Why can I access windows files while I am on Ubuntu?

[babas87]

Hello, I just downloaded and installed Ubuntu 12.10 today along side with windows 7 so it's a dual boot. But I have a concern. I switched mainly to Ubuntu because of lack of security in Windows. I have heard that when it's a dual boot, the 2 operating system are separated and can't connect with each other so I was really happy about that. Then while playing (looking around) with Ubuntu I noticed an icon on the bar to the left called "285 GB Volume". When I open it, it's exactly like my C: drive from windows 7 and I can access every file in windows like: Users, Windows, System 32, Downloads... Why is that? Is there a chance I may be infected by windows files? Or infected files from Ubuntu tranfer to windows. I looked online everywhere to see why there is a link between Windows and Linux on my system. I also saw that to see windows files in Ubuntu, I had to install or do something I am not sure but the thing is I never done any of those and it's there automatically. Can somebody help me? Thanks for your help!

[itrogers]

Linux is recognizing the partition on your hard drive which happens to contain a Windows operating system. Linux can read the partition, the folder structure, the files, etc on that Windows partition (NTFS).

The reason why Windows can't "see" the linux partition is because Windows doesn't handle the Ubuntu file system well by default since the addon.

Any virus made for Windows is exactly that, made for Windows. They corrupt the file system, registry, system folder, etc. The base of Linux is far more different than Windows in that any virus or insecurity made for Windows won't affect linux.

[babas87]

Ok thanks for the quick reply. I have one more question: What anti-virus software do you recommend for linux (the best one)? Thanks

[ManamiVixen]

You don't need one. Linux has no viruses, The only reason why you would want antivirus for linux is in a case where you send files to Windows PC's.

[babas87]

Thanks. Linux is great...

[babas87]

I have another question. I hope that you don't get annoyed. I am getting used to the system and I saw online to never run as root. But how to know that I am running as root. I am the administrator of the machine (I am the only one using it), I am running as root? Thanks

[3rdalbum]

If you don't log in with the username "root" then you are not running as root.

[DiabolicalClaptrap]

You don't need one. Linux has no viruses, The only reason why you would want antivirus for linux is in a case where you send files to Windows PC's.

True but I strongly advise keeping up to date on vulnerabilities and exploits. Don't always assume the community will catch everything. Look into programs like noscript and apparmor. bodhi.zazen typed an excellent tutorial on the latter. Try to have an understanding of what IS out there. Just because Linux was built to be resistant to viruses doesn't mean it's impervious to other types of malicious of code. A good defense can only be as good as the user wants it to be. Just my 2 cents.

[itrogers]

I have another question. I hope that you don't get annoyed. I am getting used to the system and I saw online to never run as root. But how to know that I am running as root. I am the administrator of the machine (I am the only one using it), I am running as root? Thanks

You may be an administrator but you are not the ultimate administrator known as root. Typically you'll run commands with root privileges using "sudo" in the command line. This is good for the operating system and is one of the reasons for its great security, unlike Windows where you pretty much have full admin access all the time.

[coldraven]

I think that I'm correct in saying that Ubuntu mounts any connected drives as "Media". If you plug in a USB drive or stick it automatically appears in the file manager.
You can edit a file called fstab so that your Windows drive does not appear but I would leave it as it is for the following reasons.
While using Ubuntu if you download a file or image that needs a Windows program you can just copy it to C:\Downloads or wherever and work on it next time you boot into Windows.
If you install Clam anti-virus in Ubuntu you can scan your Windows drive and any files that you download in Ubuntu.