what if i formatted it vfat ?
 

hi all,

what if i formatted the linux partition vfat will i see it normally with windows ?? did any one tried it ??
what is the difference between vfat and ext3

EXT3 is a journaled filesystem. It keeps a journal of changes to the filesystem so that if power dies and the system goes down, it can easily determine what needs to be done to get the filesystem up and running quickly. Unlike Windows 95/98/ME, which need to Check Disk after a crash.

VFAT doesn't support Linux permissions. It would be similar to running as root all the time... Any user would be able to change anyfile they wanted.

Using the UMSDOS filesystem will let you see the linux files, and get the benifit of permissions in Linux (however, from windows, some filenames look truncated, and anything can still be done[you won't get permissions in win]. And, only Slackware and SuSE use it). There is a program called explore2fs for looking at ext2 (& ext3, they're almost the same, except for journaling) filesystems from Windows.

many many thanks u made my day i asked a lot of questions and u just made me understand what i want thanks , truely lots of books will never substitute an experienced administrator, hope one day i can do the same to anyone :)

Note that UMSDOS support was discontinued in kernel 2.4 (latest UMSDOS was in 2.2). Not sure if they decided to revive it, or if a patch for 2.4 source is available at the moment...