"using DiskDrake to mount the partition to /mnt/windows/ and then it works!"
Think over what DiskDrake does. Maybe issue the mount command? Why not figure out the command line and use that? Or look in fstab?
Just FYI. I don't teach Linux. Only point out a direction for you to explore. In otherwords, no fish.
Bob
I have windows xp, mandriva linux LE 2005, and a FAT32 partition on the same hard drive. I'm trying to use the FAT32 partition to share between windows and linux. Windows has no problem accessing this partition, but linux does. I have tried using DiskDrake to mount the partition to /mnt/windows/ and then it works! I can access my files. But after i shutdown and restart my computer later, Linux can't access the partition anymore! I've tried doing this under my user account and also as 'root'. Every time i turn on my computer i have to re-do the whole thing again; unmount the partition, mount it again, and then it works. But i know that as soon as i turn my computer off, I'll have to do it again at the next boot. I wonder if anyone knows how to keep this partition accessible forever.

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