Captive NTFS
Encyclopedia
Captive NTFS is a discontinued open-source project within the Linux
programming community, started by Jan Kratochvíl. It is a driver wrapper
around the original Microsoft Windows
NTFS
file system
driver using parts of ReactOS
code. By taking this approach Captive NTFS aimed to provide safe write support to NTFS partitions.
Until the release of NTFS-3G
, it was the only free NTFS driver with full write support.
On January 26, 2006 Jan Kratochvíl released version 1.1.7 of his package. This version restores compatibility with recent Linux
kernels by replacing the obsolete LUFS (Linux Userland File System) module with FUSE
(File System in Userspace), which as of Linux 2.6.14 has been included into the official Linux kernel.
Captive NTFS requires NTFS.SYS which cannot be distributed for legal reasons. It can either be obtained from an installed Windows system (which most computers with NTFS partitions are likely to have) or extracted from certain Microsoft service pack
s.
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
programming community, started by Jan Kratochvíl. It is a driver wrapper
Driver wrapper
A driver wrapper is software that functions as an adapter between an operating system and a driver, such as a device driver, that was not designed for that operating system. It can enable the use of devices for which no drivers for the particular operating system are available...
around the original Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
NTFS
NTFS
NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7....
file system
File system
A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the...
driver using parts of ReactOS
ReactOS
ReactOS is an open source computer operating system intended to be binary compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows NT versions 5.x and up...
code. By taking this approach Captive NTFS aimed to provide safe write support to NTFS partitions.
Until the release of NTFS-3G
NTFS-3G
NTFS-3G is an open source cross-platform implementation of the Microsoft Windows NTFS file system with read-write support. NTFS-3G often uses the FUSE file system interface, so it can run unmodified on many different operating systems. It is runnable on Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenSolaris, BeOS,...
, it was the only free NTFS driver with full write support.
On January 26, 2006 Jan Kratochvíl released version 1.1.7 of his package. This version restores compatibility with recent Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
kernels by replacing the obsolete LUFS (Linux Userland File System) module with FUSE
Filesystem in Userspace
Filesystem in Userspace is a loadable kernel module for Unix-like computer operating systems that lets non-privileged users create their own file systems without editing kernel code...
(File System in Userspace), which as of Linux 2.6.14 has been included into the official Linux kernel.
Captive NTFS requires NTFS.SYS which cannot be distributed for legal reasons. It can either be obtained from an installed Windows system (which most computers with NTFS partitions are likely to have) or extracted from certain Microsoft service pack
Service pack
A service pack is a collection of updates, fixes or enhancements to a software program delivered in the form of a single installable package. Many companies, such as Microsoft or Autodesk, typically release a service pack when the number of individual patches to a given program reaches a certain ...
s.