How to Create an EXT2/EXT3 Linux Partition from Windows

Updated By

Tracy King 

Written By

Linda 

Last Updated on April 22, 2024

There are two ways to do this: 1. Format the drive as EXT2/EXT3, or 2. Create an EXT2/EXT3 Linux partition on your Windows hard drive, USB flash drive, or memory card.

How to create an EXT2/EXT3 partition in Windows

Though Linux has lost significant ground to Windows and has become almost invisible to the average user, many people still use it for work or by preference.

In order for Linux to recognize an internal hard drive or other removable external drive, or to create a dual-boot setup with Linux on a Windows machine, you'll need to have partitions formatted with the EXT2/EXT3 and Linux Swap file systems.

Do you know how to create a Linux partition on Windows? Experienced Linux developers or professional administrators might prefer to boot into Windows using a Linux-based Live CD and create the partition from there. But that's too complicated for most regular Windows users.

Next, you will discover a third-party Linux partition manager that can help you create an EXT2/EXT3 file system partition.

Preparations

Before you begin creating an EXT2 or EXT3 partition, there are a few preparatory steps to take:

#1. Download a Linux partition management tool

There are many free partition software, such as Paragon Partition Manager, that offer features like “Format Partition” or “Create Partition”. However, most of these tools do not support Linux-based file systems like EXT2, EXT3, etc.

Fortunately, powerful partition management software – Partition Master supports all Linux file systems (EXT2/EXT3/Swap). It enables you to format the hard drive or create partitions with either of the first two file systems: EXT2 and EXT3.

#2. Backing Up Partition Data

If you plan to reformat an existing Windows partition as an EXT2 or EXT3 Linux partition, be sure to back up any important files on it first to a safe location, such as an external hard drive.

If your data is less than 20 GB, copying and pasting is the fastest way to back up. If your files are over 30 GB or you need to back up an entire partition, a dedicated file backup program will be more useful.

Method 1: Format the Partition to EXT2/EXT3

Applies to: Format existing partition to EXT2/EXT3 on Windows 10/8/7.

As you can see, formatting a disk for use with Linux file systems is much easier than creating one. So what is the recommended tool for formatting EXT2/EXT3 on Windows?

Not with the Windows Disk Management, as it doesn't support Linux file systems. Follow this tutorial to easily format FAT32/NTFS hard drives, USB flash drives, and memory cards to EXT2/EXT3 with Partition Master:

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, right-click the partition you want to format and choose "Format".

Step 2: In the new window, type in a volume label, select the FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 file system, set the cluster size as needed, and click OK.

Step 3: A warning window will appear. Click “Yes” to continue.

Step 4. Click on the “Perform 1 Operation” button on the top left to preview the changes, and then click “Apply” to start formatting the partition to FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4.

Method 2: Creating an EXT2/EXT3 Linux Partition in Windows

Applies to: Create Linux-based EXT2/EXT3 partition from unallocated space on Windows 10/8/7.

Another practical method you can try is to create an EXT2 or EXT3 Linux partition on Windows 10/8/7. Also, since Windows Disk Management does not support Linux file systems, you will need assistance from professional partition management software tools like Partition Master.

If you have unallocated free space on your computer's hard drive or an external storage device, you can use a partitioning tool to create a Linux-based partition. While creating the partition, make sure to set the file system to EXT2 or EXT3:

Step 1: Launch Partition Master. Right click on the unallocated space on the hard drive or external storage device in the main window, and then choose "Create".

Step 2. Adjust the size of your new partition, the file system (choose the file system as needed), label, etc., and click OK to proceed.

Step 3. Click the Run 1 Task button and create the new partition by clicking Apply.

Watch the following video tutorial to learn how to create a partition on an NTFS, FAT, or EXT file system.

After creating Linux EXT2/EXT3 partitions on your Windows computer or external hard drive, USB, or SD card, you can use the partition to install Linux OS, Linux-based apps, or save Linux-based data on an external Linux storage device, and so on.

Further reading

This article will introduce two practical methods to Windows users of all levels on how to create or format Linux EXT2/EXT3 partition with a free partition manager – Partition Master.

In addition to creating an EXT partition or formatting an existing one as EXT2/EXT3, you may have other questions about the file system. If you have any of the same questions listed below, read on for the answers:

1. How do I convert an EXT2/EXT3 Partition to NTFS?

When you want to delete the EXT2 or EXT3 file system from a partition or storage device, you can try either of these two methods to format the EXT2/EXT3 partition to NTFS or any other file system:

Method 1: Format the EXT2/EXT3 Partition with Disk Management
Open Disk Management》Right-click on the RAW partition (Linux's EXT2/EXT3 partition will be identified as RAW)》Select Format Volume and set the file system to NTFS or FAT32.

Method 2: Format EXT2/EXT3 Partition with Partition Master Boot up Partition Master > Right click on the EXT2 or EXT3 partition and select Format > Set drive letter and file system (such as NTFS or FAT32, etc.) > Click OK to execute the operation.

2. Which is better, EXT2 or EXT3?

Some users may be unclear about the differences between Ext2 and Ext3, and want to know which is better. Here's a simple comparison of EXT2 and EXT3:

• EXT2: The Second Extended File System, introduced in 1993. EXT2 does not support journaling and supports individual file sizes from 16GB to 2TB.
• EXT3: The Third Extended File System, introduced in 2001. It allows for journaling and also supports individual file sizes from 16GB to 2TB.

In short, EXT3 is a newer file system than EXT2, with better performance in logging.

3. How do I partition Linux?

Neither Windows File Explorer nor Disk Management can recognize Linux partitions with the EXT2 or EXT3 file system on a Windows computer. Hence, you cannot expect to partition a Linux drive in the usual way on Windows 10/8/7.

Fortunately, Partition Manager – Partition Master supports the ext2 and ext3 file systems in Windows. It can create, format, delete, wipe ext2/ext3 partitions, as well as recover lost ext2/ext3 partitions. For detailed operation guide, please refer to Linux Partition Manager.