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Linux

File Management
Moving files from Linux to Windows with FAT32

Copying files from Linux to Windows 98 or 95B (FAT32)?

It's as easy as installing the program explore2fs. It uses a Windows Explorer interface and supports drag-and-drop. I have found it reliable and useful for migrating files from my RedHat 6.1 partition to my Win95B partition quickly and with a minimum of fuss.

It's available free--as all software should be--from this URL:
http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/explore2fs.htm

Enjoy!!

Another approach to multiple OSs and file transfers

If you have an extra hard drive you can use a removable drive bay setup to switch between operating systems instead of having to partition a drive for Windows (for example) and Linux to share. The major drawback is that you can't share files between the two drives (obviously) but there is a way to share files between the two indirectly, provided you have yet another extra drive.

Here is how I have one of my systems set up:

One "permanently" mounted (at least until I get antsy and change things around again) 1 GB hard drive with a single DOS partition.

One 2.5 GB drive in a removable case to go into the removable drive bay--RedHat Linux 6.0 installed.

One 2.1 GB drive in a removable case to go into the removable drive bay--Windows 98 installed.

On the bottom of each removable case I wrote the name of the OS the drive contains to avoid accidentally partitioning or formatting the wrong drive, and to keep from having to guess which is which when they are out of the machine.

In the BIOS I have the Primary Master set to autodetect so that the system can figure out which drive parameters to use depending on which drive is in the bay.

Once Linux is installed you can mount a file system that points to the 1 GB drive, since Linux can see and work with DOS partitions without a problem. And when the Windows drive is in instead of the Linux drive, it too can see and use the files on the 1 GB drive. In fact, I originally downloaded the distro files onto the 1 GB drive, swapped out the Windows drive for the Linux drive, and installed Linux from the 1 GB DOS drive.

Another way to See your Windows Partition In Linux

Wouldn't it be nice to see all your Windows files if you are running both Linux and Windows?

Well, I wanted to, as I had a number of MP3s and docs on the Windows side that I did not want to have to save on some disk format or burn just so I could have access to them. I came up with two ways:

You have to "mount" your DOS partition in order to read it.

1) Temporary way:

  • make a directory in / called dos
    • type mkdir /dos
  • now mount the Windows partition (/dev/hda1) and map it to /dos
    • type mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /dos
  • now go there and check it out
    • type cd /dos
  • you are now at what in Windows is your C: drive
  • unmount /dos will unmount the partition

2) Permanent way (will mount when the computer is started)

  • edit /etc/vfstab
    • type emacs vfstab
  • add the following at the bottom of this file with the same spacing as the rest (use tabs)
    • /dev/hda1 /dos vfat normal
  • type CTRL+x then CTRL+s (this is the command to save in emacs)
  • type CTRL+x then CTRL+x (this will exit emacs)
  • the next time you reboot the DOS partition will be mounted automatically.

There you have it! Have fun with all your files now : )

How to see your DOS/Windows files in Linux

Upgraded to Linux only to learn the hard way that your "WinModem" was given that name for a reason?

If you still have a DOS/Windows partition you can download to your heart's content, save the downloaded files on your DOS partition, and create a mount point for it.

  1. Log on as root (of course)
  2. open a terminal window (if you already started XWindows)
  3. type mkdir /dos (or any other name you want to give it)
  4. type mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /dos (if your DOS partition is anywhere other than hda1, substitute accordingly)
  5. type linuxconf, or open X and get there graphically.
  6. scroll down to the File Systems branch and open the listing of all mount points on your system
  7. click the Add button
  8. type in the name of your DOS partition (/dos if you have followed word for word)
  9. select msdos as the type
  10. enter a mount point (/mnt/dos)
  11. Click accept, close linuxconf, and open your disk manager or type mount/mnt/dos

You can now see everything in the DOS partition, and if you downloaded any RPMs or tar.gz files you can open/extract them normally now. You can also easily port Excel spreadsheets to GNUmeric or StarOffice.

I'm still playing with this and learning what else I can retrieve from DOS to LINUX

 

 

If you want to add your's Tips  mail me at [email protected]