions it matters a lot less.

          – Perkins
          Sep 21 '16 at 22:27













        6















        6











        6









        An alternative is to install CoLinux on the windows machine and set it up with a minimal system (enough to mount the filesystem in question) and Samba. Then just mount your FS, and share it to windows. Not exactly elegant, but works nicely and doesn't risk filesystem corruption due to faulty drivers.



        If a CoLinux install from scratch is too much hassle, try AndLinux, which is CoLinux with an OS already good to go out of the box. Installs in twenty minutes. You'll still need to set up the mounting, but the filesystem shares should already be good to go.






        share|improve this answer














        An alternative is to install CoLinux on the windows machine and set it up with a minimal system (enough to mount the filesystem in question) and Samba. Then just mount your FS, and share it to windows. Not exactly elegant, but works nicely and doesn't risk filesystem corruption due to faulty drivers.



        If a CoLinux install from scratch is too much hassle, try AndLinux, which is CoLinux with an OS already good to go out of the box. Installs in twenty minutes. You'll still need to set up the mounting, but the filesystem shares should already be good to go.







        share|improve this answer













        share|improve this answer




        share|improve this answer










        answered Jun 9 '11 at 6:42









        PerkinsPerkins

        5365 silver badges6 bronze badges




        5365 silver badges6 bronze badges










        • 1





          I'd say it is definitely worth a try. It has a good chance for being much lighter than full virtualization. I just wonder by how much?

          – Adam Ryczkowski
          Feb 25 '13 at 8:31






        • 1





          Depends on what you're doing with it. CoLinux is the linux kernel compiled as a windows executable, so memory can stay shared instead of eating a big chunk even if it has no immediate use for it. Also, there's no virtualization overhead. On old hardware, that's a big deal. On a modern processor with virtualization extensions it matters a lot less.

          – Perkins
          Sep 21 '16 at 22:27












        • 1





          I'd say it is definitely worth a try. It has a good chance for being much lighter than full virtualization. I just wonder by how much?

          – Adam Ryczkowski
          Feb 25 '13 at 8:31






        • 1





          Depends on what you're doing with it. CoLinux is the linux kernel compiled as a windows executable, so memory can stay shared instead of eating a big chunk even if it has no immediate use for it. Also, there's no virtualization overhead. On old hardware, that's a big deal. On a modern processor with virtualization extensions it matters a lot less.

          – Perkins
          Sep 21 '16 at 22:27







        1




        1





        I'd say it is definitely worth a try. It has a good chance for being much lighter than full virtualization. I just wonder by how much?

        – Adam Ryczkowski
        Feb 25 '13 at 8:31





        I'd say it is definitely worth a try. It has a good chance for being much lighter than full virtualization. I just wonder by how much?

        – Adam Ryczkowski
        Feb 25 '13 at 8:31




        1




        1





        Depends on what you're doing with it. CoLinux is the linux kernel compiled as a windows executable, so memory can stay shared instead of eating a big chunk even if it has no immediate use for it. Also, there's no virtualization overhead. On old hardware, that's a big deal. On a modern processor with virtualization extensions it matters a lot less.

        – Perkins
        Sep 21 '16 at 22:27





        Depends on what you're doing with it. CoLinux is the linux kernel compiled as a windows executable, so memory can stay shared instead of eating a big chunk even if it has no immediate use for it. Also, there's no virtualization overhead. On old hardware, that's a big deal. On a modern processor with virtualization extensions it matters a lot less.

        – Perkins
        Sep 21 '16 at 22:27











        3



















        You can install Linux in a virtual machine then bind the physical drives or partitions directly to it. Then set up the machine to be accessible over Samba/CIFS and map the shares to drive letters in Windows Explorer.



        There is a guide for doing this in VirtualBox.



        That's probably the simplest way and should work transparently after setup correctly. It should work with any filesystem that Linux supports and not have to much around with horribly out of date (and possibly unstable) 3rd party utils.



        With some work you might even be able to make your entire main Linux distro bootable from within Windows.






        share|improve this answer

























        • I like this guide for your approach, which currently is the one that allows to write to the disk without errors. ubuntugeek.com/howto-access-ext3-partition-from-windows.html

          – Ferroao
          Sep 14 '17 at 13:36















        3



















        You can install Linux in a virtual machine then bind the physical drives or partitions directly to it. Then set up the machine to be accessible over Samba/CIFS and map the shares to drive letters in Windows Explorer.



        There is a guide for doing this in VirtualBox.



        That's probably the simplest way and should work transparently after setup correctly. It should work with any filesystem that Linux supports and not have to much around with horribly out of date (and possibly unstable) 3rd party utils.



        With some work you might even be able to make your entire main Linux distro bootable from within Windows.






        share|improve this answer

























        • I like this guide for your approach, which currently is the one that allows to write to the disk without errors. ubuntugeek.com/howto-access-ext3-partition-from-windows.html

          – Ferroao
          Sep 14 '17 at 13:36













        3















        3











        3









        You can install Linux in a virtual machine then bind the physical drives or partitions directly to it. Then set up the machine to be accessible over Samba/CIFS and map the shares to drive letters in Windows Explorer.



        There is a guide for doing this in VirtualBox.



        That's probably the simplest way and should work transparently after setup correctly. It should work with any filesystem that Linux supports and not have to much around with horribly out of date (and possibly unstable) 3rd party utils.



        With some work you might even be able to make your entire main Linux distro bootable from within Windows.






        share|improve this answer














        You can install Linux in a virtual machine then bind the physical drives or partitions directly to it. Then set up the machine to be accessible over Samba/CIFS and map the shares to drive letters in Windows Explorer.



        There is a guide for doing this in VirtualBox.



        That's probably the simplest way and should work transparently after setup correctly. It should work with any filesystem that Linux supports and not have to much around with horribly out of date (and possibly unstable) 3rd party utils.



        With some work you might even be able to make your entire main Linux distro bootable from within Windows.







        share|improve this answer













        share|improve this answer




        share|improve this answer










        answered Jul 17 '12 at 3:23









        David C. BishopDavid C. Bishop

        6957 silver badges5 bronze badges




        6957 silver badges5 bronze badges















        • I like this guide for your approach, which currently is the one that allows to write to the disk without errors. ubuntugeek.com/howto-access-ext3-partition-from-windows.html

          – Ferroao
          Sep 14 '17 at 13:36

















        • I like this guide for your approach, which currently is the one that allows to write to the disk without errors. ubuntugeek.com/howto-access-ext3-partition-from-windows.html

          – Ferroao
          Sep 14 '17 at 13:36
















        I like this guide for your approach, which currently is the one that allows to write to the disk without errors. ubuntugeek.com/howto-access-ext3-partition-from-windows.html

        – Ferroao
        Sep 14 '17 at 13:36





        I like this guide for your approach, which currently is the one that allows to write to the disk without errors. ubuntugeek.com/howto-access-ext3-partition-from-windows.html

        – Ferroao
        Sep 14 '17 at 13:36











        1



















        You can use ex2explore for accessing ubuntu file from windows






        share|improve this answer































          1



















          You can use ex2explore for accessing ubuntu file from windows






          share|improve this answer





























            1















            1











            1









            You can use ex2explore for accessing ubuntu file from windows






            share|improve this answer
















            You can use ex2explore for accessing ubuntu file from windows







            share|improve this answer















            share|improve this answer




            share|improve this answer








            edited Apr 24 '12 at 15:24

























            answered Feb 27 '12 at 1:03









            TachyonsTachyons

            15.7k14 gold badges66 silver badges113 bronze badges




            15.7k14 gold badges66 silver badges113 bronze badges
























                1



















                You could try booting into an Ubuntu live CD and mounting your existing Ubuntu partition from there, but if it crashed badly enough I don't know if this would work.






                share|improve this answer





























                  1



















                  You could try booting into an Ubuntu live CD and mounting your existing Ubuntu partition from there, but if it crashed badly enough I don't know if this would work.






                  share|improve this answer



























                    1















                    1











                    1









                    You could try booting into an Ubuntu live CD and mounting your existing Ubuntu partition from there, but if it crashed badly enough I don't know if this would work.






                    share|improve this answer














                    You could try booting into an Ubuntu live CD and mounting your existing Ubuntu partition from there, but if it crashed badly enough I don't know if this would work.







                    share|improve this answer













                    share|improve this answer




                    share|improve this answer










                    answered Apr 24 '12 at 15:38









                    ShawnShawn

                    1,2984 gold badges17 silver badges30 bronze badges




                    1,2984 gold badges17 silver badges30 bronze badges
























                        0



















                        You need to install Samba into Ubuntu and set up a shere folder in the Ubuntu partition. You can then map to that network resource from windows.






                        share|improve this answer

























                        • The drive would have to be in a separate machine (or controlled by a separate VM) running Ubuntu (or some other OS that can access the partitions). If you install Ubuntu on a hard drive and set up a Samba server, then attach the hard drive to a computer running Windows, no Ubuntu OS will be running, no Samba server will be running, and no files will be accessible. When Windows accesses a Samba share, it's not reading from an ext2/3/4 or btrfs partition--the OS running on the server is accessing it to expose the share, and Windows is accessing the share.

                          – Eliah Kagan
                          Jul 17 '12 at 3:35











                        • You are correct if the drive with the partition is installed in the windows machine. But the question was if the partition could be mounted. And by mapping to separate machine it can be.

                          – sbtech
                          Jul 17 '12 at 23:25






                        • 2





                          I don't think it's accurate to say that Windows is mounting the partition in that case. The Ubuntu system is mounting the partition and sharing its contents and the Windows system is accessing the share. Windows is not doing anything with the partition at all. Windows does not even know the partition exists--for all the Windows system knows, the partition's root may not be a mount point at all.

                          – Eliah Kagan
                          Jul 18 '12 at 0:09
















                        0



















                        You need to install Samba into Ubuntu and set up a shere folder in the Ubuntu partition. You can then map to that network resource from windows.






                        share|improve this answer

























                        • The drive would have to be in a separate machine (or controlled by a separate VM) running Ubuntu (or some other OS that can access the partitions). If you install Ubuntu on a hard drive and set up a Samba server, then attach the hard drive to a computer running Windows, no Ubuntu OS will be running, no Samba server will be running, and no files will be accessible. When Windows accesses a Samba share, it's not reading from an ext2/3/4 or btrfs partition--the OS running on the server is accessing it to expose the share, and Windows is accessing the share.

                          – Eliah Kagan
                          Jul 17 '12 at 3:35











                        • You are correct if the drive with the partition is installed in the windows machine. But the question was if the partition could be mounted. And by mapping to separate machine it can be.

                          – sbtech
                          Jul 17 '12 at 23:25






                        • 2





                          I don't think it's accurate to say that Windows is mounting the partition in that case. The Ubuntu system is mounting the partition and sharing its contents and the Windows system is accessing the share. Windows is not doing anything with the partition at all. Windows does not even know the partition exists--for all the Windows system knows, the partition's root may not be a mount point at all.

                          – Eliah Kagan
                          Jul 18 '12 at 0:09














                        0















                        0











                        0









                        You need to install Samba into Ubuntu and set up a shere folder in the Ubuntu partition. You can then map to that network resource from windows.






                        share|improve this answer














                        You need to install Samba into Ubuntu and set up a shere folder in the Ubuntu partition. You can then map to that network resource from windows.







                        share|improve this answer













                        share|improve this answer




                        share|improve this answer










                        answered Feb 27 '12 at 0:53









                        sbtechsbtech

                        214 bronze badges




                        214 bronze badges















                        • The drive would have to be in a separate machine (or controlled by a separate VM) running Ubuntu (or some other OS that can access the partitions). If you install Ubuntu on a hard drive and set up a Samba server, then attach the hard drive to a computer running Windows, no Ubuntu OS will be running, no Samba server will be running, and no files will be accessible. When Windows accesses a Samba share, it's not reading from an ext2/3/4 or btrfs partition--the OS running on the server is accessing it to expose the share, and Windows is accessing the share.

                          – Eliah Kagan
                          Jul 17 '12 at 3:35











                        • You are correct if the drive with the partition is installed in the windows machine. But the question was if the partition could be mounted. And by mapping to separate machine it can be.

                          – sbtech
                          Jul 17 '12 at 23:25






                        • 2





                          I don't think it's accurate to say that Windows is mounting the partition in that case. The Ubuntu system is mounting the partition and sharing its contents and the Windows system is accessing the share. Windows is not doing anything with the partition at all. Windows does not even know the partition exists--for all the Windows system knows, the partition's root may not be a mount point at all.

                          – Eliah Kagan
                          Jul 18 '12 at 0:09


















                        • The drive would have to be in a separate machine (or controlled by a separate VM) running Ubuntu (or some other OS that can access the partitions). If you install Ubuntu on a hard drive and set up a Samba server, then attach the hard drive to a computer running Windows, no Ubuntu OS will be running, no Samba server will be running, and no files will be accessible. When Windows accesses a Samba share, it's not reading from an ext2/3/4 or btrfs partition--the OS running on the server is accessing it to expose the share, and Windows is accessing the share.

                          – Eliah Kagan
                          Jul 17 '12 at 3:35











                        • You are correct if the drive with the partition is installed in the windows machine. But the question was if the partition could be mounted. And by mapping to separate machine it can be.

                          – sbtech
                          Jul 17 '12 at 23:25






                        • 2





                          I don't think it's accurate to say that Windows is mounting the partition in that case. The Ubuntu system is mounting the partition and sharing its contents and the Windows system is accessing the share. Windows is not doing anything with the partition at all. Windows does not even know the partition exists--for all the Windows system knows, the partition's root may not be a mount point at all.

                          – Eliah Kagan
                          Jul 18 '12 at 0:09

















                        The drive would have to be in a separate machine (or controlled by a separate VM) running Ubuntu (or some other OS that can access the partitions). If you install Ubuntu on a hard drive and set up a Samba server, then attach the hard drive to a computer running Windows, no Ubuntu OS will be running, no Samba server will be running, and no files will be accessible. When Windows accesses a Samba share, it's not reading from an ext2/3/4 or btrfs partition--the OS running on the server is accessing it to expose the share, and Windows is accessing the share.

                        – Eliah Kagan
                        Jul 17 '12 at 3:35





                        The drive would have to be in a separate machine (or controlled by a separate VM) running Ubuntu (or some other OS that can access the partitions). If you install Ubuntu on a hard drive and set up a Samba server, then attach the hard drive to a computer running Windows, no Ubuntu OS will be running, no Samba server will be running, and no files will be accessible. When Windows accesses a Samba share, it's not reading from an ext2/3/4 or btrfs partition--the OS running on the server is accessing it to expose the share, and Windows is accessing the share.

                        – Eliah Kagan
                        Jul 17 '12 at 3:35













                        You are correct if the drive with the partition is installed in the windows machine. But the question was if the partition could be mounted. And by mapping to separate machine it can be.

                        – sbtech
                        Jul 17 '12 at 23:25





                        You are correct if the drive with the partition is installed in the windows machine. But the question was if the partition could be mounted. And by mapping to separate machine it can be.

                        – sbtech
                        Jul 17 '12 at 23:25




                        2




                        2





                        I don't think it's accurate to say that Windows is mounting the partition in that case. The Ubuntu system is mounting the partition and sharing its contents and the Windows system is accessing the share. Windows is not doing anything with the partition at all. Windows does not even know the partition exists--for all the Windows system knows, the partition's root may not be a mount point at all.

                        – Eliah Kagan
                        Jul 18 '12 at 0:09






                        I don't think it's accurate to say that Windows is mounting the partition in that case. The Ubuntu system is mounting the partition and sharing its contents and the Windows system is accessing the share. Windows is not doing anything with the partition at all. Windows does not even know the partition exists--for all the Windows system knows, the partition's root may not be a mount point at all.

                        – Eliah Kagan
                        Jul 18 '12 at 0:09












                        0



















                        Via a network or locally? If it is from other computers on the network, then you will probably want to configure Samba on your Ubuntu computer.



                        https://help.ubuntu.com/11.10/serverguide/C/samba-fileserver.html



                        If you are dual booting the computer and want to access Ubuntu from Windows, you could try ext2read. I haven't tested it, but it apparently supports most standard Linux file systems.



                        The other option is to boot off a live CD / USB stick. Then you will be able to copy the files off to another location. Maybe another USB device or network location.






                        share|improve this answer































                          0



















                          Via a network or locally? If it is from other computers on the network, then you will probably want to configure Samba on your Ubuntu computer.



                          https://help.ubuntu.com/11.10/serverguide/C/samba-fileserver.html



                          If you are dual booting the computer and want to access Ubuntu from Windows, you could try ext2read. I haven't tested it, but it apparently supports most standard Linux file systems.



                          The other option is to boot off a live CD / USB stick. Then you will be able to copy the files off to another location. Maybe another USB device or network location.






                          share|improve this answer





























                            0















                            0











                            0









                            Via a network or locally? If it is from other computers on the network, then you will probably want to configure Samba on your Ubuntu computer.



                            https://help.ubuntu.com/11.10/serverguide/C/samba-fileserver.html



                            If you are dual booting the computer and want to access Ubuntu from Windows, you could try ext2read. I haven't tested it, but it apparently supports most standard Linux file systems.



                            The other option is to boot off a live CD / USB stick. Then you will be able to copy the files off to another location. Maybe another USB device or network location.






                            share|improve this answer
















                            Via a network or locally? If it is from other computers on the network, then you will probably want to configure Samba on your Ubuntu computer.



                            https://help.ubuntu.com/11.10/serverguide/C/samba-fileserver.html



                            If you are dual booting the computer and want to access Ubuntu from Windows, you could try ext2read. I haven't tested it, but it apparently supports most standard Linux file systems.



                            The other option is to boot off a live CD / USB stick. Then you will be able to copy the files off to another location. Maybe another USB device or network location.







                            share|improve this answer















                            share|improve this answer




                            share|improve this answer








                            edited Jul 17 '12 at 3:36









                            Eliah Kagan

                            96.8k25 gold badges262 silver badges419 bronze badges




                            96.8k25 gold badges262 silver badges419 bronze badges










                            answered Apr 24 '12 at 15:27









                            Chris WoollardChris Woollard

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                            6791 gold badge5 silver badges12 bronze badges
















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