Release Notes of Ext2 IFS version 1.11

Improved plug-n-play behavior

With Ext2 IFS version 1.11, drive letter management is significantly improved: When a removable device, e.g. an external USB hard disk drive, is unplugged, drive letters for that device are automatically deleted.

When the device is reconnected, the drive letter it once had is retained. A partition to which no drive letter is assigned in the "IFS Drives" item on the control panel will remain without drive letter even if the corresponding storage device is dis- and reconnected — exactly as specified.

Thus, drive letters should not be deleted in the "IFS Drives" item on the control panel before unplugging devices, as was the case with Ext2 IFS 1.10. This offers the convenience of automatic creation of drive letters when devices are reconnected.

With Windows XP or higher, the "IFS Drives" item on the control panel has an additional option:
"Automatically assign drive letter when connecting a device for the first time".

This option decides what happens when a device, e.g. an external USB hard disk drive, is plugged in for the first time (after installation of the Ext2 IFS 1.11 software): When this feature is enabled, drive letters are created for all (non-Windows) partitions of the device. Otherwise you have to create drive letters manually in the "IFS Drives" item on the control panel, but only once initially.

Hibernate (suspend to disk)

You can use hibernate (suspend to disk) in Windows only if you resume Windows subsequently. Furthermore, you can use hibernate (suspend to disk) in Linux only if you attempt to resume Linux subsequently. It means that you should shutdown Windows before booting Linux and vice-versa. You cannot mix the two operating systems.

File names which end with a dot character

It is not possible to access or create files and directories if their name ends on a dot character ".".

When the Windows Explorer specifies a file name with a trailing dot, Window's Win32 subsystem removes that dot and the file system driver gets a create/open request with a wrong file name. (It mimics some obscure DOS behavior.)

Synchronization issue when used with Windows NT 4.0

Currently there is a compatibility issue with Windows NT 4.0: When drive letters are created or deleted with the setup program or with the "IFS Drives" item on the control panel, lists of hard disk drives in Windows NT Explorer and other windows are not automatically updated. Please choose View/Update in the appropriate menu. Sometimes Windows NT Explorer shows a wrong icon for a created drive letter.