I’ve got a USB stick with multiple Partitions on it (FAT32 (active), FAT32, Ext2, but that’s another story) and it seems like that my Windows XP can only mount the first partition of the stick. If I try to mount the second one using the volume manager it tells me that I need to make it active and reboot…is it really that limited or am I just missing something here?
Partitions:
- FAT32, System Rescue CD, bootable and active
- FAT32, some tools
- ext2, some data (I know that I need extra drivers, etc., but that’s not asked here)
Solution:
Windows XP doesn’t support multiple partitions on removable drives.
However, if you really need this, you can try and flip the removable bit of a USB flash drive. This will tell Windows your removable drive is a fixed disk, thus enabling it to see and make use of multiple partitions.
- Go to Lexar USB Flip tool.
- Read the warning carefully.
- Try it if the risk of losing all your pen drive data is not a problem.
Other manufacturers may provide a similar tool which is guaranteed to work on your USB stick. You may wish to check for this.