Most home and business computers run Microsoft Windows for their operating systems but there are still many people out there who prefer to use Linux over Windows. You will also find people who like to dual boot Windows and Linux so they can run both operating systems on the same computer, but not at the same time of course!
Watch Video: How to Mount and Access Linux Hard Drives in Windows.
When it comes to file systems, Windows uses the NFTS file system, and this has been the default for many years and many versions of Windows. Linux on the other hand will use the Ext file system for the most part even though there are other options available. If you are both a Windows and Linux user, you may have the need to access the files on your Linux drive while running Windows. Or you may have a hard drive that was removed from a different computer running Linux that you need to get some files from. In this article, we will be showing you how to mount and access Linux hard drives in Windows.
The tool we will be user to access Linux hard drives in Windows is called Linux File Systems for Windows by Paragon Software. They have a home and business version but whichever one you choose will cost you some money. They do have a fully functional free trail so if you only need to use it once or a few times, you might be ok doing it this way before it expires. Once you download and install it, simply run the program and there is a good chance it will find and mount your Linux drive automatically.
If it does not mount your drive but finds it, you can click on the Mount button within the application. If it does not find your drive, you can try to select the Restart the service option by clicking on the ellipsis to the left of Mount.
You can then choose a drive letter for your Linux drive and also specify if you want to have that drive be accessed as read only or read and write.
Once the drive has been mounted, you will see its status under the drive letter assigned to it. It will also show you what file system the drive uses and whether or not it’s writeable. Below that, you will see the total size of the drive and the amount of used and free space.
Now when you open File Explorer, you will be able to see this drive along with your other Windows drives.
You can then access the files and folders and do things such as copy, move or delete them as well as add new files and folders if the drive is write enabled.
The Linux File Systems for Windows app doesn’t have too much when it comes to options with the main option being to mount Linux hard drives automatically when they are connected.
As you can see, Linux File Systems for Windows makes it easy to mount and access Linux hard drives in Windows.
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