I am unable to view Linux partition in Windows

Asked By miley burns 0 points N/A Posted on - 03/19/2012

 

My hard disk has three partitions with drive letters C and D used by Windows 98. The third partition is used by Linux. Why can’t I view this partition in Windows Explorer? Also, how can I uninstall Linux?

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Answered By Sollis Parallag 45 points N/A #105890

I am unable to view Linux partition in Windows

Hello Miley.

Windows 98 can only recognize two file systems: FAT16 and FAT32.  Depending on your Linux installation, the file system on your Linux partition could either be ext2, ext3 or ext4.  This is the reason why your Windows 98 cannot "see" the Linux partition.

To remove Linux, you will have to delete the partition where it is installed at.  Unfortunately, Windows 98 does not have any disk management feature like in Windows 2000, XP or Windows 7.  Normally, you can use FDISK under DOS to edit the partitions but, unfortunately again, DOS and FDISK cannot detect Linux partitions.  Your only choice would be to run the Linux installer again (you can use a LiveCD) and use its partitioning tool to delete the Linux partition and create a new unformatted partition for Windows 98.

To remove the boot loader that Linux installs, boot up in DOS and run "fdisk /mbr" to rewrite the Master Boot Record and give back ownership to Windows.

Hope this helps!

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• Posted on - 03/20/2012
• Question Category: OS/2 Apps