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    Using USB external drive (has data)

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by puter1, Mar 29, 2009.

  1. puter1

    puter1 Notebook Deity

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    I have a 1 TB HDD in an enclosure connected via USB with data on it although it's in the ext3 file format (Linux). I thought I could view it in Windows. 'Thought I did before but now I'm not too sure. They are just video files so I thought Windows could detect and display/run the files.

    But, the latest time I tried to access the drive, it is giving the common result:

    USB Mass Storage Device and it displays the ID of the drive but maps it to location 0! So, there is no Drive letter being assigned. I have googled and most of the solutions or alleged solutions suggest to format the Drive but obviously I don't want to do this.

    Does anyone who uses Windows (and maybe Linux, too?) know of any way to get Windows to access the Drive and assign it a drive letter? That is, without starting from scratch and formatting?

    I was curious if there is a way. I thought for sure, I was able to 'see' (i.e. access) the files in Windows previously. Maybe I was hallucinating???? :confused: :rolleyes:
     
    puter1, Mar 29, 2009
    #1
  2. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I think its an unsupported format and "that's it".

    What I would suggest - but I fear you wont have the "equipment" is moving the files under Linux to a driver formatted in NTFS or FA32 - newev Linux can see NTFS ...
     
    DetlevCM, Mar 29, 2009
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  3. Nebelwand

    Nebelwand Notebook Consultant

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    Windows doesn't support ext3, you were probably running a third party IFS driver for ext2/3 (see the Wikipedia article for links...).
     
    Nebelwand, Mar 29, 2009
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  4. CyberVisions

    CyberVisions Martian Notebook Overlord

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    Nothing is ever "it", unless you just don't know where to go or what to do. Even if the drive has been formatted you can always recover data.

    If you're just looking for a program to view Linux .ext3 file in Windows, this should fix you up:

    Disk Internals Linux Reader

    If you're looking for recovery methods, there are a number
    There are couple of ways to access the drive if they're not accessible anymore.

    Try Smart Recovery. It's a program for recovering files on thumb drives and other small cards, flash drives, etc.

    I have a lot of other tools I can tell you about if you need to. PM me if you need more. If all else fails you can click the DriveSavers link in my signature.
     
    CyberVisions, Mar 29, 2009
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  5. Shyster1

    Shyster1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    As the others have said, you'll have to install a driver for the ext2/ext3 file system in order for .Windows to be able to understand that file system. Without those drivers, .Windows will just "see" the drive as an unreadable mess.

    Once you install the drivers, if you still don't get a drive letter, you should be able to simply assign one to the drive from the administrative tools/disk manager control panel applet.
     
    Shyster1, Mar 29, 2009
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