Ext2Explore (formerly called Ext2Read) is a free and open-source utility designed to facilitate the exploration and reading of files stored in Linux-based ext file systems directly from a Windows environment. As Linux file systems are not natively supported by Windows, this tool bridges the gap, allowing users to access their files without needing to boot into Linux or use additional complex virtualization techniques.

Some advanced computer users are likely to have both Windows and Linux installed on their machine. One problem you might encounter in this case is that: Linux can easily read Windows' various file systems used for storing files (such as FAT, NTFS), but in reverse, Windows cannot directly mount, display, or read any file system of Linux. If you don't want to ask some disk partitioning tools for help for this reason, try DiskInternals Linux Reader instead.