getting files from xp partition to linux
 

hi, i'm new to the world of linux, i installed mandrake 9.1 a couple days ago

let me explain my situation:
i have 1 60 gig hardrive
i dual boot xp and mandrake
i let mandrake do all the installing so i'm guessing a SWAP partition was not made
i'm on a home network with 3 xp boxes that i have free access to
Also when i check in windows my c: drive appears to be FAT32

SO....
what would be the easiest, most painless (i still don't know much about linux) way to get some files off windows and into linux?

i could create a swap but would that require me to lose everything on the linux partition and reinstall?

i read that i could use SAMBA but that sounds like a lot of work to configure and all

i've also read that linux can see/write to FAT32...is my windows partition really fat32?? and in that case how do i access it in linux?

any help would be appreciated thanks

the swap partition has nothing to do with getting files from your windows partition. Usually, your windows partition should be mounted under /mnt/win_c or something like that. Just look in the /mnt directory. You can read but not write to an NTFS partition and if it's FAT32, you can read and write to it.

Check your /etc/fstab to see how Windows is mounted. If it shows hda1 (normally) as vfat and it mounts without errors it is indeed FAT32.

k i went to /mnt and did find windows

i can read and write to c: from linux, so i guess it is FAT32 and there is no problem

i was just confused by all the posts about NTFS, i'm not sure if i did a special install of xp or what but mine is FAT32

thanks for the help guys

another problem
 

i find that my browser window freezes when i try to look into the /mnt directory

i am able to look into it in the terminal but not in any sort of graphical application

for example, i'm trying to set up direct connect and i want to share folders from my xp partition but the program hangs when i click on the mnt folder

what is wrong? and can i even share stuff from my c: drive for direct connect running in linux?

I don't know anything about direct connect but the problem with not being able to go into /mnt might be due to supermount (a feature that automatically mounts cds and floppies). You can disable it by:
1. make a backup copy of your /etc/fstab
2. as root do
supermount -i disable
3. reboot

maybe this helps.