Is there a way to edit files on a Linux ext partition in Windows?

Many times one wants to edit files on a Linux ext partition from Windows. Is there a way to view and edit files in Linux partitions in Windows 7 or 8?

NULL

Posted 2015-05-22T15:17:58.167

Reputation: 121

Easier to boot into a live cd, which does support these file systems. If you are only asking if there is software, thats adds this capability to Windows, then the answer would be yes there is. – Ramhound – 2015-05-22T15:31:02.707

Could you give me the name of something that would work? I couldn't find anything that worked on Windows 7 or above. – NULL – 2015-05-22T15:39:52.363

I cannot provide a software recomendation. It might be a good time to read the help center, to understand what type of questions are on topic, this question should have never been moved here. – Ramhound – 2015-05-22T15:45:34.487

All apologies -- I migrated this here and did not quite see it as a software recommendation. I'm sure you can find the various possibilities if you search online for "windows ext4" (ext4 being the filesystem type in question). – goldilocks – 2015-05-22T15:52:32.330

1@EinsteinJr.: Windows doesn't natively handle ext, so any solution on that computer will require software of some kind. Asking for software recommendations is off-topic here, so don't explicitly ask for it. As written, your question asks for a solution to a problem, which is fine. Often, there are solutions that can be accomplished with native capabilities (ex, attach the drive to the Linux computer and do it there), and solutions that require obtaining other software or hardware. The solutions people suggest in answers can contain software recommendations. That's how to keep it on-topic here. – fixer1234 – 2015-05-22T16:32:05.147

@goldilocks: No problem! – NULL – 2015-05-22T16:35:02.533

@Karan, this is not a duplicate. That talks about read-only access, this question is about edit access. – Julian Knight – 2015-05-25T19:56:16.487

@JulianKnight: Says "readable access" but doesn't mean writes are not required at all. In any case your own answer there is generic enough to cover both and thus can be used to answer questions about ext access from windows in general. I'd even go so far as to say that the word "readable" can be removed from that question so all newer questions can point to that one instead. – Karan – 2015-05-25T19:59:17.537

@Karan, I'd say that question is over 12 months old so an updated set of answers would be useful. In particular, the old answer does not include the other options listed such as VM's and remote access. – Julian Knight – 2015-05-25T20:02:34.660

@JulianKnight: Just because a question is old doesn't mean duplicates can be allowed. Nothing stops you or anyone else from adding fresh new answers to it. As for some answers being posted here and not being available there, that's how this site works. Before a question is marked as a dupe it may very well have gathered some solutions that are not present on the original question's page. That's no reason to prevent it being marked as a dupe though. One just has to remember to look at linked/related questions in the sidebar. – Karan – 2015-05-25T20:06:10.580

Answers

You can use the Ext2Fsd Project driver that will allow Windows to read and write files in ext2, 3, and 4 filesystems. Be careful, as the developer warns:

The driver may crash your system and ruin your data unexpectedly, since there might be software conflicts and I could only test it on some of the popular platforms. You should use it with care and use it at your own risk!

Once you install the driver, you should use an editor like Notepad++ that can edit Linux files without messing up the encoding.

redbeam_

Posted 2015-05-22T15:17:58.167

Reputation: 532

1Just to nail down what was asked in the question, can you expand your answer to specifically address whether Windows tools that edit various types of files would work once Windows can handle the filesystem? – fixer1234 – 2015-05-22T16:13:28.617

This is the answer, but with considerable slow read/write speed. – Francisco Tapia – 2015-05-22T16:48:20.407

Just be careful with Ext4, not all features of Ext4 are supported. – Julian Knight – 2015-05-22T19:47:40.830

There are several ways.

First you can install a filing system driver as @redbeam_ has indicated. This gives (more or less) native access to the files. Though extreme care should be taken due to the many differences between Windows and Unix-like filing and operating systems.

Alternatively, you could install a virtual machine application such as VirtualBox, install Linux into a VM and attach the partition to the guest OS.

However, since this question was originally asked in the Raspberry Pi forum, there might be another way for you which would be to leave the partition in an active Pi and simply access remotely using WinSCP. With this, you can directly edit files on the remote Pi from Windows - this is what I do when developing on the Pi.

Julian Knight

Posted 2015-05-22T15:17:58.167

Reputation: 13 389