@kl522 (and others)

I think you could help us all if you would define some practical examples of do's and don'ts
working with ntfs for linux purposes.

I avoid almost all writes to ntfs from within linux, I avoid automatic mounts of ntfs on linux,
but I have one experience I think I survived which is not quite so conservative.

I think it is correct to say the material on my 6.2 and 6.4 USB installs, including the persistent
store image, resides on a vfat medium. vfat is a linux format deemed two-way compatible with Windows FAT16 and FAT 32, including Windows XP an 7, which operate basically on ntfs. Please pardon any picayune distinctions for the moment.

I occasionally store copies of the vfat contents of the USBs on the Windows 7 partition, manipulate the contents among the vfat files with a Win 7 file manger, and subsequently return the USBs to some activity as mounted and active Knoppix installs.

I have not observed this type of activity to have any ill effect on Win 7 or XP media or systems.

So, I'd be interested in any opinions on whether I'm doing anything scary here, and moreover, would hope this might prompt the exposiion of other examples of working with ntfs files we might deem safe.