In case you need to access a partition with an ext2, ext3 or ext4 file system from Windows (maybe because you have used it with Linux up to that moment), you will have to use a little trick.
MOUNTING THROUGH SHELL
If you prefer not to install any software in Windows, you can use a Linux LIVE distribution (bootable from USB stick).
I recommend Xubuntu 13.04 or later (xubuntu.org) which is a compact version derived from Ubuntu Linux: to install it on a USB stick you can use utilities like YUMI or SARDU.
To mount an ext3 or ext4 partition, you can type the commands from the terminal:
sudo mkdir /mnt/hd1 sudo mount -t ext3 /dev/sdaXXX /mnt/hd1
WHERE: the identification of the partition to be mounted must be specified instead of sdaXXX.
To obtain information about the partitions:
sudo apt-get install parted sudo parted -l
ACCESS THROUGH GUI
In case you want to use a special software, with graphical interface, you can opt for:
DiskInternals Linux Reader – www.diskinternals.com
or
Paragon ExtFS – www.paragon-software.com
Using this software, you can connect a hard drive containing Linux partitions to a Windows system using a free SATA connector or a USB-SATA adapter.