Access EXT3 and EXT4 partitions from Windows Vista

First off.. you don't want to. Making your ext3 and ext4 filesystems visible to windows opens you up to infecting your Linux system with viruses and worms.

But, if you still want to...

See: http://www.fs-driver.org/

Which could have been found on google if you searched for "ext2 filesystem driver for Windows XP"

ext3 is backwards compatible with ext2, so you can use the ext2 driver to read ext3 partitions (be sure to read the FAQ section on that). ext4 is very new. Don't expect a Windoze driver for some time.

Windows virii do not affect Linux as Linux isnt Windows.

Can you please expand on how accessing EXT3/4 filesystems via Windows will spread viral infections.

Thanks

Making the file system available to Windows will allow Windows programs to alter files on the Linux file system-- this includes viruses, worms, etc. For instance, a worm may search for Microsoft Office documents, and then add a hostile macro to the file. If the Linux file system is visible and writable under Windows, then the worm will also alter Microsoft Office files on the Linux drive.

True but the windows virus themselves will not affect the running of linux as they are written for windows, however if a different windows system opens these files then it can spread the virus to them.

windows viruses do not affect linux.