How do I read the Ext4 partition of my SD card on Windows? [duplicate]

Question

I have a 32 GB SD card with one FAT32 partition and one Ext4 partition. If I mount the SD card to the computer I can read the FAT32 partition in Windows just fine. But how do I read the Ext4 partition?

I have installed Ext2Fsd which is said (link 1, link 2) to support Ext4 partitions. But it is said to only partially support Ext4 partitions and it is best at reading them, writing to them is not recommended as data corruption may occur. I don't need writing anyway, but I can't even read it.

I don't see the Ext4 partition of my SD card when I start the Ext2 Volume Manager. Why is it not showing up?

Update

Okay, here's a short update.

1. Ext2Fsd is NOT working (as you can see by my own answer down below).
2. Ext2Read is NOT working (which is the most up-voted solution in the above mentioned link).

Ext2Fsd is not assigning drive letters to mount the FS on Windows (Explorer).

After choosing a drive letter, this is what I get in return:

Nothing! I just get an empty dialog box.

And as for Ext2Read, it doesn't seem to understand removable devices.

This is what I get when I launch the EXE as admin (required):

If it's a real HDD it can see it and I can browse it. In the image below my Ubuntu disk is shown with two Ext3 (I think it is) partitions and one Swap partition.

But if it's a removable device like a SD card with Ext partition mounted to a SD card reader, it does NOT show up at all (evidently).

So no support for removable devices then in Ext2Read? Right? And I don't know what's going on with Ext2Fsd, that thing can't assign a drive letter to a partition on a removable device. Is this how it is by design? It was also unable to mount my internal HDD with Ubuntu.

The only thing that really worked was the Linux Reader by Diskinternals, as suggested by Chris down below. Thank you Chris!

This is how removable drives show up in Linux Reader:

It's very nice. It even has a Hex viewer for those who want to geek out at it. Not only does it show Linux partitions but Windows partitions as well.

Here's some info on my partition/SD card/card reader.

It's very easy to use and has plenty of features.

Update

Okay, I just found out that Ext2Read DOES work! I was not reading properly. You can see in the screenshot that those are two different devices.

/dev/sda1
/dev/sda2
/dev/sdf2

Device sdf2 is my Ext4 partition on SD card. So I give some credit to Ext2Read! It actually works! But Ext2Fsd does NOT.

Here's another one I found to be working: Ext4Explorer.

I get the same results with Ext4Explorer. I can see the two partitions on one device (internal HDD) and the one partition on the SD card. Here's a screenshot.

But unlike both Ext4Explorer and Ext2Read, the Linux Reader actually shows you how many files you have and some basic information about a file when you open up a folder. The former two do not. If you want to know how many files there are when using either one of the two you have to count the files.... ridiculous!

So I say go with Linux Explorer!

Answer 1

They have what you need:

http://www.diskinternals.com/linux-reader/

it's free and there are plugins as well for TotalCommander!

TotalCommander plugin: http://www.diskinternals.com/reader-for-tc/

Answer 2

Read step 12 first!

I think I just found the answer to my own question. Here's a complete how-to.

1. Go to Ext2Fsd project website.
2. Click on the downloads link.
3. Click the link to SourceForge file repository.
4. Click the Ext2Fsd folder and then the 0.51 folder. You probably want the EXE file for automated installation, ZIP is used for manual installation. Hint! There is a download link for the latest version on top of the Files page.
5. Run the installer to install (Ext2Fsd-0.51.exe). Follow the instalaltion guide.
6. Click Start/Orb button, All Programs, Ext2Fsd, Ext2 Volume Manager. Click Allow if you get a UAC prompt.
7. Now in the lower part of the Ext2 Volume Manager, try to locate your mounted SD card. In my case it's Disk 5.
8. Once you find your SD card, left click on the partition where it says "Linux" under Partition Type to select it.
9. Press F4 to get the Change Drive Letter dialog. For some reason, you won't get this dialog if you right click on the Linux partition. It's either because it's on a removable device and not an actual HDD, or it's because it's Ext4. I have another Ext3 partition on a HDD and context menu works there. So you must use the F4 key to get to this dialog.
10. Click Add button to add a drive letter.
11. Select a drive letter and click OK.
12. DEAD END! Okay, I by now know this doesn't work. It refuses to assign a new drive letter. Maybe because the Ext partition sits on a removable device. For most normal use scenarios on real HDD I expect this to work though. So instead of deleting this how-to after all the effort I will let it sit for future reference.

Screenshots follow...