Another thread about computer problems.

[Kirby of Doom]

I can't log into XP, I can only log into Red Hat. I'm not sure what's wrong, and I hope it isn't serious, but in case it is I was wondering how I could access my D drive from Linux so I can save the files onto CD. RH isn't reading that drive right now. Is there anyway to change it?

[Melonhead]

What filesystem is XP using?

[Kirby of Doom]

Not sure, I think it's NTFS or something that begins with N. The D drive, which I want to access, is actually a seperate partition. I think it's the same type as te C drive (with XP).

[Melonhead]

I'm not sure whether NTFS is supported in Linux or not. Their used to be a project to make it that way, but I think it fell apart a while ago. Check out some websites like Sourceforge, but I don't know what you can do.

[Thunderbird]

Recent Linux kernels support the NTFS filesystem. However, most put it in a read-only state because the write support isn't safe yet. If you know the device file to mount for your XP drive, add it to your /etc/fstab file (or mount it normally) with ntfs as the filesystem.

[Kirby of Doom]

Red Hat doesn't support ntfs. Is there a way to change fs type?

[vegeta1215]

So....can you get to the Windows Login screen?

Most newer Linux distributions can automatically detect other local hard drives and mount them. You shouldn't have any problem mounting you Windows hard drive. If it's NTFS you can only read it, but if its FAT 32 you can read and write.

[Kirby of Doom]

Well, Redhat doesn't like it, though there might be some special addon that gets it to work. What does is I get the screen which says Windows XP pro and the loading bar, then I get a blue screen of death flash and it resets. :shrug: That's Windows.

[Thunderbird]

If your current kernel doesn't support NTFS, you either need to load a module for it (module name is ntfs), or recompile your kernel with NTFS support.

[vegeta1215]

So it doesn't even load Windows :( That's a toughie. I don't think you're able to do anything to fix whatever is making Windows not start from the Linux side.

It's probably not a probably with Red Hat having trouble living on the same disc as Windows XP, it's probably the other way around. The only thing I can think of at this point is backing up your stuff and reinstalling.

[Kirby of Doom]

I know. The reason I want to access my D drive is to put all the stuff on CD. Problem is it's NTFS. I downloaded some stuff for mounting an NTFS filesystem, and it's almost workin, but I'm getting an error, so I emailed the guy who made it (it's called Captive NTFS btw) and I'll see what he says. Now knowing what I've learned today about filesystems I should have made my new D drive (which I remade after I deleted the old one to make room for Linux) vFAT instead of NTFS. Anyway, I hope I can get it to work. If not I may just have to go ahead with the reinstallation. Windows is on my C drive so even if I have to clear it the D drive should be fine. Thing is I want to be safe. Windows... :p

[Ich]

I know what your problem is. It's called Windows XP.

I'm not sure what they were thinking when they named it. The "XP" kind of looks like someone with their eyes shut tight and their tongue out, if your turn your monitor/head/frame of reference sideways. Like a little smilie that ate something which had a Mr. Yuck sticker on it. It seems to have just curled up and died. Which isn't bad for a smilie, just a bad idea to name your operating system in its honor.

[Kirby of Doom]

Well, I can say with all honesty that Linux has been looking a lot better these past few days. Now, if I can get the midi player I downloaded working then I'll be all set.

[Dark Nation]

FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! YOU CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR SYSTEM IF THIS FAILS, EVEN IF IT'S NOT DUE TO SOMETHING YOU DID OR DID NOT DO!!!

Get a blank floppy disk and go to another machine with Windows. Install Winzip if that machine doesn't have it already. Then, go to this page:

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

Read the instructions carefully. You will probably need to use the following 2 files (unzip both into the same folder, then run rawrite2.exe, giving it the name of the bin file, bd030426.bin, when asked for the image filename):

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bd030426.zip
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/rawrite2.zip

Boot your XP machine from this floppy diskette. Generally, accept defaults for everything and you should be able to clear out the password for your account so you can log in after you reboot without the disk.

[Kirby of Doom]

I guess I kind of didn't word it right. It's not that I can't log in because of something with my password, I meant it won't start up; it never gets to the startup. Anyway, I don't really want to do anything with Windows until I get Redhat to read my D drive. After that I don't care even if I have to clear my Windows C drive, because even if it affects D too, I'll have all my files backed up. Anyway, thanks for the help DN. :)