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.