Accessing Shared Partitions from Ubuntu & Windows 7

It’s not uncommon for PC users to dual boot between two or more operating systems such as Windows 7 and Ubuntu. In previous tutorials, I’ve shown how to share files between Ubuntu and Windows 7 computers on a network using shared folders. However, in a setup where Linux and Windows co-exist on the same computer, using network shares to access files between the two operating systems isn’t quite as possible. This tutorial will show you how to set up a shared partition on your computer that both Windows 7 and Ubuntu can access.

Prerequisites

I’m assuming at this point that you already have your PC set up and configured with both Windows 7 and Ubuntu. If not, please see this article to learn how to install both operating systems to dual boot on your PC. During the course of the installation of either Ubuntu or Windows, you'll need to have set aside one free partition that isn't being used by either of the operating systems, using the partition wizard as outlined in the tutorial.

Step 1: Create and Format the Partition

Ubuntu is easily able to read many different file system types, including NTFS that is used by newer versions of Windows. Windows, however, cannot read ext (ext2, ext3, and ext4) partitions created by Linux, so for this reason you'll want to format and label your shared partition in Windows 7.

Please see our tutorial on using the Windows 7 Disk Management utility for information on partitioning and formatting drives.

Step 2: Accessing the Partition

Accessing the partition in Windows 7 is quite easy - simply go to Start > Computer, and you'll see the partition listed under Hard Disk Drives.

When you boot into Ubuntu, it's equally simple to access the partition you created in Windows. From your main panel, click Places, and you'll see the partition listed in the dropdown.

Once you click on the volume, Ubuntu will mount it to your desktop so you can further access it simply by double-clicking on its icon.

If you want to remove the icon from your desktop, you'll need to unmount the volume. You can do so by right-clicking the icon on your deskop and selecting Unmount.

NOTE: Older or custom setups of Ubuntu may prompt you to type in your password to mount partitions. Your password should be the same as the one for your Ubuntu user account, that you would typically use to log in.

Conclusion

As you can see from this article, sharing partitions between operating systems is a simple way to share files on a PC that dual boots between Windows and Linux, without the use of external media. For further information on sharing resources between Windows 7 and Ubuntu, check out the articles below.

Related Articles

How to Access Windows 7 Shared Folders from Ubuntu
How to Change the Workgroup in Ubuntu Linux to Work with Windows
How to Change the Workgroup in Windows 7
How to Customize Network Sharing Settings in Windows 7
Share Libraries or Folders Using the Sharing Wizard
Connecting to A Windows Remote Desktop from Ubuntu