Ok,

Long story short. I have a 37GB WD drive with WIN 2000 Pro on it in an NTFS form. I've got an unformatted 78GB and unpartitioned hard drive I want to set up to run Ubuntu 9.10 for the digital ham radio programs.

I have GParted. Do I format the 78 gig as NTFS or FAT32 as I'll be taking data (Excel Spreadsheets) off the "C" drive, using Open Office and then save back to the "C" drive?

Respectfully submitted,


Buck/KA5LQJ

Are you talking about fat32 or ntfs for Ubuntu? I would go with ext3 or ext4 for the Ubuntu install. Ubuntu will be able to read and write fat32 or ntfs just fine so opening and saving files to/from the windows partitions will be fine. If you really want your data available in both OS's you might consider creating an ntfs data partition in addition to the Ubunt patition/partions. When I used to dual boot that's how I did it, just in case I decided I didn't like linux, the data wouldn't be lost.

I don't think you can run Ubuntu on NTFS or FAT32..... or maybe you can but I have never heard of anyone ever doing it.

Somehow I doubt you can run any Linux system off of an NTFS or FAT partition, simply because those filesystems don't work in the same way as ext2/3/4. For example, file permissions are handled differently in ext3 than they are in NTFS, and I don't think FAT even has a method for defining file permissions at all.

Apparently it CAN be done, but as mentioned permissions are probably going to be goo-goo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAT_filesystem_and_Linux

I don't think it's going to be a good idea, and may not even be an option in the Ubuntu installer.

I'd install Ubuntu on its own 30 gig ext3 partition, format the other 48 gig as NTFS and install the ntfs-3g drivers on ubuntu.

I run a multiboot setup and simply keep my data on a separate dynamic ext4 home partition;

My email profile from each operating system is directed to the common default profile on the separate partition. I have wondered if this would also work if the home partition was an NTFS?

Install Ubuntu on a ext3/4 partition. You can store data and read/write it from a NTFS or FAT32 drive though. I recommend keeping data on a FAT32 drive not a NTFS one.

Using a non-Unix filesystem to run Linux off of seems like a terrible idea.

Windows file systems don't have the concepts of inodes, symlinks, permissions, user/group ownership, etc.

Well,

I don't remember if I mentioned it or not the Windows 2000 Pro (40GB) C drive is NTFS. The 80(GB)Ubuntu 9.10 drive (D) whatever hda/b1 drive will be NTFS as well, with a separate ex3 partition to be able to "share" the data between drives.

I know Y' all think I'm crazy, but there is a method to my madness. I've developed an EXCEL spreadsheet that contains all the necessary information of the Part 90 (Public Safety) agencies within a 250 mile radius of my home. Although I can't travel with the First Responders, I sit at home, monitoring my radio scanners ONLY during a severe weather outbreak or disaster (explosions, chemical plant fires, train and 18-wheeler wrecks) and pass that information to the officials I have contact with.

Certainly, I can't hear the whole 500 mile diameter, even with two - 110' towers on those frequencies. I do have other NOAA-trained/FEMA-certified ham radio operators that monitor with me in Austin, Ft. Worth, Paris, TX, Norman and Idabell OK, Ft. Smith, Little Rock, and West Memphis AR, Columbus, Jackson, Natchez, and Vicksburg, MS, Baton Rouge, Lafayette & Lake Charles, LA and back to Austin, TX. Should they have a weather event, they pass that information =forward to others in the path of the storms. THIS gives others time to prepare and save their, their families lives and possibly protect their property from destruction.

I want to be the only one to be able to modify and change the data and I need it to be kept safe from tampering with or stealing this information by others.

THIS is my game, lol!

GOD BLESS,
Warmest Regard,

Don BuckSaunders/KA5LQJ
Grid Square: EM-32

No...

If you think it has to be NTFS or FAT32 to be able to copy the Windows-created files onto, then you are wrong... You can copy between NTFS/FAT32 and EXT2/3/4/whatever other Linux file-system no problem.

So split your 80Gb drive into 2 partitions : an Ext4 partition for Ubuntu, and an Ext3 for sharing between Windows.

If the choice is FAT32 or NTFS, I doubt there is any advantage to FAT32. Unless you plan to run something even older, like Windows 3.1, Fat32 is probably not of any advantage.

Windows should be installed on NTFS; Linux should be installed on ext4 (or ext3).
The common data partition needs to be NTFS or fat32 if windows is to access it.
Linux will read and write to all the partitions; windows will not see any linux partitions.

How does that force you to use a Windows file system?

You can store any data on any filesystem.

And if you like, you can convert it to an open format, if that's practical.

Oh yeah, that's what I missed from my post...

You would access the Ext2/3 partition in Windows using one of :

http://www.fs-driver.org/ or http://www.ext2fsd.com/

It's probably easier to just use NTFS/FAT32 right enough, but for some reason I just place more trust in the Linux-based file-systems to safely store my data