setting up XMBCbuntu

[rangor gubbins]

Hi,
So i've decided to foray into the world of linux for the first time and have installed XBMCbuntu onto my HTPC.

I'm having some teething issues getting to grips with the hard drive mounting system.

So i have two HDDs, an 80GB one which XBMCbuntu is installed onto using ext 4 file system. I'm now trying to add a second internal HDD (1TB) where my media will be stored. (currently all my media is on my windows 7 desktop; the ubuntu HTPC, win7 desktop, plus other windows machines are all networked)

My plan at the moment is to plug the media HDD into my windows 7 pc, format with a suitable file system, copy all my media onto it, then plug into my HTPC downstairs.
Is this the simplest way?
Which file system is most suitable for using with ubuntu and windows? Fat32 or NTFS?
Will XBMCbuntu automount the media HDD and allow me to access the files on it, if not, how do i do that?

The HTPC will be set to WOL, and I will use it to stream media to other windows PCs around the house. Apparently i can use Samba to do this.
Any tips for getting this to work well?
I would like to be able to give all users read only access, apart from my own PC which will need read/write access.

Many thanks for your help.

 

[rangor gubbins]

Yup, there's a lan from the win7 desktop to linux HTPC. There's around 1 TB of data though, so just thought it would be quicker to copy it from inside the win7 machine and then insert the full HDD in the HTPC.
You're right though i should do it properly over the Lan. I've got to learn how to get it to work on linux so i might as well start now!
so far I tried installing the media HDD into the HTPC and i managed to format it, partition it (with ext 4), but i had trouble mounting it, accessing it, creating folders, and accessing it via the network. will try again tonight.

for setting up limited access across the network, do i do this in SAMBA alone, or do i first need to set up user accounts within linux. I want my win7 PC to have full access, and the other people in the house to only have read access; also, their access will be via wireless.