Linux - Windows file exchange

Following guide uses Linux Mint 17 and Windows 7 as examples, however steps should be easy/almost exactly the same to reproduce on other versions of these OSs such as Win 8,10 or Ubuntu.

There are two types of file exchanges that can happen between Linux and Windows - local (on one computer with dual-boot) and over the network (between different computers).

Local file sharing

This one is the easiest to set-up and (in case of accessing Windows partition) does not require anything extra to be installed.

To access files saved on Windows partition using Linux: 

1. Create new partition in Windows that will be dedicated for storing files to be shared (or alternatively you can just use the one that already exists).
2. Boot Linux and mount the partition (Linux should detect it automatically and display in file manager, all you need to do is click and open it).

NOTE: If you are using Win 10 and you receive error while trying to access its partition on Linux, reboot back to Win 10 and shut it down normally (without hybrid shut-down) by holding SHIFT key while clicking shut-down in the Start menu.

To access files saved on Linux partition using Windows:

1. Download and install Ext2Fsd
2. You should be able to access Linux partitions through file explorer 

Network file sharing (different computers)

This method is slightly more complicated however it may be extremely useful. Keep in mind that this method only works for computers that are connected in Local Area Network (LAN) such as typical home network with router.

To set-up file sharing between two computers with Linux and Windows:

1. Create folder for sharing on both computers such as D:/SharedFiles and home/user/SharedFiles
2. Share folder on one or both computers
3. Access shared folder. 

To share Windows folder:

Right click on the Windows folder to be shared and chose "Sharing", then in options add user "Everyone" and give him read-only or read/write privileges.

To share Linux folder:

Right click on the Linux folder to be shared and choose "Sharing Options", then tick "Share this folder" and "Allow for users to delete and save files in this folder" if you want users to have read/write privileges.. You can set additional options such as the name of the share, comment that will be displayed when accessing it and guest access.

To access Linux shared folder on Windows:

1. Open the file explorer and choose "Network" from the panel on the left. You should see various devices connected to your LAN including the Linux computer
2. Double click on the Linux computer and then the shared folder. You will be asked to provide network password
3. In the user input field type in the name of the computer followed by backslash and name of user who has access to this shared folder on Linux, example: MINTPC\linuxuser 
4. In the password field type in the password that you use to access selected user account on Linux

To access Windows shared folder on Linux:

1. Make sure the Windows shared folder is definitely shared for "Everyone" and is available on the network.
2. Create a folder where mounted share will be placed - either by using mkdir command in terminal or file manager.
3. If you wish to have write access to the share (without using root privileges), check your user id by invoking: "id -u 'username'" in terminal and save/remember it, you will include it in "uid=''".
4. Open terminal and mount the share by typing in: 
   
   "sudo mount -t cifs //WINPCIPADDRESS/SHARE /home/user/SHAREMOUNT -o username='yourusername' uid='youruserid'"
5. You should be now be able to access the shared files in specified folder by using file manager.

NOTE: If you do not need write privilege on the share for normal user, dont include the "uid=' ' " part.
Credit for "uid=' ' goes to Timothy Matthews and his blog Microitblog.
If you do not know the IP of the computer, you can check it by invoking ipconfig (in Windows cmd) or ifconfig (in Linux terminal).