FixMbr?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ManyBeers
  • Start date Start date
Re: FixMbr?



"Stephen Harris" wrote:

> ManyBeers wrote:
> >
> > "Stephen Harris" wrote:
> >
> >> ManyBeers wrote:
> >>>> Since you are using Grub, and it should offer you the choice
> >>>> of booting Windows XP, when you select the Windows XP option,
> >>>> does it also offer you the choice of the Recovery Console bootup.
> >>>
> >>> Yes it does so via XP's boot.ini .
> >> Good. I guess it felt sort of heroic mounting and unmounting
> >> partitions, not at all your usual Windows fare.
> >
> > Oh yeah, lots of fun.I do know one thing-the only reason ntldr woul not boot
> > Linux
> > is because my BIOS does not support LBA(which I verified through Sony support)
> > GRUB does implement it.and can boot OS's located beyond 8.5 gb's. In fact the
> > Gparted partitioning tool clearly showed when Ubuntu was flagged to boot... my
> > storage drive which was located about 6.5 gb's in had an LBA flag on it. When
> > xp was flagged to boot that flag disappeared.
> >
> > I know I could make ntldr do the job but it's just not
> > worth the time
> > and effort now.I.m happy with the way it is right now.
> >
>
> I tested this (am replying from Ubuntu) and the boot.ini method works
> although I have a desktop and LBA enabled. My experience was that I
> got practice deleting and reinstalling my Linux distributions. :-)
Let me ask you a question. Have you put this software on your dual boot
setup?
http://www.fs-driver.org/index.html. It reads and writes to ext2/3 for
Windows.
My Ubuntu install is now L: drive in Windows and Swap is S: drive.I named
them.
 
Re: FixMbr?

ManyBeers wrote:
>
> Let me ask you a question. Have you put this software on your dual boot
> setup?
> http://www.fs-driver.org/index.html. It reads and writes to ext2/3 for
> Windows.
> My Ubuntu install is now L: drive in Windows and Swap is S: drive.I named
> them.

No, I didn't know anything about it. I see one warning,
"If you mount an Ext3 file system as an Ext2 file system and the file
system is not cleanly dismounted, (e.g. due to a system crash), you have
to run the e2fsck tool. (Linux does it automatically.) Running e2fsck
can take several hours on large volumes. You do not benefit from
journaling the Ext3 file system, because you have to run e2fsck."

I ran the automatic install for installing Ubuntu on the largest free
space. I think it made everything Ext3 except the swap file which is 82.

I deleted most of the Acronis Secure Zone which is fat32. So I had
a partition which Linux and Windows could share.
mkdir /mnt/share
mount -t msdos(or vfat) /dev/sda5(my fat32 F: drive) /mnt/share
Then you also have to umount it so one can make manual scripts for
both operations which is like a batch file or put it in fstab which
is automatic. So you can transfer files, but it takes reboots.
This Ext2IFS_1_11.exe may very well work better.
You can email me at "TeX" plus "tonyx", one word, at gmail dot com.
since the topic is drifting away from Windows XP, if you like.
 
Re: FixMbr?



"Stephen Harris" wrote:

> ManyBeers wrote:
> >
> > Let me ask you a question. Have you put this software on your dual boot
> > setup?
> > http://www.fs-driver.org/index.html. It reads and writes to ext2/3 for
> > Windows.
> > My Ubuntu install is now L: drive in Windows and Swap is S: drive.I named
> > them.
>
> No, I didn't know anything about it. I see one warning,
> "If you mount an Ext3 file system as an Ext2 file system and the file
> system is not cleanly dismounted, (e.g. due to a system crash), you have
> to run the e2fsck tool. (Linux does it automatically.) Running e2fsck
> can take several hours on large volumes. You do not benefit from
> journaling the Ext3 file system, because you have to run e2fsck."
>
> I ran the automatic install for installing Ubuntu on the largest free
> space. I think it made everything Ext3 except the swap file which is 82.
>
> I deleted most of the Acronis Secure Zone which is fat32. So I had
> a partition which Linux and Windows could share.
> mkdir /mnt/share
> mount -t msdos(or vfat) /dev/sda5(my fat32 F: drive) /mnt/share
> Then you also have to umount it so one can make manual scripts for
> both operations which is like a batch file or put it in fstab which
> is automatic. So you can transfer files, but it takes reboots.
> This Ext2IFS_1_11.exe may very well work better.
> You can email me at "TeX" plus "tonyx", one word, at gmail dot com.
> since the topic is drifting away from Windows XP, if you like.

The only reason I asked about the exts read/write software is because the
other day Windows
left some kind of 1kb file on the drive without me knowing about it. I don't
know if that would be a problem or not. Ubuntu doesn't show the file. I might
reinstall the program and set the Linux
drives as read only to avoid that situation from happening again. I don't
see any way of doing it
from within Windows.
 
Re: FixMbr?

ManyBeers wrote:
>
> "Stephen Harris" wrote:
>
>> ManyBeers wrote:
>>> Let me ask you a question. Have you put this software on your dual boot
>>> setup?
>>> http://www.fs-driver.org/index.html. It reads and writes to ext2/3 for
>>> Windows.
>>> My Ubuntu install is now L: drive in Windows and Swap is S: drive.

> The only reason I asked about the exts read/write software is because the
> other day Windows
> left some kind of 1kb file on the drive without me knowing about it. I don't
> know if that would be a problem or not. Ubuntu doesn't show the file. I might
> reinstall the program and set the Linux
> drives as read only to avoid that situation from happening again. I don't
> see any way of doing it
> from within Windows.

http://www.fs-driver.org/faq.html#not_sup_feat

"The current version of the Ext2 file system driver does not
maintain access rights. All users can access all the Ext2
volumes that a drive letter is created for. For example, if
a drive letter has been created for an Ext2 volume, which is
the root volume of a Linux installation, you can simply read
and modify files such as /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow. User
names are readable and passwords of these users can be quite
easily cracked and modified!"

SH: Perhaps your situation is also dangerous, I don't know,
are you the sole user? The program below is designed to do
what you are thinking of doing now, making Linux read only.

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

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

There are a number of evident merits of the program, which
you should know. First of all, DiskInternals Linux Reader is
absolutely free. Secondly, the program provides for read-only
access and *does not allow you to make records* in Ext2/Ext3
file system partitions. This guarantees that the interference
in an alternative file system
will not affect the work of Linux later.

Apart from this, it is necessary to note, that it gives you an
opportunity to use common Windows Explorer for extracting data.
A preview option for pictures is one more pleasant point, which
is worth mentioning."

SH: I will download this, experiment and let you know the results.
 
Re: FixMbr?

ManyBeers wrote:
>

> The only reason I asked about the exts read/write software is because the
> other day Windows
> left some kind of 1kb file on the drive without me knowing about it. I don't
> know if that would be a problem or not. Ubuntu doesn't show the file. I might
> reinstall the program and set the Linux
> drives as read only to avoid that situation from happening again. I don't
> see any way of doing it
> from within Windows.

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

Well, it seems to work well, I extracted a Ubuntu ebook
from my Linux home partition and imported it into Windows.
It didn't ask me for any money yet. I think the Fat32
partition will still be necessary as a transport point
to import files into Ubuntu so they can be "journaled".
 
Re: FixMbr?


> http://www.fs-driver.org/faq.html#not_sup_feat
>
> "The current version of the Ext2 file system driver does not
> maintain access rights. All users can access all the Ext2
> volumes that a drive letter is created for. For example, if
> a drive letter has been created for an Ext2 volume, which is
> the root volume of a Linux installation, you can simply read

> and modify files such as /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow. User
> names are readable and passwords of these users can be quite
> easily cracked and modified!"
>
> SH: Perhaps your situation is also dangerous, I don't know,
> are you the sole user? The program below is designed to do
> what you are thinking of doing now, making Linux read only.
>
> http://www.diskinternals.com/linux-reader/
>
> "How to get safe and quick access to alternative file systems?
> DiskInternals Linux Reader is a new easy way to do this. This
> program plays the role of a bridge between your Windows and
> Ext2/Ext3 Linux file systems. This easy-to-use tool runs under
> Windows and allows you to browse Ext2/Ext3 Linux file systems
> and extract files from there.
>
> There are a number of evident merits of the program, which
> you should know. First of all, DiskInternals Linux Reader is
> absolutely free. Secondly, the program provides for read-only
> access and *does not allow you to make records* in Ext2/Ext3
> file system partitions. This guarantees that the interference
> in an alternative file system
> will not affect the work of Linux later.
>
> Apart from this, it is necessary to note, that it gives you an
> opportunity to use common Windows Explorer for extracting data.
> A preview option for pictures is one more pleasant point, which
> is worth mentioning."
>
> SH: I will download this, experiment and let you know the results.

Ok:
That program I linked to is also free and I know if I reinstall it there is
an install option to make the disks read-only.
 
Re: FixMbr?



"Stephen Harris" wrote:

> ManyBeers wrote:
> >
> > "Stephen Harris" wrote:
> >
> >> ManyBeers wrote:
> >>> Let me ask you a question. Have you put this software on your dual boot
> >>> setup?
> >>> http://www.fs-driver.org/index.html. It reads and writes to ext2/3 for
> >>> Windows.
> >>> My Ubuntu install is now L: drive in Windows and Swap is S: drive.
>
> > The only reason I asked about the exts read/write software is because the
> > other day Windows
> > left some kind of 1kb file on the drive without me knowing about it. I don't
> > know if that would be a problem or not. Ubuntu doesn't show the file. I might
> > reinstall the program and set the Linux
> > drives as read only to avoid that situation from happening again. I don't
> > see any way of doing it
> > from within Windows.
>
> http://www.fs-driver.org/faq.html#not_sup_feat
>
> "The current version of the Ext2 file system driver does not
> maintain access rights. All users can access all the Ext2
> volumes that a drive letter is created for. For example, if
> a drive letter has been created for an Ext2 volume, which is
> the root volume of a Linux installation, you can simply read
> and modify files such as /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow. User
> names are readable and passwords of these users can be quite
> easily cracked and modified!"
>
> SH: Perhaps your situation is also dangerous, I don't know,
> are you the sole user? The program below is designed to do
> what you are thinking of doing now, making Linux read only.
>
> http://www.diskinternals.com/linux-reader/
>
> "How to get safe and quick access to alternative file systems?
> DiskInternals Linux Reader is a new easy way to do this. This
> program plays the role of a bridge between your Windows and
> Ext2/Ext3 Linux file systems. This easy-to-use tool runs under
> Windows and allows you to browse Ext2/Ext3 Linux file systems
> and extract files from there.
>
> There are a number of evident merits of the program, which
> you should know. First of all, DiskInternals Linux Reader is
> absolutely free. Secondly, the program provides for read-only
> access and *does not allow you to make records* in Ext2/Ext3
> file system partitions. This guarantees that the interference
> in an alternative file system
> will not affect the work of Linux later.
>
> Apart from this, it is necessary to note, that it gives you an
> opportunity to use common Windows Explorer for extracting data.
> A preview option for pictures is one more pleasant point, which
> is worth mentioning."
>
> SH: I will download this, experiment and let you know the results.

I actually checked that program out first but decided on the read/wtite
software.Maybe I will get this stuff instead after all.
 
Re: FixMbr?



"Stephen Harris" wrote:

> ManyBeers wrote:
> >
>
> > The only reason I asked about the exts read/write software is because the
> > other day Windows
> > left some kind of 1kb file on the drive without me knowing about it. I don't
> > know if that would be a problem or not. Ubuntu doesn't show the file. I might
> > reinstall the program and set the Linux
> > drives as read only to avoid that situation from happening again. I don't
> > see any way of doing it
> > from within Windows.
>
> http://www.diskinternals.com/linux-reader/
>
> Well, it seems to work well, I extracted a Ubuntu ebook
> from my Linux home partition and imported it into Windows.
> It didn't ask me for any money yet. I think the Fat32
> partition will still be necessary as a transport point
> to import files into Ubuntu so they can be "journaled".
Do you use system Restore.? Well I do and always have, but only on my C:drive
and.Well with ext2/3 I now notice that monitoring of my L;(Ubuntu) partition
is switched on. I try to disable it but I get a message that "Windows is
unable
to enable/disable Sysyem Restore on one or more drives. Reboot and try again")
So even though the drive is being monitored whwn I look at the Ubuntu
partition
ther is no System Volume Information folder. So I don't know what is going
on there.
 
Re: FixMbr?

ManyBeers wrote:
>
> "Stephen Harris" wrote:
>

>>
>> SH: I will download this, experiment and let you know the results.
>
> I actually checked that program out first but decided on the read/wtite
> software.Maybe I will get this stuff instead after all.

Here is a thread from the Ubuntu forum on dual booting and fs-driver.

http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-340145.html
Subject: Testing the FS-Driver to read/write ext3 from WinXP
--------------------------

The stable ntfs-3g driver now allows linux systems to read and
write NTFS formatted partitions. Since using it varies between
Ubuntu releases, there is a separate page explaining how to use
ntfs-3g in your release version.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MountingWindowsPartitions/ThirdPartyNTFS3G

The ntfs-3g packages comes pre-installed with the newest versions of
Ubuntu, but you still need to install ntfs-config if you want the GUI
configuration tool. Type: sudo apt-get install ntfs-config <enter>
-------------------------------

Configuration the Automatic Way.Launch NTFS Configuration Tool
from Applications->System Tools, or via the terminal:

gksudo ntfs-config
-------------------------------

SH: It used to be very unreliable to write to Windows NTFS
from Linux. I don't see the point of writing to Ubuntu from
Windows with fs-driver because you can't use them in Ubuntu
until you boot to Ubuntu anyway. And if you are in Ubuntu
you can just import whatever files from Windows you want
(kept in say C:\Transfers) then. I think this works for
data files like, documents and images and I don't think
you can mix Windows and Linux executables (.exe) anyway.

You can mount a Windows partition automatically in fstab.
Ubuntu's filesystem table is located at '/etc/fstab'.
Now, be sure to save a backup of fstab first, then open
the file for editing [manual method]:

save: sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.orig

edit: gksudo gedit /etc/fstab

After entering your password, find the line that matches the
device location you just found and change it to the following.
If there is no entry yet, add a new line like the following:

<your part.> /media/<mount point> ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.utf8 0 0

The command to see all the registered partitions is:
First you need to find the device location of the NTFS partition(s) you
want to mount. In terminal, run:

sudo fdisk -l | grep NTFS | awk '{print $1}'
-------------------------------------------------

SH: Like I said, I just found out about reading NTFS by Linux
now being reliable. So if one is going to just use fs-driver
for reading and extracting files from Linux with Windows, I
guess it would just depend on whether Linux-Reader offers a
better graphical interface. Linux-Reader is a pretty good GUI.

Regards,
Stephen
 
Re: FixMbr?

ManyBeers wrote:
>

> Do you use system Restore.? Well I do and always have, but only on my C:drive
> and.Well with ext2/3 I now notice that monitoring of my L;(Ubuntu) partition
> is switched on. I try to disable it but I get a message that "Windows is
> unable
> to enable/disable Sysyem Restore on one or more drives. Reboot and try again")
> So even though the drive is being monitored whwn I look at the Ubuntu
> partition
> ther is no System Volume Information folder. So I don't know what is going
> on there.
>

I have system restore turned on and the Ubuntu partition does not
show up. Windows probably shows this drive because you assigned a
drive letter to it and I didn't. Why not write down a map of the drive
letters and their corresponding Linux equivalents? An example is my
C: drive is hda1. Linux: sudo fdisk -l | grep NTFS | awk '{print $1}'
where that -l is a lower case L. I think it is likely that if you
remove the drive letter assignments and reboot it will disappear. I
don't know whether that system restore info is genuine and takes space.

I'm going to boot into Ubuntu and play around.I forgot to mention that
sudo mount -a will start the fstab edits mounting of Windows partitions.

I'm a competent Linux user, but not a really good one, and *not* expert.

So let they buyer beware,
Stephen
 
Re: FixMbr?



"Stephen Harris" wrote:

> ManyBeers wrote:
> >
>
> > Do you use system Restore.? Well I do and always have, but only on my C:drive
> > and.Well with ext2/3 I now notice that monitoring of my L;(Ubuntu) partition
> > is switched on. I try to disable it but I get a message that "Windows is
> > unable
> > to enable/disable Sysyem Restore on one or more drives. Reboot and try again")
> > So even though the drive is being monitored whwn I look at the Ubuntu
> > partition
> > ther is no System Volume Information folder. So I don't know what is going
> > on there.
> >
>
> I have system restore turned on and the Ubuntu partition does not
> show up. Windows probably shows this drive because you assigned a
> drive letter to it and I didn't. Why not write down a map of the drive
> letters and their corresponding Linux equivalents? An example is my
> C: drive is hda1. Linux: sudo fdisk -l | grep NTFS | awk '{print $1}'
> where that -l is a lower case L. I think it is likely that if you
> remove the drive letter assignments and reboot it will disappear. I
> don't know whether that system restore info is genuine and takes space.
>
> I'm going to boot into Ubuntu and play around.I forgot to mention that
> sudo mount -a will start the fstab edits mounting of Windows partitions.
>
> I'm a competent Linux user, but not a really good one, and *not* expert.
>
> So let they buyer beware,
> Stephen

I have removed the ext2 IFS for Windows software and will install the
Diskternals software. I have know reason to be writing to Ubuntu from
Windows or vice versa. I think that's better way to go.
 
Re: FixMbr?

ManyBeers wrote:
>
> "Stephen Harris" wrote:
>

>> I'm going to boot into Ubuntu and play around.I forgot to mention that
>> sudo mount -a will start the fstab edits mounting of Windows partitions.
>>
>> I'm a competent Linux user, but not a really good one, and *not* expert.
>>
>> So let they buyer beware,
>> Stephen
>
> I have removed the ext2 IFS for Windows software and will install the
> Diskternals software. I have know reason to be writing to Ubuntu from
> Windows or vice versa. I think that's better way to go.

Well, the ntfs-3g install went smoothly. I can extract files from
Ubuntu to Windows or extract files from Ubuntu to Windows. Since
it doesn't come up all that often, the old way of using Fat32 as
an intermediary step in transferring files should work well enough.
I think you mentioned you had a fat32 partition. You may need sudo,
mount -t vfat /dev/hdxx /mnt/share and remember to umount /mnt/share
share would be a name for a Linux directory made by mkdir /mnt/share

Good luck,
Stephen
 
Re: FixMbr?



"Stephen Harris" wrote:

> ManyBeers wrote:
> >
> > "Stephen Harris" wrote:
> >
>
> >> I'm going to boot into Ubuntu and play around.I forgot to mention that
> >> sudo mount -a will start the fstab edits mounting of Windows partitions.
> >>
> >> I'm a competent Linux user, but not a really good one, and *not* expert.
> >>
> >> So let they buyer beware,
> >> Stephen
> >
> > I have removed the ext2 IFS for Windows software and will install the
> > Diskternals software. I have know reason to be writing to Ubuntu from
> > Windows or vice versa. I think that's better way to go.
>
> Well, the ntfs-3g install went smoothly. I can extract files from
> Ubuntu to Windows or extract files from Ubuntu to Windows. Since
> it doesn't come up all that often, the old way of using Fat32 as
> an intermediary step in transferring files should work well enough.
> I think you mentioned you had a fat32 partition. You may need sudo,
> mount -t vfat /dev/hdxx /mnt/share and remember to umount /mnt/share
> share would be a name for a Linux directory made by mkdir /mnt/share
>
> Good luck,
> Stephen
Yes I have a fat32 partition which is for sharing between the 2 systems.
That is all I need.
 
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