Inconvenient behaviour difference between bazaar on linux and windows(MinGW/Msys)

[David Ingamells]

I have a branch in a filesystem that is shared between ubuntu (NFS 
mount) and windows machines (CIFS/Samba mount).
The repository was created on the ubuntu machine, but when I go to the 
windows machine and call (e.g.) 'bzr revno' I get an error:

    bzr: ERROR: Invalid url supplied to transport:
    "file:///data/id/CmsRoot/repos/MScms/Admin/": Win32 file urls start
    with file:///x:/, where x is a valid drive letter

    $ ls -a /data/id/CmsRoot/repos/MScms/Admin
    .  ..  .bzr
    $ uname -a
    MINGW32_NT-6.1 WIN7VM03 1.0.17(0.48/3/2) 2011-04-24 23:39 i686 Msys


This may well be because the standard pre-built windows Bazaar installer 
has been used, but the windows terminal is using MinGW and Msys; bzr was 
called from MSys using 'cmd'.
If so does anyone have any advice for installing Bazaar (and by 
implication python) in this MinGW+Msys environment?

(and before anyone suggests creating checkouts or other such 
workarounds, I have very good reasons for using the same branch)
Thanks in advance
-- 

*David*