Member Avatar for benqus

Hy people! =)

I'm really interrested about Ubuntu Studio 10.04, and I really want to install it on my notebook. But, my question is the following:

- I have Windows 7 Ultimate installed, and I was wondering if Ubuntu 10.04 can "see" the Windows's file-system? I have 3 partitions: 1 for Win 7, 1 empty unallocated (here goes the Linux), and 1 for data storage. I want both OS to see and use my data storage partition.
- These file-systems won't mess up things in my laptop, right?

Thanks for helping! =)

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Short answer: yes — you can have Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.04 share a single data partition. The least-friction choice is NTFS: Windows reads/writes it natively, and Ubuntu (via ntfs-3g) provides stable read/write access. Windows will not natively read Linux filesystems (ext2/3/4), so put anything both OSes must use on a shared NTFS partition. As pointed out, that is the usual approach; ’s plan to put Linux into the unallocated space is fine.

Preparation and install tips:

  • Backup everything before changing partitions. If Windows shows errors, run its disk-repair tool and avoid resizing a partition that is flagged as corrupted.
  • Use Windows Disk Management to confirm/shrink partitions if needed; that keeps Windows metadata consistent.
  • Boot the Ubuntu Live media and choose “Something else” to control which partition(s) are created. Typical layout: an ext4 root (/) (10–20+ GB), optional separate /home, and a swap partition. If you want hibernation, make swap at least as large as your RAM; otherwise 1–2 GB is usually enough. The Ubuntu installer will normally install GRUB and add Windows to the boot menu.

Auto-mount the shared NTFS partition in Ubuntu (example fstab line — replace YOUR-NTFS-UUID and /mnt/data):

UUID=YOUR-NTFS-UUID /mnt/data ntfs-3g defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=022 0 0

Find the UUID with sudo blkid, create the mount point, then test the mount before relying on it.

If partitions look “gone” (as asked): do not write to the disk. Boot a Live CD and try recovery tools such as TestDisk to restore a lost partition table, or PhotoRec to carve files to an external drive. Final caution: never mount a Windows NTFS volume read-write from Linux if Windows was hibernated or the filesystem is marked dirty — that risks corruption.

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Member Avatar for dhawalk

If ur data storage is of NTFS file system, then no worries, both Linux and Win can access it.
Linux can access ur Win 7 partition, but u cant access Linux partitions from Win.
And you wont mess up things unless u mess up the partionin while installin linux.

Good Luck.

Member Avatar for syfer

Hi I would like to know my computer had a virus and now the partitions is gone can Ubuntu 10.04 or Fedora 13 still access the files? Also can Ubuntu 10.04 or Fedora 13 can they see my xp or windows 7 so that I can back fles up for xp or windows 7 using Ubuntu 10.04 or Fedora 13 can I do this? PS my system is NTFS.

Member Avatar for benqus

I'm new to linux, but as far as I've considered, linux has much more capabilities than windows... The only thing why I didn't switched to linux is that Adobe CS4 doesn'T run neither under crossover, nor wine...
But if your file system is NTFS, linux can see it, even windows-networks. I guess you can back your files up calmly. =)
But that must have been a pretty nice virus, if your partitions are gone! =) Check it under linux also, it may be that it's only a windows virus... =) So then you can only type in the command (Start -> run...-> type in: cmd) and "chkdsk /p /r". =)

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