File Systems and USBs

L3G3ND · #1 11th April 2008, 01:31 PM

I'll start by saying I had absolutely no idea what to search to find answers, so sorry for a repeated question.

My school uses Windows based computers; and I use Fedora 8.

If I saved a document to a USB stick on my Fedora computer, would I be able to open it up on a Windows XP computer, and vice versa?

I don't know much about file systems (the whole NTFS, FAT32... etc.) but I have had problems related to this before.

Sorry if you consider this question 'dumb', but I don't know what to do.

Thanks.

***bob*** · #2 11th April 2008, 01:44 PM

I've been using OpenOffice and moving docs Word & Excell docs back and forth with MS Office 2003 with no real problems, but they're not a perfect match. Here's an article on OO/2003: http://www.techsoup.org/learningcent...e/page4765.cfm As far as I know, Office 2007 and OpenOffice are not really compatible, so you'd better check what version your school's using.

lovenemesis · #3 11th April 2008, 01:56 PM

You don't need to worry anything about file system. Although your Fedora 8 runs on EXT3 file system and the Windows in your school runs on NTFS file system, your USB thumb disk only has its own file system and will never be changed, no matter which system mount it on.

If you are worrying whether you document edited in OpenOffice.org can be opened in MS Office, or vice versa, it relates file format, not file system actually.

L3G3ND · #4 11th April 2008, 02:17 PM

Thanks for the replies. I was asking about the file systems, which has now been answered.

I understand about the file formats (OpenOffice.org and Office 2007 extensions), and I know how to deal with that.

So it's 100% sure that my USB will be universally accesible? What about an external hard drive?

muep · #5 11th April 2008, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L3G3ND

Thanks for the replies. I was asking about the file systems, which has now been answered.

I understand about the file formats (OpenOffice.org and Office 2007 extensions), and I know how to deal with that.

So it's 100% sure that my USB will be universally accesible? What about an external hard drive?

Well, there are few things that are 100% absolutely sure, but yes, it should work fine. I have been using FAT32 formatted USB sticks between Linux and Windows machines, and haven't had a problem.

USB hard disks are quite similar to the Flash memory based USB sticks, but they often use the NTFS filesystem. It works in Windows fine, but may take some work in Linux. I don't know how well Fedora supports NTFS, but at least Ubuntu and maybe some others have made using NTFS disks as painless as the FAT32 ones.

You can, of course, just reformat an NTFS disk to use FAT32, but FAT32 isn't very good for big partitions.

lovenemesis · #6 11th April 2008, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L3G3ND

Thanks for the replies. I was asking about the file systems, which has now been answered.

So it's 100% sure that my USB will be universally accesible? What about an external hard drive?

No matter what kind of file system your external hard drive is, it will work. I have been using eternal hard drive for a long time.

If it is FAT32, GNOME and KDE will automatic mount it for you and create an icon on desktop. If it is NTFS, GNOME will do but KDE won't because KI/O lacks the proper handler currently. It still can be mounted manually.

Actually , Linux supports nearly all of the file systems ever exist on this planet.

L3G3ND · #7 11th April 2008, 03:02 PM

I really appreciate the help from all of you. Thanks.

lazlow · #8 11th April 2008, 04:54 PM

Lovenemesis

You can format most usb devices with an EXT3 FS. If this has been done then NO windows will not be able to read it (without adding capabilities to windows, which can be done).

That being said most usb sticks are formated with FAT (of some sort) and there should be no issue.

lovenemesis · #9 12th April 2008, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazlow

Lovenemesis

You can format most usb devices with an EXT3 FS. If this has been done then NO windows will not be able to read it (without adding capabilities to windows, which can be done).

That being said most usb sticks are formated with FAT (of some sort) and there should be no issue.

I think you want know what I have done, although I don't recommend the new ones to do that.

I divided my external hard disk into two partitions, a 16Mb one if FAT32 which only stores an Ext2 IFS module for Windows, and another large one for ext2.

Ext2 IFS module can be found here:
http://www.fs-driver.org/
It doesn't even need a reboot to work.

LinuxManMikeC · #10 12th April 2008, 03:01 PM

In regards to using Office 2007 and OpenOffice.org, Office 2007 uses the new M$ XML based file format by default. OpenOffice.org can't read that format yet (planned for future version). So if you create a document in M$ Office, make sure it is saving in the old .doc format, not .docx. Same goes for all other types of Office documents, if there is an "x" at the end of the file extension, it won't work. (Correction, see this site for additional ways to cope with M$ new file format http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/...ngMSO2007Files)

For the other way around, convert your OpenOffice.org documents to their M$ Office equivalents.

There can be occasional quirks in the formatting of a document after conversion, so check it before handing something in. This can even happen when simply going between M$ Office and OpenOffice.org. However, in most cases I have had no trouble with it, and it is more likely to break when using a lot of fancy formatting and fonts.

As a side note for those who may be unaware, this new M$ Office Open XML garbage is just another "look, we can do it too" strategy by Microsoft to compete with all the office suites (especially open source) which can painlessly share data using the Open Document Format. It is the same concept as Microsoft's and in fact was around long before Microsoft's XML format. Likely what inspired M$. The only difference is, Open Document Format has been ratified as an industry standard which every office suite should start supporting, even M$ Office. You can get more information here: http://www.noooxml.org/

lazlow · #11 12th April 2008, 06:19 PM

Lovenemesis

The reason I pointed that out is becuase most schools (or public in general) computers(what the OP asked about) are set up so you cannot add additional software. If you cannot add the additional software you cannot use the modules you pointed to. Without those modules you cannot access the data(assuming EXT3).

lovenemesis · #12 13th April 2008, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazlow

Lovenemesis

The reason I pointed that out is becuase most schools (or public in general) computers(what the OP asked about) are set up so you cannot add additional software. If you cannot add the additional software you cannot use the modules you pointed to. Without those modules you cannot access the data(assuming EXT3).

Yes, you're correct. That's the reason why I didn't mention it before.

I just want to let the new ones know that there is a way to use Ext2 under Windows.