Paragon ExtFS Quick User Manual

PARAGON Software GmbH

Heinrich-von-Stephan-Str. 5c  79100 Freiburg, Germany

Tel. +49 (0) 761 59018201  Fax +49 (0) 761 59018130

Internet www.paragon-software.com  Email sales@paragon-software.com

Quick User Guide

Paragon ExtFS for Windows

Contents

Product Concept ............................................................................................................ 3

Key Features ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Key Use Cases ..................................................................................................................................... 3

Getting Started .............................................................................................................. 3

System Requirements ......................................................................................................................... 3

Installation ......................................................................................................................................... 3

Product Activation .............................................................................................................................. 5

Working with the Driver ................................................................................................ 9

Configuring the Driver ................................................................................................. 10

Setting up through Graphical Interface ............................................................................................. 10

Setting up from Command Prompt ................................................................................................... 11

Updating the Driver ..................................................................................................... 11

Submitting Support Request ........................................................................................ 12

Product Concept

Paragon ExtFS for Windows is a file system driver that can offer full read/write access to Linux-native Ext2 / Ext3 / Ext4 volumes under Microsoft Windows. With our driver onboard, you can plug in ExtFS storages to your PC to get access to their contents for reading, copying, or modification.

Paragon ExtFS for Windows doesn’t work in the kernel mode, but uses the Dokan library, which is similar to FUSE (Linux user mode file system), but for Windows OS. In short, Dokan enables to easily create a fully functional file system driver in a userspace program. For more information, please visit:

http://dokan-dev.github.io/.

Key Features

 Provides fast and transparent read/write access to Linux Ext2 / Ext3 / Ext4 under Windows  Gets ready to work in a couple of minutes  Supports the latest Windows 10  Managed through Windows system tray  Managed from Windows CMD  Supports Linux LVM (Logical Volume Manager) disks  Includes ‘Runs at startup’ and ‘Automount’ features  Safe eject ready

Key Use Cases

 Import/Export data from/to ExtFS volumes. Let’s assume that a hard drive has been taken out from NAS

storage based on Linux and you need to copy files to or from this disk under Windows OS. Just install our driver, connect this disk via eSATA connector or USB-to-SATA adapter to your PC and here you go – all files on Linux-native volumes are available to work with under Windows.

 Open documents and multimedia directly from ExtFS volumes. If you want to watch movies or open

large documents contained on a Linux-native volume from your PC, simply install our driver, connect this disk directly to your PC and enjoy the show.

Getting Started

In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to get the product ready to use.

System Requirements

 Windows 7  Windows 8  Windows 8.1  Windows 10  Windows Server 2008  Windows Server 2012 R1/R2

Installation

1. Click on the supplied setup file to initiate the installation.

2. Click Continue on the Welcome page.

3. In order to continue the installation you are to accept all conditions stated in Paragon’s license

agreement. You can also print out the agreement by using the appropriate button.

4. By default the product will be available for all users of this computer. If you’d like it to be available for the

current user account only, please choose the corresponding option.

5. If necessary manually edit the installation path or click Change… to browse for the required location.

6. By default the installation folder will be added to the PATH environment variable to let you manage the

driver from the command line without typing the whole path to its executable file. Unmark the checkbox if you don’t need it.

7. Click Install to roll out the installation.

8. Finally you will be prompted to enter a serial number and thus activate the product. You can find it in the

product box or obtain from your reseller. If you don’t have a serial number yet, skip this action by marking the corresponding option. For more details, please consult the Product Activation chapter.

Product Activation

ExtFS for Windows is a commercially distributed product, which is however can be used with no limitations completely for free during a 10-day trial period. After that you won’t be able to use it until activated over the Internet.

Start Trial

If you haven’t activated the product during the installation, you can start a 10-day trial period through the program interface.

1. Double click the product icon on the Windows desktop.

2. Select Help > Activate the product.

3. Click on Start Trial.

4. Once done, all found ExtFS volumes will be automatically mounted (assigned drive letters).

Online Activation

If you haven’t activated the product during the installation, you can purchase and unlock it for unlimited use at any moment through the program interface. The recommended procedure requires an active Internet connection and minimal participation from your part. However, if you don’t have the Internet on the target computer, you can try an offline option.

There are two ways of activating the product over the Internet: with login to MyParagon Customer Portal and

without it. We highly recommend you to use the first option to let us offer you personal discounts in the future.

Besides, you will be able to issue support tickets directly from the product.

1. First you should purchase the product. The easiest way is to use a direct link:

- Double click the product icon on the Windows desktop.

- Select Help > Activate the product;

- Click on Buy Full Version…

2. By this moment you should have your own serial number. Click on Activate.

Activating with login

3. In the opened dialog enter an email and password of your Paragon’s account, then click Sign in.

4. If you have purchased the product online as described in the first step, then your serial number will be

pasted automatically. If having to do with a box version of the product, enter your serial number, then click Activate. This info will be sent to our activation server to complete the procedure.

5. If a success, you’ll get a corresponding notification.

Activating without login

3. In the opened dialog click Activate Without Login.

4. Enter your serial number, then click Activate. This info will be sent to our activation server to complete

the procedure.

5. If a success, you’ll get a corresponding notification.

Offline Activation

1. If having problems with the Internet or specifically configured Firewall at login to your Paragon’s account

on the target computer, try an offline option.

2. Write down your GUID and the provided link somewhere.

3. Use the saved link on any computer with the Internet to visit the company’s website to sign in to your

Paragon’s account.

4. Enter your serial number and GUID in the corresponding fields, then click Export license file.

5. If the provided data is valid, you should get the “LicenseSet.xml” file. Copy it to the target computer, then

use the Select License File option for the import.

6. If a success, you’ll get a corresponding notification.

Working with the Driver

After the product has been installed and activated, Windows will automatically mount (assign drive letters to) all found ExtFS volumes, which you can see in the main window of the driver by clicking its desktop icon,

ExtFS volumes won’t be mounted until you activate either the full or trial version. For more details, please consult the Product Activation chapter.

or through the Windows system tray.

Now you can carry out any operation on an ExtFS volume as if it's Windows-native:

 Transfer data,  Modify data,  Delete data, or whatever you feel like doing.

Configuring the Driver

Paragon ExtFS for Windows is very flexible and can be easily set up either with the help of a graphical interface or from the command line.

Setting up through Graphical Interface

1. Double click the product icon on the Windows desktop.

2. Select File > Settings.

3. By default all found ExtFS volumes are automatically mounted in read/write mode at the system startup.

Furthermore, all actions accomplished by the driver are logged. If you’d like to change it, mark/unmark checkboxes opposite the required options.

Setting up from Command Prompt

 Installing the driver (quite installation with a serial number).

 Configuring the driver.

As an example, you can see output of the list command:

Updating the Driver

1. Double click the product icon on the Windows desktop.

2. Select Help > Check for updates.

3. If a new version of the driver has been found, you will be prompted to install it.

Log files do not contain any confidential information on the operating system settings or the user documents.

Submitting Support Request

In case of having difficulties with handling the product you can address our support engineers for assistance. To help you solve your problem with minimal time, our engineers need operation logs and your brief description.

To get the logs file, please do the following:

1. Double click the product icon on the Windows desktop.

2. Select Help > Show log.

3. Get in touch with our support engineers and send them the logs.

Paragon ExtFS Quick User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual