Mark Hull-Richter wrote: > I am currently running a Windows XP system at home with around 100+ Mb > in use over ~400Mb of NTFS file systems. I am installing CentOS 4.4 on > it when I change out the mobo/cpu/mem/video combo I just bought. I want > to convert all the file systems to (probably) Reiserfs or maybe ext3, > but I need to do them one at a time because I only have enough transfer > space to accommodate the largest one, or at least that's my belief. > That would mean at least two copies per partition converted, and I have > six partitions to convert, from ~14Gb to over 85Gb (in one, only - the > rest are 30Gb or smaller). > > > > 1) Is there a good way to do whole fs conversions, specifically > from NTFS to reiserfs or ext3? Why reiserfs? RH doesn't support it at all in its RHEL series. It's no longer default in OpenSUSE (I'm not completely sure of SLES/SLED). ext3 is generally a sane selection. > > > > 2) Do I even need to do this (i.e., do any of the CentOS/Linux > kernels support read AND write to NTFS)?. I think rw support is available now in some distros. > > > > 3) Is there, by any chance, and in-place converter from NTFS to > any Linux fs, preferably reiserfs or ext3? Highly dangerous at best. > > > > Also, the last time I installed CentOS on a system (I've done about six > or seven so far) I don't remember seeing reiserfs as one of the > supported fs's for configuring during the installation process - am I > blind or is this really the case? I like reiserfs primarily because it > is really good with many small files, and I have tons of them - around > 100k files under 10k. It is really the case. RH employs at least one ext4 specialist, declines to do so for any other Linux filesystem. I expect SUSE to follow this path. The _best_ way to convert is to use another disk. That way, if something fouls up, you get another chance. The _best_ way to read NTFS is with Windows. The _safest_ way to convert is to read in Windows, transfer to Linux and write. You can do this on a network, you can possibly run Linux under virtual PC (a free download now, does not require special CPUs, can boot a standard bootable CD or (I think) ISO image), you could use tar under windows (needs cygwin). -- Cheers John -- spambait 1aaaaaaa at coco.merseine.nu Z1aaaaaaa at coco.merseine.nu Please do not reply off-list