Linux Mint – How to Mount a Hibernated Windows 8 NTFS Partition

linux-mintmountntfspartitionwindows

I used Ubuntu for long even along Windows and SOMETIMES I got this problem for mounting the corresponding NTFS partition at the beginning, however with a pair of command lines to the console I got it fixed.

However, I moved to Linux Mint MATE 15 and I'm ALWAYS getting this problem, I've looked up and I know there's this new use for the hibernation file in Windows 8 which enables fast start up.

Why can't I just mount my NTFS partition ignoring the hibernation file? Is this even possible? And, again, why would this get worse with Linux Mint?

I really like the quicker boot of Windows 8 so I don't really consider disabling Windows hibernation and going to Windows to restart and log to Linux is cumbersome…

Best Answer

You can mount the Windows partition read-only. This will work even if it is hibernated (but of course you cannot update files or write new ones).

The reason you cannot mount the Windows C: drive is that with Fast-start Windows 8 is actually hibernating automatically for you - but only the system session. From a Linux point of view it's the same as if you hibernated yourself.

If you want to mount it read-write you have to Restart from Windows, not Shut down. Shutting down hibernates the system image, but Restarting does not.

Related Solutions

Linux – How should I prevent data corruption on an NTFS partition shared by Windows and Linux

What is likely happening is not that files are being corrupted but that Linux is doing its best to ensure that files are not corrupted.

When a filesystem is opened, written to, and is being closed, the operating system (both Windows and Linux) will mark the filesystem as being "dirty", e. g. not properly closed.

Under normal circumstances, when you unmount a filesystem, it will mark it as clean, presuming that all remaining I/O requests have been fulfilled, the filesystem's journal (if available) is empty, and all disk cache has been synced to the physical disk.

In some cases, the NTFS-3G utilities will simply not mark the filesystem as "clean" to ensure that it is checked by Windows at startup and avoid possible corruption.

In short, your hardware is probably fine, although it can't hurt to check the hard drive's health at any point. As far as actually sharing data back and forth, I would recommend a network-based storage method. Whether a locally-housed server or a push of the data into the cloud, using a network filesystem (probably SMB/CIFS for Windows compatibility) will ease the migration problems.

Linux – Force-Mount windows hibernated partition in Read/Write mode

ntfs-3g has an option that will force delete the hibernation file and force a rw mount:

# mount -t ntfs-3g -o remove_hiberfile /dev/sdXX /media/windows

From ntfs-3g(8):

SYNOPSIS

mount -t ntfs-3g [-o option[,...]] volume mount_point

OPTIONS

remove_hiberfile

Unlike in case of read-only mount, the read-write mount is denied if the NTFS volume is hibernated. One needs either to resume Windows and shutdown it properly, or use this option which will remove the Windows hibernation file. Please note, this means that the saved Windows session will be completely lost. Use this option under your own responsibility.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Linux – How should I prevent data corruption on an NTFS partition shared by Windows and Linux

Linux – Force-Mount windows hibernated partition in Read/Write mode

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