** Note: Everything in this FAQ applies equally to all MS filesytems (ntfs, vfat,
and fat).  All of the examples use ntfs, just change "ntfs" to the appropriate
filesystem type were applicable.  Just keep in mind that ntfs is read-only.


Q: Which MS filesystems does Linux support?
A: All of them.  The old msdos FAT16 is called 'msdos'.  FAT32 with long
   filename support is called 'vfat'.  NTFS is called 'ntfs'.  Windows
   filesystem shares are called 'smbfs'.  NTFS support is read-only.

Q: How do I mount my ntfs partition in linux?
A: As root, make a directory for the mount point and run the 'mount' command
   [luser@localhost luser]$ su -
   Password:
   [root@localhost root]# mkdir /mnt/ntfs
   [root@localhost root]# mount -t ntfs /dev/hda1 /mnt/ntfs
   Assuming your ntfs partition is hda1, it is now mounted at /mnt/ntfs

   ** Note: the device name depends on your machine
   ** Note: the mount point can be any location/name that you like

Q: How do I know which device is my ntfs partition?
A: 'fdisk -l /dev/hda' will print out all of the partitions on disk hda.  The
   partition type is printed in the far right column.

Q: How do I configure linux to mount my ntfs partition when I boot?
A: /etc/fstab lists all partitions, where they should be mounted, and options
   required.  Just make a new entry for your ntfs partition.  There are 6 fields
   in each entry, the device, the mount point, the filesystem type, mount
   options, and you can ignore the 5th and 6th fields for ntfs.
   Assuming your ntfs partition is /dev/hda1 and you want to mount it at
   /mnt/ntfs, you could add "/dev/hda1 /mnt/ntfs ntfs defaults 0 0"

   Your /etc/fstab may already contain an entry for your ntfs partition and it
   may have additional options like "iocharset", and "codepage".  That's ok.

Q: How do I allow non-root users access to my ntfs partition?
A: Change the "options" field in /etc/fstab to change the mount permissions.
   Following the example above, change "defaults" to "ro,umask=0007", then
   remount the partition.

   NOTE: "ro" means read-only, change this is "rw" for vfat or msdos if you
   desire read-write access.

Q: How do I remount the partition?
A: Following the above example, 'umount /mnt/ntfs; mount /mnt/ntfs'.  

Q: My partition is busy, how do I make it un-busy?
A: If your current working directory is inside the ntfs partition, then it will
   be busy; type 'cd' to change to your home directory.  If a process is running
   inside the partition, then it will be busy; you will have to kill that
   process.  The 'fuser -v -m /mnt/ntfs' command will list any processes in a
   filesystem.  Note that 'fuser' will not report if the filesystem is busy
   because it was exported via NFS.

Q: How do I only allow a specific group of users read access to my ntfs
   partition?
A: Good thinking.  It's a very good idea to limit access to your insecure ntfs
   partition.  Here's the game plan: 1) create a "windisks" group, 2) add some
   users to the "windisks" group, 3) modify the permissions on the ntfs
   partition.
   First, a simple 'groupadd -r windisks' will create the group.  Second, open
   /etc/group in a text editor and add some usernames to the end of the 
   "windisks" line.  Multiple usernames should have a comma between them without
   spaces like 'windisks:x:11:garrick,kellie,wyndl'.  Third, change the options
   field in /etc/fstab for the ntfs partition to:
         ro,uid=root,gid=windisks,umask=0007
   Now just remount with 'umount /mnt/ntfs; mount /mnt/ntfs'.

Q: Is there a way to do all this in the GUI?
A: Yeah, probably.

Q: What about write access?
A: Currently, write support for ntfs doesn't work well yet.  You *can* enable
   it, but it *will* corrupt the filesystem.  Do *not* use it yet.

Q: Why does this FAQ suck?
A: *shrug* I don't actually use windows and I'm writing this from memory.

Q: What memory?
A: huh?