Show HN:Linux2Win Auto-detect Linux disks, project Ext2/3/4 as Windows folders

A developer released Linux2Win, a C++20/CMake tool that auto-detects Linux disks and USB drives on Windows and projects their Ext2/3/4 data partitions as native Windows folders via the Windows Projected File System (ProjFS). The tool mounts partitions read-only under C:\LinuxDisks\Disk<N>_Part<M>, excludes EFI System Partitions, BIOS Boot, /boot, swap, Microsoft Reserved and Microsoft Recovery partitions, and requires Visual Studio 2022, CMake 3.20+, and Windows 10 (1809+) or Windows 11.

A modern, high-performance C++20 / CMake solution that automatically detects Linux disks & USBs when inserted or already present , validates and parses Linux data partitions Ext2/3/4 , strictly excludes boot/system/swap partitions, protects write safety with read-only enforcement, and projects data partitions as native Windows folders using Windows Projected File System ProjFS . 1. Automatic Disk & Hotplug Monitoring : - Detects all existing physical drives PhysicalDrive0 .. PhysicalDriveN . - Listens in real-time for USB and external disk insertion and removal via Win32 WM DEVICECHANGE device interface hooks. 2. Detects all existing physical drives 3. Strict Data-Only Partition Filtering : - Automatically inspects GPT and MBR partition tables. - Allowed Data Partitions : Linux Filesystem Data, Linux /home , Linux Root x86 64 , arm64 , x86 , /srv , /var , and user data partitions. - Excluded Partitions : EFI System Partitions ESP , BIOS Boot, Linux /boot , Linux Swap, Microsoft Reserved MSR , Microsoft Recovery. 4. Zero-Dependency Ext2/Ext3/Ext4 Engine : - Built-in, self-contained parser supporting 64-bit block addressing, extents trees, directory hash/linear entries, fast & regular symlinks, and inode table parsing. 5. Native Windows Explorer Integration ProjFS : - Projects the Linux filesystem directly into C:\LinuxDisks\Disk<N Part<M using the Windows Projected File System. - Standard Windows Explorer operations: double-click to open files, view properties, drag-and-drop, and copy files/folders directly to Windows drives. 6. Projects the Linux filesystem directly into 7. Enforced Read-Only Safety : - Drive handles opened strictly in GENERIC READ mode with FILE SHARE READ | FILE SHARE WRITE . - File attributes tagged with FILE ATTRIBUTE READONLY . - All write, modify, truncate, and delete operations are blocked ERROR ACCESS DENIED . 8. Drive handles opened strictly in 9. Memory-Resident Background Daemon & System Tray : - Runs quietly in the notification area with a sleek context menu. - Interactive permission prompt asking user consent for Windows startup. - Desktop balloon notifications when Linux partitions are mounted or unmounted. Linux2Win provides an integrated Windows Setup Wizard linux2win setup.exe : 1. Interactive Startup Permission : Asks for permission to load on Windows startup in memory-resident background mode. 2. Explorer Shortcuts : Automatically creates desktop and Start Menu shortcuts to C:\LinuxDisks . 3. ProjFS Feature Activator : Enables the Windows Projected File System feature if not active. 4. Clean Uninstallation : Registers with Windows Add or Remove Programs and generates uninstall.exe . Scan all physical drives and classify partitions shows data vs excluded boot/swap partitions .\linux2win.exe scan Start real-time hotplug monitor detects USB / drive insertion and removal .\linux2win.exe monitor Auto-mount all detected Linux data partitions to Windows folders .\linux2win.exe auto Mount a specific Linux data partition as a Windows folder via ProjFS .\linux2win.exe mount <disk index <partition number target folder Example: .\linux2win.exe mount 1 2 C:\LinuxDisks\Drive1 Part2 List directory contents on a Linux partition .\linux2win.exe ls <disk index <partition number path Example: .\linux2win.exe ls 1 2 /home/user Display contents of a file on Linux partition .\linux2win.exe cat <disk index <partition number <file path Safely copy/export a file or folder from Linux partition to Windows .\linux2win.exe export <disk index <partition number <linux path <windows target dir Example: .\linux2win.exe export 1 2 /etc/fstab C:\Users\YourUser\Desktop - Visual Studio 2022 with MSVC C++20 toolchain - CMake 3.20+ - Windows 10 1809+ or Windows 11 Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/APS-PPR-2016/Linux2Win.git cd Linux2Win Configure with MSVC 2022 cmake -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64 Build Release binaries cmake --build build --config Release Run automated unit tests cd build ctest -C Release --output-on-failure Package ZIP distribution cpack -C Release -G ZIP If you find Linux2Win useful, please consider supporting the project: This project is licensed under the MIT License https://github.com/APS-PPR-2016/Linux2Win/blob/main/LICENSE .