There will come a time my friends that one day you need to access a linux partition in windows. With the convenience of USB to ATA/SATA portable removable drives. You might be trying to recover or copy out some files stored in an Ext2 or 3 partition. The all time favorite free utility for this is Ext2IFS which can both read and write to the linux partitions unlike its other competitors.... But Woe.... currently it is only compatible with Windows XP and 2003. The problem even if you run in compatibility mode is that you can only run the application to assign the drive letters during the installation.... double clicking on the control panel icon gives you a rundll32 error. Ahhh.... but I've got a workaround... readon...

Ok firstly for those of you new ti Ext2ifs... here is a quick brief from the ext2ifs website.

It installs a pure kernel mode file system driver Ext2fs.sys, which actually extends the Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 operating system to include the Ext2 file system. Since it is executed on the same software layer at the Windows NT operating system core like all of the native file system drivers of Windows (for instance NTFS, FASTFAT, or CDFS for Joliet/ISO CD-ROMs), all applications can access directly to Ext2 volumes. Ext2 volumes get drive letters (for instance G:). Files, and directories of an Ext2 volume appear in file dialogs of all applications. There is no need to copy files from or to Ext2 volumes in order to work with them. Linux Ext3 volumes can also be accessed.

Features

Detailed list of features of the file system driver Extfs.sys:

• Supports Windows NT4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows 2003 (x86 processors only).
• All operations you would expect: Reading and writing files, listing directories, creating, renaming, moving and deleting files or directories, querying and modifying the volume's label.
• Files larger than 4 GBytes. (Please read the FAQ section, too.)
• Paging files are supported. (A paging file is a file "pagefile.sys", which Windows swaps virtual memory to.) Users may create paging files at NT's control panel at Ext2 volumes.
• Specific functions of the I/O subsystem of NT: Byte range locks, notification of changes of directories, oplocks (which are required by the NT LAN manager for sharing files via SMB).

The file system driver Ext2fs.sys caches file data and the file system's meta data such as directories and all the on-disk structures of the Ext2 file system. (It uses the file cache of the Windows NT operating system.) Therefore it is performant. The level of sophistication of the Ext2 file system driver's implementation is indeed comparable to Windows NT's native file system drivers.

For those of you who have not downloaded the application go HERE

Ok now to get it working in Vista. This might not be so elegant but it gets the job done.

 Yes the installation goes through perfectly after you change the application compatibility in the properties of the install executable.

But the thing is that in control panel the IFS Drives icon will result in a rundll32 error.

 So the bottom line is everytime you want to run the IFS Drives utility you gotta run the installer to access the configuration screen for assigning drive letters to the partitions.

 So.... Lets do something to create a shortcut so that you can access the drive letters utility.

 Firstly... since the icon in control panel runs rundll32 to get the job done. Lets create a compatible version of rundll32.exe

copy rundll32.exe to rundll322.exe

then click the properties for rundll322.exe and in the application compatibility pane choose windows xp.

Now for the short cut. Just paste this into a batch file.

rundll322.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL c:\windows\system32\ifsdrives.cpl

run the batch file and tada... you can access the ifsdrives utility...

 Just use this workaround until Ext2ifs is fully Vista compatible which should be soon. Don't forget to thank This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for his fantastic utility that certainly deserves 5 cool smilies

Comments (6)

	1. 03-10-2008 21:54
	I used this in XP and now in Vista x64. I have yet to have any problems installing it or using it.    This is a great little util. I use Ubuntu HH, Vista x64 Ultimate and XP Pro x64 daily. I can read or write any drive or file when I need to. Thanks to Stephan Schreiber.     Mike http://you wouldn\'t want to see it Guest Report

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

	2. 27-08-2008 01:51
	...But Ext2fs doesn't work with EXT3 pa You mention that Ext2fs is compatible with EXT3 but it doesn't seem to be true.    When I install this driver and attempt to access my EXT3, I see a message asking me to format the drive. That's not right!    The only tool I've found (thus far) that works is: explore2fs-1.08beta9    Unfortunately, it seems to crash on deep folder hierarchies.    I wonder if there is anything else out there that works in Vista. Guest Report

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

	3. 09-03-2008 14:01
	Cool! Works on Vista Downloaded it, installed it, told it to mount drives when plugged in (USB). It does so flawlessly. Very nice. Now if I could just get Unison to work.... Guest Report

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

	4. 06-09-2007 09:54
	Obsolete I just installed Ext2fs in Vista. I rebooted and it worked, no workaround needed, just the compatability change to XP.    I don't think Ext2fs has been updated though, but it still works for me. Guest Report

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

	5. 24-08-2007 01:45
	Hi Tony Hi Tony,    After you copy rundll32.exe to rundll322.exe    You need to right click on rundll322.exe and go to properties.    Under application compatibility you have to put a tick in the compatibility mode and choose Windows XP (Service Pack2)    After that when you create the batch file make sure you call rundll322.exe not rundll32.exe.    Hope this helps Guest Report

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

	6. 23-08-2007 19:44
	Doesn't work I still receive the rundll32 has stopped error. Guest Report

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Write Comment

Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.
Name:
E-mail
Homepage
Title:
BBCode:
Comment:
Code:*
	I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6

---