Extended File System (Ext)

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The Extended File System (Ext) is a family of file systems consisting of: ext, ext2, ext3, ext4

Ext2

ext2 or the second extended file system is a Linux filesystem designed as a replacement for ext. Note that ext3 is mostly compatible with ext2.

Ext3

ext3 or the third extended file system is a Linux filesystem. Its main advantage over ext2 is journalling which improves reliability and eliminates the need to check the file system after an unclean shutdown.

Ext4

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External Links

Ext2

• Wikipedia article on EXT2
• Layout of the EXT2 Filesystem
• Linux Ext2fs Undeletion mini-HOWTO
• Using ext2 on other systems

Ext3

• Wikipedia article on EXT3
• Why Recovering a Deleted Ext3 File Is Difficult (by Brian Carrier)

Tools

The Sleuthkit and R-Studio can be used to perform recovery of data from the EXT2 filesystem. Various data carving tools like Foremost and Scalpel also support the ext2 filesystem.