Raw partition access in Windows Vista

Question

Accessing a raw disk partition in Windows Vista requires kernel mode control, as opposed to for instance WinXP where you can access it from user mode.

However, I've heard that when it comes to USB flash memory, a partition can still be accessed from user mode even on Windows Vista.

Is this true?

Regards

/Robert

Answer 1

You can do this on Vista, you may need admin rights, but no special kernel mode driver is needed.

This question shows how to do it http://stackoverflow.com/questions/38190/how-do-i-read-a-disk-directly-with-net I was reading the data off the USB stick directly as the file system on the stick was corrupted.