Seeing Linux directories on Windows machine, and vice versa

[oldskool]

Is it possible? Do I need Wine or VMWare? Or to just set up a shared directory. Thanks for any help, it would be very helpful.

 

[KSoD]

Ext2fs+Reiser 1.3 - Total Commander
Access to Ext2/Ext3 from Windows XP
Three Ways To Access Linux Partitions (ext2/ext3) From Windows On Dual-Boot Systems | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

 

[eyeCpc]

The 3rd link there will have some use here for sure.

 

[carnageX]

And just to add-on to that, Linux natively supports access to NTFS.

 

[oldskool]

Nice ! Thank you everyone. I'll check out the links.

 

[oldskool]

Ok, I made a glaring mistake in my question, I left out what my intention is. I would like to be able to use the Windows XP laptop (downstairs) and my Linux (Ubuntu 8.10) desktop (upstairs) to be able to pass common (to both OSes) documents back and forth on occasion. Like a text file for example.

Can I still do this using the links that you guys gave, or does this change the answer a bit ? Sorry for leaving the extra info out. Thanks again.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

Ext2 IFS For Windows

This is a filesystem driver that allows Windows 2000/XP/Vista to read/write Ext2/3 partitions. This is so that you can access your local Linux partition while running Windows. It is NOT for accessing files on other computers.

For that, you'll need to configure Samba in Linux. Share folders in Windows as you normally would, but in Linux (Ubuntu) go to Places -> Network and you should be able to see your Windows PC's name. If you double click on it you should be able to access files on it. It is pretty easy to access Windows shares in Linux. The hard part is sharing folders from a Linux PC to access on another PC.

It is possible, but sometimes can be difficult to get working right. First, try right clicking on a folder you want to share. Click "Share..." and you should get a dialog allowing you to enable sharing. Try this, and then use the My Network Places (XP) or Network (Vista) options on your Windows PC to see if you can find your Linux PC and its shares. If you can, good, if not, you'll probably be editing some configuration files and a bunch of other hard stuff that I can't get right.

Samba sharing isn't perfect yet, I tried a week ago to share on a dorm LAN but couldn't get my PC to share its name, so no other PC could see it on the network (you could access files but you couldn't browse the network and find the PC). I spent a few hours on it and finally gave up and went back to Vista.

 

[oldskool]

CalcProgrammer, so I can do that - pass common files like text documents from Linux to Windows and vice versa? I know the links the other guys posted looked like it was for Ubuntu/Windows dual-boot configurations. I have a dedicated Ubuntu machine and a dedicated XP lappy.

I am just trying to be clearer than mud, which is how I feel in trying to ask these questions. Still learning about Linux. Thank you for patience w/me everyone.

 

[eyeCpc]

The format the file is in will make a difference just between two type of text editors for one OS alone. You can't use NotePad for files seeing the doc extension intended for Word Pad, MS Office, etc there.

Likewise if you create a document in Linux a program like OpenOffice will be needed in Windows to open it. Or you will first have to convert it from one file type to another.

As far as simply copying files from one system to another like you have there many will simply use rewritable type cds or dvds that can be read on both for direct file transfers. Usb flash drives also seem to serve that purpose well at times.

 

[oldskool]

Thank you eyeCPC ! Much clearer to me now.

Share folders in Windows as you normally would, but in Linux (Ubuntu) go to Places -> Network and you should be able to see your Windows PC's name. .

Lightbulb flashing on - I remembered seeing an icon within Ubuntu the other night, and under /networks, I saw a Windows machine icon. Is that my XP computer I wonder ? I think it is starting to make sense now. Thanks Calc.