Install Tinycore on a USB Drive with a Partition for Sharing Files with Windows

This method may be used to install Tiny Core on a USB drive with a partition for sharing files with Windows.

Be aware: Some older computers cannot start an operating system on a USB drive.

When installing to a hard drive, you may also make a FAT32 partition for sharing files with Windows.

There are many different partitioning applications.

GParted may be easier for new users.

GParted can be installed in Tiny Core, and used for partitioning.

Parted Magic contains GParted, and may be used for partitioning.

Before partitioning the drive, save a copy of all files you want to keep. All files on the drive will be lost.

Start the GParted Partition Editor.

Be sure to select the correct drive. Warning: If you select the wrong drive, everything on that drive will be lost.

Delete the existing partition.

Make the first partition a FAT32 partition.

Make the rest of the drive an Ext2 partition.

Set the flag of the Ext2 partition to Boot or Active.

Install Tiny Core using one of these methods

• Install Tiny Core on a USB Drive with Internet
• Install Tiny Core on a USB Drive without Internet

During installation select, Existing Partition. Then select the Ext2 partition. It may be something like sda2, sdb2 or sdc2. Click on the square preceeding “Mark Partition Active (bootable)” so it becomes ticked.

You may now save all files you want to share with Windows, in the FAT32 partition.

To access the partition from Tiny Core, you need to mount it. To mount the drive, start the mount tool. When the drive is unmounted, it is red. Click on it, so it becomes green.

When running Windows, the partition will show up as an additional drive, such as D: or E:

To access files from both Linux and Windows applications, save in appropriate formats. For example, if you have a document created in Open Office, and want to access it with Microsoft Word, save it in a format which can be read by Microsoft Word.