Win4Lin User's Guide

About Personal Session Configurations
-- Drives & Filesystems View

Use the Personal Win4Lin Session Configuration window to view, modify, or create an environment in which DOS and Windows sessions are to run.

For more information about the general subject of DOS or Windows environment configurations and managing them, see About Personal Win4Lin Session Configurations.

Drives & Filesystem View

Use this view of the Personal Win4Lin Session Configuration window to:

Viewing the List of Drives

The Drives & Filesystem view displays the complete list of drive letters and corresponding volumes available to your DOS or Windows sessions started with this configuration. The volume is described by the information in the Type and Volume columns.

There are four types of volumes:

Linux
Refers to a Linux directory, which can be accessed as the root of this drive by DOS and Windows applications. This directory is specified in the Volume column.

DOS
Refers to one of the following types of DOS volumes:

Native DOS volume
A physical DOS partition on the fixed disk that only DOS and Windows applications know about and can access. Linux applications normally cannot access native DOS volumes. The volume column identifies such a drive as Native Drive.

Virtual DOS volume
A Linux file that is formatted as a complete DOS file system. Only Win4Lin sessions can access the files on this volume. The volume column lists the token name that identifies this Linux file. (To display the actual Linux file name associated with a particular token, use the System-Wide Win4Lin Administration category and select the DOS Drive view from the Device Definition dialog box.)

CD
A physical CD-ROM device.

FLOPPY
A physical floppy drive. Floppy drives cannot be detached or configured in any way in the Personal Session Configuration. Refer to the Win4Lin User's Guide or Release Notes for information about how to configure floppy disk access.

Changing the Properties of a Volume

Take the following actions:

  1. Select a drive by clicking on the appropriate line in the list.

  2. Click on the Properties button.

    The Drive Properties window appears. Use the Help button in that window for further instructions.

Attaching a Volume to a DOS Drive Letter

Take the following action to attach a new volume to a specific DOS drive letter:

  1. Click on the Add button.

    The Drive Properties window appears. Use the Help button in that window for further instructions.

Detaching a Volume from a DOS Drive Letter

Take the following actions:

  1. Select the volume you want to detach by clicking on the appropriate line in the list.

  2. Click on the Detach button.

Specifying the initial drive

When your DOS or Windows session starts, the initial drive and directory are determined by the option Start on personal drive.