On 04/19/2014 02:13 AM, Robert Nichols wrote: > On 04/17/2014 08:08 PM, Rob Kampen wrote: >> # file -s -k /dev/sdf1 >> /dev/sdf1: x86 boot sector, code offset 0x76 >> >> seems like the partition /dev/sdf1 contains an x86 boot sector - so what do I >> mount?? where is the data? > It's lacking a lot of the parameters I wold expect to see there, e.g.: > > # file -s -k /dev/sda1 > /dev/sda1: x86 boot sector, code offset 0x52, OEM-ID "NTFS ", > sectors/cluster 8, reserved sectors 0, Media descriptor 0xf8, heads 255, hidden > sectors 2048, dos < 4.0 BootSector (0x80) > > That is from Windows 7. Is the difference due to Windows 8? I don't know -- > I don't have anything with Windows 8. I did run across this: > > > http://nodehead.com/tip-of-the-day-mount-a-windows-8-ntfs-partition-for-reading-in-linux/ > > But, the "Fast Startup" change it describes might only apply to the Windows > 8 boot partition. You might try the suggestion to mount the partition with > an explicit "read-only" flag. tried the mount with the -r (read only) flag - no difference. I also have a hard drive with windoze on it and using the file command against that I get almost exactly what you do. For some reason this usb stick is different. When I get the opportunity I'll try it on windoze system, write to it and unmount it properly, maybe it wasn't closed properly by the person I got it from, and I cannot ask them, they would have no idea what I'm talking about. Thanks all for the suggestions, I'll update this if I get any further.