How to format Ext2 in Windows XP?

I want to format my USB stick to ext2. I have following tools installed. But don't know how to use them for my case:

Cygwin – I'm just a starter and not surely know how to use. (mkfs is also not included.)
Ext2Fsd – Don't know how to format Ext2. I found Change Partition Type and there are many types which I don't know.

Can anyone please guide me with steps on any of above tools (or) are there any other solutions?

4lvin

Posted 2011-07-25T21:53:45.307

Reputation: 155

Partition manager can do it, and it has a trial... – soandos – 2011-07-25T22:00:15.490

What version do you mean? Are you please sure for "USB" drive? Because i have Partition "MAGIC" (not "Manager") 8.0 Version and it also supports Ext2/3 but don't support USB drives.. :( – 4lvin – 2011-07-25T22:09:01.990

Why would you want to format a USB drive as ext2? – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams – 2011-07-25T22:19:20.457

partition manager, version 9 could do it, now up to 11 – soandos – 2011-07-25T22:19:43.080

Do you please mean "Paragon" PM, right?? Coz i'm afraid i'll get wrong one as there are a lot Partition Managers out there. – 4lvin – 2011-07-25T22:24:53.747

Yes I do (padding). – soandos – 2011-07-25T22:38:54.630

@IgnacioVazquez-Abrams Possibly for use as a permanent drive in a router for its lack of journaling. – Louis – 2014-06-09T23:28:41.980

Answers

Install the e2fsprogs package from the installer and then you get the mke2fs (mke2fs.exe) command. Then, read this starting at the section "POSIX devices" to learn what device to tell it to format.

I've never done this. Be careful.

LawrenceC

Posted 2011-07-25T21:53:45.307

Reputation: 63 487

Now i have installed e2fsprogs. (But there is no e2fsprogs inside Cygwin call, by pressing "Tab" also. Is is normal?) Then how can i get mke2fs ? Please guide me on further steps. – 4lvin – 2011-07-25T23:24:00.787

1@4lvin: mke2fs is part of e2fsprogs. Like Word is part of MS Office. There is no program called e2fsprogs. – Aluísio A. S. G. – 2011-07-25T23:42:20.917

So you mean, now i should have called and seen mke2fs inside Cygwin, right? But there, "no" mke2fs is up inside my Cygwin. Why? (or) What should i do next? – 4lvin – 2011-07-26T00:10:48.970

Does /sbin/mke2fs works? – Aluísio A. S. G. – 2011-07-26T00:14:54.653

/sbin/??? From which location you mean? There is no folder inside my default location i'm reaching at the starting of Cygwin. – 4lvin – 2011-07-26T00:27:36.700

Ah.. there is no mke2fs under /usr/sbin/ – 4lvin – 2011-07-26T00:28:39.490

According to this - http://cygwin.com/packages/e2fsprogs/e2fsprogs-1.35-3 - it's /usr/sbin/mke2fs.exe.

– LawrenceC – 2011-07-26T03:09:16.410

1e2fsprogs puts mke2fs in /usr/sbin, which is not in the default path. – None – 2012-06-14T15:58:59.770

-1

sorry - formatting on answer is nasty

    echo -e "\nFormatting USB Key ${usbKey}"
    yy=`date +'%d%m%y'`
    echo "usbPath=${usbPath}"
    dosUSBPath_=`echo ${usbPath}|cut -d "/" -f3`; 
    dosUSBPath=`echo "${dosUSBPath_}:"`
    /cygdrive/c/Windows/System32/format.com ${dosUSBPath} /fs:fat32 /v:${yy} /q /x /y 
    echo -e "\nDrive contents now are :"; ls -lrt ${usbPath}

Will format the MicroSD card

/cygdrive/c/Windows/System32/format.com d: /fs:fat32 /v:210115 /q /x /y

The type of the file system is FAT32. QuickFormatting 7600M Initializing the File Allocation Table (FAT)... Format complete. 7.4 GB total disk space. 7.4 GB are available.

    4,096 bytes in each allocation unit.
1,941,503 allocation units available on disk.

       32 bits in each FAT entry.

Volume Serial Number is 2068-BD0A

Darren

Posted 2011-07-25T21:53:45.307

Reputation: 7

In the future you can just click the "edit" link below your post to fix the formatting after posting. – nhinkle – 2015-01-22T01:55:08.703

The OP wanted to format in ext2, not FAT32. – Kev – 2015-03-24T14:31:36.360