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When I try to move lots of files from an EXT partition to an NTFS partition in Ubuntu, it complains about "Filesystem does not support symbolic links", and fails. Of course NTFS does support symbolic links, so is there a way to move the files and preserve the links?

If not, is there a way to move the files and skip the links or convert them into regular files or something?

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Is the ntfs-3g driver being used? If yes, which version? – grawity Feb 20 '11 at 14:21
@grawity: Ok, first problem: I wasn't really using NTFS; I was using vboxsf, which doesn't support symlinks. I then created a NTFS VHD and mounted it in VirtualBox, and was able to move symlinks over, but they are in a Linuxy format, as a plain file starting with IntxLNK, which Linux still recognizes as links, but Windows does not. I'm not sure if it uses NTFS-3G when you double-click in Nautilus, but I would assume so. – endolith Mar 1 '11 at 0:12
1) Those are Interix symlinks (not "Linuxy"). 2) ntfs-3g only applies when the disk is accessed directly; it's an entirely different matter if you access the filesystem over some kind of network. 3) You didn't say which version of Windows. – grawity Mar 1 '11 at 5:52
I am accessing the disk directly now, just wasn't when I asked the question. I created a virtual NTFS drive to share between VirtualBox and Windows 7. When I move the links to the NTFS partition, they are converted(?) into Interix symlinks instead of native NTFS symlinks. Linux still seems to recognize them, but Windows does not. – endolith Mar 1 '11 at 21:42
"The similar concept of symbolic link is also available in Windows Vista. ... The symbolic links in Vista are different from Interix symbolic links created by ntfs-3g which are also interoperable with Windows XP and Vista." tuxera.com/community/ntfs-3g-advanced/… – endolith Mar 1 '11 at 21:46
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