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Old 11-09-2011, 04:20 PM   #1
skapunker
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Registered: Jul 2011
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Can't access folders in Windows after backing up with Linux


This is more of Windows problem, but I typically use Linux and I'm sure it can be fixed with Linux (seems a lot more likely than being able to fix it with Windows) I just haven't been able to yet. I Hope someone here can tell me what's going on.

So I copied all the data from an hfs+ formatted backup drive to an ntfs formatted drive with linux just using
Code:
cp -r
I can access all the data from linux, but when I hook the drive up to a Windows computer a few of the folders won't open saying "Location is not available" and Windows doesn't give me any options to change permissions on the folder. I used
Code:
rsync -rtvlD
to copy the data without preserving permissions to a different drive (also formatted with ntfs) because that's the drive I ultimately want to access the data from and I still get "Location is not available". I tried using chmod to change permissions and chown to change ownership but they made no difference. If I copy the files without the folder I can see them in Windows, but if I copy the folder I get "Location is not available". I'm completely stumped as to why this is happening, especially with only some of the folders. I would really appreciate help on this, thanks.
 
Old 11-09-2011, 04:40 PM   #2
Doc CPU
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Hi there,

Quote:
Originally Posted by skapunker View Post
This is more of Windows problem, ...
partly, yes, but it's most of all a matter of cooperation between Windows and Linux.

Quote:
Originally Posted by skapunker View Post
So I copied all the data from an hfs+ formatted backup drive to an ntfs formatted drive with linux just using
Code:
cp -r
I can access all the data from linux, but when I hook the drive up to a Windows computer a few of the folders won't open saying "Location is not available" and Windows doesn't give me any options to change permissions on the folder. I used
Code:
rsync -rtvlD
to copy the data without preserving permissions to a different drive (also formatted with ntfs) because that's the drive I ultimately want to access the data from and I still get "Location is not available".
I'm slightly puzzled about the error message; I would've expected something like "Access denied" or "You don't have the necessary privileges to acess ...".
Trouble is, NTFS is closed-source. And its rights management is not exactly the same as what Linux uses. AFAIK, the Linux NTFS driver reads and writes an NTFS partition as "Administrator", which is the only known existing user in any Windows setup. For reading NTFS, that's fine: Pretending to be Administrator, you can read anything on an NTFS partition. For writing, that's also fine as long as you are using Linux: Pretending to be Administrator, you can write anything, anywhere on an NTFS partition. However, when you access that partition from Windows again, you are denied access to the newly created files, because (usually) you are *not* Administrator.

And since that's an issue on the level of the file system driver, it doesn't matter whether you use cp or rsync or any other tool to create the files.

Quote:
Originally Posted by skapunker View Post
I tried using chmod to change permissions and chown to change ownership but they made no difference.
That's what I would expect, because the ownership and rights management is different, and Linux just circumvents the NTFS rights system.

Quote:
Originally Posted by skapunker View Post
If I copy the files without the folder I can see them in Windows, but if I copy the folder I get "Location is not available". I'm completely stumped as to why this is happening, especially with only some of the folders. I would really appreciate help on this, thanks.
That, however, is funny. Looks like what I described applies to directories only, not to files. But that's a guess of mine.

Bottom line: From my point of view, the only chance is to log in to Windows as Administrator, and change ownership and access rights of the restored files/directories from within Windows.

[X] Doc CPU
 
Old 11-09-2011, 06:16 PM   #3
skapunker
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Jul 2011
Posts: 4

Original Poster
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Thanks for the reply. I know what you're saying and have ran into issues like that before. Back in Windows XP using safe mode to boot as Administrator you could take over ownership and now with Windows 7 any administrator account will allow you to take ownership which would allow you to then also change the permissions. I have have tried doing that by going to the security tab in a Windows 7 administrator account and under the advanced options taking ownership of the driver and selecting including folders and subcontainers but it just gives an error about not be able to find the folder.

So I've tried exactly what you were suggesting with no luck, that's why I was hoping there was something I could do from Linux. Appreciate the attempt, normally I think you would have been exactly right, something is just weird and I definitely have the feeling of banging my head against a wall trying to figure it out.
 
  


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