Tom's Hardware > Forum > Linux/Free BSD > Linux/Free BSD General Discussion > ntfs vs. ext3 for a shared windows/linux partition

ntfs vs. ext3 for a shared windows/linux partition

Forum Linux/Free BSD : Linux/Free BSD General Discussion - ntfs vs. ext3 for a shared windows/linux partition

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joysofpi   09-15-2008 at 11:48:52 PM

My desktop has three hard drives. One holds my windows partitions, one holds linux, and the third I am going to use for data and documents. I want to be able to access this third drive from both my windows and linux installations, but can't decide if I should use NTFS and the ntfs-3g drivers for linux, or ext3 and the ext2-ifs drivers for windows. Any thoughts on how these two options compare?

Thanks,
joysofpi

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bmouring   09-17-2008 at 05:33:33 AM
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Firstly, excellent idea on the use of a "bridge" partition! When I dualbooted I did much the same thing, and it ensures one system doesn't foul up the other.

I haven't used either (I used a fat32 that both could read/write, FUSE/ntfs-3g didn't exist) but I have heard of good results from either solution, so in my no-actual-experience-but-hearsay-opinion, either option is a good option.

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masterclam   09-18-2008 at 11:59:08 AM
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from what i have been told, the journaling for the ext3 is safer than ntfs, so i would go with that myself, but i really have little experience other than dualbooting; i use the ext2 ifs drivers with windows and they work great, but that doesnt answer the question very well

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MU_Engineer   09-19-2008 at 01:57:04 AM
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joysofpi wrote :

My desktop has three hard drives. One holds my windows partitions, one holds linux, and the third I am going to use for data and documents. I want to be able to access this third drive from both my windows and linux installations, but can't decide if I should use NTFS and the ntfs-3g drivers for linux, or ext3 and the ext2-ifs drivers for windows. Any thoughts on how these two options compare?

Thanks,
joysofpi



They are roughly the same, although Linux + FUSE (NFTS-3g) can handle NTFS better than Windows plus the ext2-IFS driver can handle ext2/ext3 in my opinion. You can't fsck ext2/3 from Windows, although Linux can let you run ntfsfix, which will do the same. I had a situation like yours and Windows killed ext2/ext3 partitions after a while (BSODing Windows left truncates and such that corrupted ext2/ext3 after a while) while Linux didn't do the same to NTFS.

One note: remember Linux supports characters in file names that Windows does not and that Windows is not case-sensitive. You don't have to worry about upsetting Linux with how you name things in Windows, only the other way around. Otherwise you can cause quite some trouble.

------------------------------ Upcoming Overdue Build: Dual-socket workstation, ~32 GB DDR3, OS on a fast SSD, high-end GPU, all wrapped up in a huge tower case. Coming H2 2011.

Yes, I am actually still running the Pentium III 1.0B Coppermine in the picture.
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