Accessing Windows partitions and files
From Mandriva Community Wiki
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It is relatively easy to access data stored on Windows partitions. Mandriva detects other disks and partitions on the computer, and displays them in file browsers such as Dolphin or Nautilus in a sidebar containing various locations.
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Quick access to Windows partitions
Mandriva Linux automatically detects the NTFS partitions and displays them directly in the file explorer (they are not necessarily automatically "mounted").
You can access these records and change their content normally without needing administrator rights.
The best way to access your Windows disk(s) is to go through the file manager (ie Dolphin for KDE or Nautilus for GNOME, or Thunar for Xfce). When you access the drive, it is mounted and you go to top level immediately (as if you were in C:\Windows).
The icons for your Windows hard drives appear in the sidebars of file managers as shown below:
 With Dolphin |
 With Nautilus |
In the same sidebar that you can find other devices (CD / DVD drives, USB keys, music players, etc..) connected and available on your computer.
According to the computers, the disk name of Windows is not necessarily "Local Disk". Indeed, some manufacturers are changing the name of the disk with the name of the computer model or brand (ie. Acer sometimes change the name of his discs into ACERDATA).
Anyway, you can always find the partitions and disks in '/ mnt. They will then appear as folders named 'windows or 'windows1 and 'windows2 if you have more then one.
Under Mandriva, the icon allows you to recognize a hard drive connected to your system may vary depending on your environment :
With the KDE environment, it should resemble this : 
With the GNOME environment, it should resemble this : 
or 
Create a shortcut to a folder in your Windows partition
- Right click on your desktop and create a new link (under KDE Create new > Link to a URL ....
- Danba the field "Name" or "File Name", you can enter the shortcut name.
- In the field for the path or URL, simply enter the path to your file on the partition.
For example: {{prog|/mnt/windows/Documents and Settings/<windows user name> under /My Documents)). You should always put /mnt/windows at the beginning to access to the partition, knowing that /mnt/windows is equivalent to register C:\ somehow.
- It may be that ". Desktop" appears at the end of the link name. You can delete this part: it is useless.
- You can change the icon of the link that may seem strange. To do this, right-click on it, then Properties. Click on the icon and select a new one (go to /usr/share/icons if you are running Gnome to find different icon themes).
Troubleshooting
Unable to access my Windows partition
Check that your Windows system has been properly shut down the last time. Indeed, an NTFS partition is inaccessible if Windows is in hibernation or has crashed. Let Windows starts and turns off completely smoothly for full access to the partition.
Other various problems but frequently may give an error message similar or equally troubling. These are mostly a permission issue, but it depends on the cause of the problem once again that does not come necessarily from Windows. You can try mounting opening a console and by switching to root (or Administrator root) by typing su -. Enter your administrator password, then type
This can help mount a recalcitrant Windows partition.
If this is not solving your problem, we recommend you to seek help within the Mandriva forums (free registration on my.mandriva.com). For more information on how to get help and support, see the help page.
Change the parameters of a NTFS/NTFS-3G partition
In case of problems, there is a configuration tool called ntfs-config permettant de modifier les paramètres d'un disque NTFS Windows. This program can be installed using the Mandriva Package Manager.
