Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Obtain read and write access to Linux ext4 partition from Windows using Paragon ExtFS

If you have an SD card or an external harddisk or any other storage which is formatted in Linux native ext2/ext3/ext4 partition, and you want to mount and have full read/write access to it from Windows, here is the solution! Better still, it is free for personal use!

Paragon ExtFS for Windows is a small utility that enable you to gain both the read and write access to ext2/ext3/ext4 file systems, which is not recognized nor accessible by stock Windows OS.

This is particularly useful when you want to use your Windows computer to read, write, delete, rename, move, or copy file in your SD card or external harddisk or any other storage that is formatted with the ext2/ext3/ext4 file system.

You can download Paragon ExtFS for Windows here.

You need to register on their website in order to obtain the Product Key and Serial Number required during installation. Don't worry, this product is free for personal use, and the information will be emailed to you without any charge.

When it is running, by can automatically detect the partition with the ext2/ext3/ext4 file system, and by default will auto-mount it as a storage drive.


The drive will be seamlessly accessible by Windows.


Note that Windows detected my 16GB SD Card with Ext4 file system and assigned it to Drive E. However, Drive E is inaccessible, and Windows will ask you to format it if you try to access to it, resulting in total data lost if you choose to format it to a Windows recognizable file system (FAT32/NTFS/exFAT).

Paragon ExtFS mounted it as Drive F, which is fully accessible just like other drives.

When you right click on Drive F and look into its Properties, you will notice that its file system is shown as DOKAN.


You can click here to learn more about the Dokan file system driver.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Updated the BIOS of my Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro laptop to Version 38

I have just updated the BIOS of my Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro laptop from Version 31 to Version 38.

You can download the latest BIOS update utility of Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro from their support website here.


Beside BIOS update, you can also download the driver update files from that website as well.

The BIOS update is pretty straightforward. Make sure that the battery level of the laptop is at least 80%, and it is plugged on to the AC power supply. Then, run the BIOS Update Utility.

 
 

The new BIOS will be flashed with the InsydeFlash utility from Windows 8.1. After that, the system will reboot itself, and the BIOS update will be performed.

You will eventually reach to a state that the keyboard backlit of the laptop is on, and the screen is blank. Wait for a while, then long press the power key of the laptop to switch it off. When you switch it on again, the new BIOS is now up and running.

There is no data lost for this BIOS update. Even the BIOS settings and passwords remain after the update.



Updated my HTC One (M7) to Android 4.4.3 (KitKat) with Sense 6.0

My HTC One (M7) received its OTA update from Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) to Android 4.4.3 (KitKat) yesterday (24 August 2014).


It seems that this update focuses on security fixes, particularly the fix for OpenSSL vulnerabilities (Heartbleed Bug and some other bugs).


Visually, there is no noticeable change from the previous version. The Software Information section in the phone informs us that:
  • Android version updated from 4.4.2 to 4.4.3
  • HTC Sense version updated from 5.5 to 6.0
  • Software number updated from 4.20.707.6 to 6.13.707.1
  • HTC SDK API level updated from 5.69 to 6.25
  • Kernel version remains as 3.4.10



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