Free ext2 software for windows

Explore2fs is a GUI explorer tool for accessing ext2 and ext3 filesystems. Explore2fs is a small, simple and easy-to-use GUI explorer tool for accessing ext2 and ext3 filesystems.
Explore2fs runs under all versions of Windows and can read almost any ext2 and ext3 filesystem.
Main features:
- Reads ext2
- Reads ext3
- Drag & Drop
- 1.44Meg Floppy Disk Support
- LS120 Floppy Disk Support
- ZIP & Jazz Disk Support
- USB & CF Disk Support
- CDROM Support
- Supports Windows 98 extended partition scheme
- Export files as binary
- Export files as text
- Export directory
- View/Execute file
- Large disk support
- Large file support
- LVM2
- ReiserFS Detection
- Unicode UTF8 support
- Preserve time stamps on export

clone maxx is the new professional hard drive copying program clone maxx is the new professional hard drive copying program from CONVAR. Using the new direct DMA support, data can be copied from hard drives in high speed mode with speeds up to 3.3 GB per minute.
This high speed is achieved by clone maxx through intelligent inspection of the PC motherboard and the hard drive controller. The software independently determines the fastest data transmission rate and achieves these exceptional speeds through optimal utilization of the DMA chipset on the motherboard of your PC.
clone maxx can be started directly from a boot diskette. The copying process is always based on the physical drive and is independent of the file system (e.g. FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, HPFS, NTFS, Ext2, Reiser, etc.) or the number of partitions.

SelfImage - Small and free hard disk imaging utility SelfImage is the little hard drive utility with big aspirations.
In its current incarnation, SelfImage is capable of making an image of a hard disk partition and writing it to another - useful for making backups
Use SelfImage to create a disk image of any partition and even partitions that Windows does not recognize (Linux partitions, etc).
Additionally, when run on Windows 2000 or XP, SelfImage can create images of partitions that Windows doesnt have mounted on a drive letter. Perfect for the dual-boot system, you can create an image backup of a Linux partition directly from Windows.
Main features:
- Create 1:1 image files of any mounted (or unmounted on Windows 2000/XP) hard disk partition.
- Can create an image of an entire hard disk, including the master boot record, partition table, and all partitions (Windows 2000/XP)
- Restore previously created images to any partition, even mounted ones, as long as it doesnt have open files.
- On-the-fly compression accelerated with parallel CPU support to take advantage of todays hyperthreaded, multi-core and SMP systems.
- Skip reading a disks "free space", treating it as if it were zero. This decreases the size of a compressed image and makes it process MUCH faster. NEW Version 1.2.0 can now do this for Linux ext2/ext3 partitions as well.
- NEW Available as an experimental BartPE plugin for use in boot/rescue CDs.
- Network Block Device support to make images of disks on remote machines, and restore back to them.
- Multi-threaded design for maximum throughput and low CPU overhead.
- Its free software - free as in cost, and free as in open source - released under the GNU General Public License.

With this program you could save all data on a partition to a file (such as you could save this file on a CD for example). Then if something goes wrong, you can completely restore the partition from the backup file. You no longer have to reinstall every piece of software from scratch. All you have to do is restore the partition from the backup file and then update any software that was modified since the backup was created.
Note: beware of software which installs or modifies files on multiple partitions (e.g. Windows programs which update the registry or DLLs that may be on other partitions). If one partition is saved or restored, you must include others (otherwise, inconsistencies could prevent software from running).
Partition Saving is able to compress data (using the gzip compression algorithm) and split it up into several files (e.g. if you need to save a 2 Gb partition onto a CD, this can be done by compressing it and, if necessary, splitting it up into 650 Mb files). Most partition types are supported. In the case of FAT (12, 16 and 32), ext2/3 and NTFS partitions, you can choose between saving all sectors or in-use sectors only.

Major Features:

1. Save all data on a partition to a file (such as you could save this file on a CD for example).
2. Restore the partition from the backup file.
3. Compress data (using the gzip compression algorithm) and split it up into several files (e.g. if you need to save a 2 Gb partition onto a CD, this can be done by compressing it and, if necessary, splitting it up into 650 Mb files).
   

Enhancements:

1. Correct a problem that disallows creating files when using DOS version within Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista (as to pre-create files on an NTFS partition)
2. Add also a workaround to the DOS network redirector that removes distant directory in case this one is empty.

TestDisk is a tool to check and undelete partitions TestDisk was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally erasing your Partition Table).
TestDisk is a free and useful program which queries the BIOS ( DOS/Win9x) or the OS ( Linux, FreeBSD) in order to find the Hard Disks and their characteristics ( LBA size and CHS geometry). TestDisk does a quick check of your disks structure and compares it with your Partition Table for entry errors. If the Partition Table has entry errors, TestDisk can repair them. If you have missing partitions or a completely empty Partition Table, TestDisk can search for partitions and create a new Table or even a new MBR if necessary.
However, its up to the user to look over the list of possible partitions found by TestDisk and to select the one(s) which were being used just before the drive failed to boot or the partition(s) were lost. In some cases, especially after initiating a detailed search for lost partitions, TestDisk may show partition data which is simply from the remnants of a partition that had been deleted and overwritten long ago.
TestDisk has features for both novices and experts. For those who know little or nothing about data recovery techniques, the command line parameters /log and /debug can be used to collect detailed information about a non-booting drive which can then be sent to a tech for further analysis. Those more familiar with such procedures should find TestDisk a handy tool in performing onsite recovery.
TestDisk can find lost partitions for all of these file systems:
- BeFS ( BeOS )
- BSD disklabel ( FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD )
- CramFS, Compressed File System
- DOS/Windows FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32
- HFS and HFS+, Hierarchical File System
- JFS, IBMs Journaled File System
- Linux Ext2 and Ext3
- Linux Raid
- RAID 1: mirroring
- RAID 4: striped array with parity device
- RAID 5: striped array with distributed parity information
- RAID 6: striped array with distributed dual redundancy information
- Linux Swap (versions 1 and 2)
- LVM and LVM2, Linux Logical Volume Manager
- Mac partition map
- Novell Storage Services NSS
- NTFS ( Windows NT/2K/XP/2003 )
- ReiserFS 3.5, 3.6 and 4
- Sun Solaris i386 disklabel
- Unix File System UFS and UFS2 (Sun/BSD/...)
- XFS, SGIs Journaled File System