Getting an XP drive to read a Linux Mint 20 drive

[LinnyMinny]

I can transfer files via USB thumb drive from one XP system to another Linux system, and vice versa, but when I install the Linux Mint 20 hard drive via USB on the XP machine, XP won't recognize any files and keeps asking me if I want to format it. No! Don't do that.

I installed Ext2 Installable File System 1.12 http://www.fs-driver.org/extendeddl.html onto the XP drive to get this far, without this file the XP would not even recognize the installed USB Linux drive.

How do I enable the XP and LM20 hard drives to communicate with one another?

[Kester]

Hi LinnyMinny,

Your problem is that Windows operating systems do not naturally recognise the ext formats used by Linux operating systems although Linux operating systems recognise formats such as NTFS used by Windows.

The easiest way around your problem, if you have the space on your Linux drive, is to create a NTFS formatted partition and save the data files you want to be accessible to XP to that partition.

Alternative strategies could include saving data files to another usb device formatted to suit Windows (e.g. Fat32, NTFS etc.) and using a file syncing / backup software in your Linux system to save and update data files on your XP system.

[freshminted]

I've had some success with ext2fsd in the past. Haven't used it for ages, but appears to still be in development. https://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsd/

[LinnyMinny]

Thanks Kester and Freshminted. I tried both those programs, but no luck. I think I'm not using them right. One of them browses in a separate window, the other brings up a formatting panel, which I did see, but the LM20 drive was not visible. Gonna try another, Disk Internals Linux Reader, and see what can be done with that.

[motoryzen]

How do I enable the XP and LM20 hard drives to communicate with one another?

Boot up an xp machine...format whatever storage drive ( you want to be able to read AND write stuff to and from the xp machine and Linux MInt 20) to exFat.

Now it's plug n play..no nonsense

If for whatever reason xp won't let you via gui OR command line format that storage drive to exFat.... aomei partition assistant ( and yes the free version will do it too) will let you easily format any storage drive to virtually, whatever format you want...this includes if you wanted to use any sata ssd as a faster Linux Mint installation drive that you would format to fat32 using aomei first, then use something like Windows selection of Unetbootin to prep/write the LM installation iso file to it and it's bootable and ready to rock.

[LinnyMinny]

You mean use an exFat drive as a go-between for XP and LM20? That's a simple enough idea. Could I create an exFat partition on a Linux EXT4 drive to do the same thing? Sounds like a good idea, thanks!