Usage of Ext3 partition by Windows

[pashabear]

Hi,
Unfortunately I still need to use Windows on my computer, so I dual boot with Daryna. I would like to have a single partition for my data, but am wondering about the best and safest way to do this.

• - The FAT32 file system is fully accessible by both OS's, but is a messy one.
  - There are NTFS drivers for Linux, but they have their risks.
  - I have the Ext2IFS driver set up in Windows (XP), so I can read my home partition, but I'm worried about the fact that my partition is an Ext3 (journaled) system, and Windows might muck that up.

Any ideas? Advice?
Thanks
pb

[yuri21]

Stick with Ntfs instead. Why? 'Cos from firsthand experience, I've got about 5 or more ext3 partitions which I access from time-to-time in Windows. None of them are more than 4 months old and guess what? They're failing and heck, Linux can't even read some of them anymore. I can only access them from Windows and hence, I'm gonna revert them to Ntfs instead.

Given that this is at least the 3rd or 4th time this has occurred, I'm guessing the causes are either Windows not liking ext3 partitions or the ext3 drivers, etc.

Anyways, the ntfs-3g driver is pretty stable, so just stick with ntfs.

[yuri21]

The thing that sucks with mounting a NTFS partition is that files you delete from the mounted partition don't reach the trash bin on your desktop. Instead it ends up in a .trash folder on the partition you tried deleting it from. You have to manually delete this folder to actually delete your files....

While that may be true, I'll take that over a corrupted partition any day. :p

[pashabear]

Can anyone tell me how to do a manual check of a Ext3 volume? Occasionally I'll get an automatic check when booting, but with the dangers of accessing from Windows I'd like to make sure things are ok.
Sorry for the newbie-ish question.
pb

[yuri21]

Can anyone tell me how to do a manual check of a Ext3 volume? Occasionally I'll get an automatic check when booting, but with the dangers of accessing from Windows I'd like to make sure things are ok.
Sorry for the newbie-ish question.
pb

Sorry, can't help you with that. I recall there was a program called "bonabono" or something for forcing or delaying a fsck upon reboot but I can't recall the name.

[nick]

Hi

I do not really think you need to check it that often, its not
a m$ file system

But there are some good hints and howtos here:

http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p10.htm

Also look at "man fsck" in terminal will tell you a
lot (use down arrow on keyboard to read all)

Nick

[yuri21]

Hi

I do not really think you need to check it that often, its not
a m$ file system

But there are some good hints and howtos here:

http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p10.htm

Also look at "man fsck" in terminal will tell you a
lot (use down arrow on keyboard to read all)

Nick

Well, then be warned that either Windows or the fs-driver ext3 driver can corrupt an ext3 partition. This means you'd probably need to schedule constant checks on an almost-daily basis in order to avoid superblock and other errors.

[pashabear]

Well, thanks for the info, I'll likely continue as I am now - using FAT32 partitions on my main & external HDDs for most storage, accessing my Ext3 /home partition from Windows only occasionally, and only to read files. Not ideal, but what to do... The alternatives don't look great either.
pb

[yuri21]

Well, thanks for the info, I'll likely continue as I am now - using FAT32 partitions on my main & external HDDs for most storage, accessing my Ext3 /home partition from Windows only occasionally, and only to read files. Not ideal, but what to do... The alternatives don't look great either.
pb

Yep, the best thing is to leave the ext3 partition alone: don't touch it, don't even mount it(assign a drive letter), unless absolutely necessary. On the contrary, an NTFS partition is wonderful even for usage in Linux: no corrupted files, etc.

And if I were you, perhaps create a folder in your fat32 partition and use it to store files that you'd need to access from Windows? That way, you won't need to touch your ext3 partition.