I just recently installed Slackware my first linux installation. I have linux partitioned On one disk and Windows Xp my slave drive.

The thing is i don't know how to view my windows files from inside linux. i.e. if i wanted to open an mp3 that i have saved in windows' "My Documents"

Sorry if this is a really easy, as i have said i am completely new to this and i have tried everything i can think of.

Could it be that i cant view windows files from linux, they are on NTFS and i know you cant write to NTFS.

Man I'm right there with you--I just installed Linspire (never even heard of Slackware--is it good?) and am learning the ropes. I probably shouldn't even reply but I do know the answer to your question. There should be a directory called /disks/ somewhere (/home/system/ maybe?) On my system a folder called /winxp/ shows up, and from there I can access everything. Otherwise, look for /hda/ which is basically your c: drive (possibly in /mnt/). Anyway, I'm sure someone else could give you a much better, definitive answer...

i am unfamiuliar with linspire and slack.
but this is the general way of doing it.

to make sure i miss nothing, i will asume you are a complete noob... (so dont be insulted if i talk to you like an idiot, lol)

Okay....

in linux everything is a file...
/dev/hda is the primary master hard disk
/dev/hda1 is the first partiton on a primary master
/dev/hda2 is the second partiton on the primary master
/dev/hdb is the primary slave
/dev/hdc is the secondry master
/dev/hdd is the secondry slave.

you get the idea.

if you dont know what disk and partiton the NTFS disk is on,
then as root (type 'su -')
run the command fdisk

the output should tell you which disk and partiton has what on it (file system / size)

here is how you mount the disk...
make a folder to mount the disk in (if one does not already exist)
mkdir /mnt/WindowsDisk

not try to mount the disk

mount -t ntfs /dev/(the disk and partiton you found with fdisk) /mnt/WindowsDisk

you dont need the -t ntfs part as mount can auto detect it, but like i said, im not sure if your distro's support ntfs.

if the command completes without error, your windows XP files will be in /mnt/WindowsDisk

you may get the error, ntfs is not supported by your kernel. or unknown fs type.

if you do get this error, you can download the ntfs driver driver and install it. ill not bother explaining how to do that untill you know wether or not you need it.

hope this helps.

Hmm, well i cant find it still, take into account i have two hard drives a windows one and a linux one, If that makes a difference.

Slackware is good from what ive seen, took me a while to install and i had to try twice, but thats mainly due to my lack of knowledge of the hardware inside my own pc.

But now its up and running its great, i havnt tried it with the net yet though, i have to get a new connection or a network set up for that.

Anybody else have an idea of where i coud find everything?

EDIT: Posted at same time, about to try it out

ohh, forgot to say....
when you know your system is capable of mounting NTFS
you need to add the disk to your /etc/fstab file. this makes it possible to mount the disk without root access, and shorter command lines.

add the line

/dev/(windowsNTFS disk) /mnt/WindowsDisk auto noauto,user,umask=0 0 0

make sure the fstab file ends with a newline (return)

then you will be able to mount the dist with the command 'mount /mnt/WindowsDisk'

or with KDE, right click the desktop, click new -> hard disk. and set device to tthe windows disk, you can then access the disk by double clicking the icon.

Hi!
I've never installed linux having XP, and I don't know what slack will do in that case, but do you remember if the installation program asked you something about winXP? (I installed slack9.1 with win98, and it asked me about it, so I chose the dir under which win had to be)

Anyway, in order to read in NTFS, you need the proper kernel parameter; type "lsmod" to see if you have the NTFS module loaded, you also may check "cat /usr/linux/.config|grep "NTFS" to see if you can load the module.

Regards

the ntfs kernel module is loaded automatically when mount needs it.
and if the distro does not have the ntfs kernel module, you can install it from its web site. but with any luck, the distro will support it.

if not, we will deal with it when we get to it.

EDIT: Need Help

Ok, it didnt work, it did the first time but the thing you said to change permissions hasnt worked, it still requires root

Help please

Error: mount only root can do that

so you have sucesfully mounted the windows files as root ?
atleast we know your distro supports ntfs.

what was the command line you typed when mounting the drive ?
try 'mount /dev/(windowshdpartiton)'

Edit, basically i followed your guide step by step

Did you do this?...
Tell us, what happens when you write in a console "mount /mnt/WindowsDisk"?
Regards

I did that and then afterwords i still need to be root

hmm, please post the conttents of your /etc/fstab file.

this shouldnt help, but just incase it does...

(as root)
chmod 666 /dev/(windowsDisk_and_Partiton)
chmod 666 /mnt/WindowsDisk/

also, lets try leaving as little as possible to be auto detected.
change the line to
of cource cahnaging /dev/hda1 to whatever you need, and /mnt/hda1 to /mnt/WindowsDisk

hows that ?