Linux System Crashed - I need to access the drive via windoze

[Frosty1911]

I am definately a newbie to Linux so please bear with me, our Linux pc at work crashed, mobo & psu all dead after a power surge that also got the router. It had a networked drive which had some important files on it. Its a sata drive & was in a mirrored Raid 1 config. Is there anyway I can slave that drive in my XP machine & use something to access & copy the files? The Linux PC was set up by the last guy who worked here & I am from a Win2003 AD enviroment.

TIA!

[happybunny]

Put the hard drive into a new machine and boot it up and see what happens.

Or, put the drive's in another machine and boot off a linux LiveCD and you should be able to access the data and copy it somewhere else.

Windows can't read Linux filesystems without 3rd party help.

[saikee]

happybunny's suggestion will enable you to recover all the data.

Since it is a Raid 1 so any of the two disks will do.

You can also load ext2ifs, which is free, into Win2k and Windows can read/write any Linux partition. It works like a utility in Control panel and you can choose any Linux partition, pick a drive letter and mount it.

There are several drivers like ext2ifs and pretty good.

[paj12]

You can also load ext2ifs, which is free, into Win2k and Windows can read/write any Linux partition. It works like a utility in Control panel and you can choose any Linux partition, pick a drive letter and mount it.
I feel I should mention that this will only work if the file system on the hard drive is ext2 or ext3. Some other file systems that are supported by Linux are ReiserFS, XFS, and JFS. If any of these were used, then a Linux Live CD is the only option to recover the files.

One Live CD that is widely recommended is Knoppix (http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html). To use it, simply download the ISO and burn it to disc (http://www.wizardskeep.org/mainhall/tutor/neroiso.html). Next, reboot your computer and configure its BIOS to boot from the CD-ROM drive (http://www.hiren.info/pages/bios-boot-cdrom). Knoppix will then detect all your computer's hardware, including hard drives, and boot into a graphical interface where you can copy the files to a safe place.

It can be tough to work with an unfamiliar operating system, especially if you're forced into it. But as long as the hard drive is undamaged, you should be able to easily recover the files you're looking for. If you need any more help, don't be afraid to post here again. I'm sure someone will be happy to give you the information you need. Good luck!