Fat 32 to NTFS on XP

[Dale C. Elliott]

Hi all,

I need to know how I can change my file format from Fat 32 to NTFS on my windows XP Pro? I just finished checking the archives, and it is mentioned but it is not explained. Can I do this without reformatting my drives.

Thanks,
Dale

[Adrian Douglas]

Yeah, you won't have to reformat it's a non-destructive conversion. To do it type "convert drive letter: /fs:ntfs" without the quotes into the 'Run' input box or at the command prompt. Make sure you back up important files before you modify any system files or file system .

[Edward Troxel]

Alternately (but it costs), a program such as Partition Magic can also perform this task. While Partition Magic has more bells and whistles (not to mention a graphical interface) and can also perform additional tasks, "convert" should work just fine.

NOTE: You should back up the drive BEFORE converting (just in case).

[Dale C. Elliott]

Thanks for your replys,. Yes I was planning on backing up the drives. Here's a stupid question. Where do I find the "run" input box?

Dale

[Adrian Douglas]

Click on the "START" button and you should find and icon with "Run" next to it.

When you carry out the conversion XP will tell you that it cannot perform the conversion at this time and will schedule it to be done at the next time you start you r computer. This is normal and you should select OK.

[Dale C. Elliott]

I thought it was that one, but wasn't sure if it was something else. Its been a long day, and I am only half though it.

Thanks Adrian,
Dale

[Dale C. Elliott]

Adrian,

I gave it a try, and all I got was a flash of a window and that's it. Nothing else happened. Any ideas?

Dale

[Imran Zaidi]

Dale, it would be best if you followed the directions from the horse's mouth:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p...convertfat.asp

The section named "Converting to NTFS Using Convert.exe" should have the exact steps spelled out.

[Dale C. Elliott]

Thanks Imran,

Yep, that would do it, I should have check there first.

Thanks,
Dale

[Adi Head]

how do check to see if a drive is fat, fat32, or ntfs?

[John Loretz]

On Windows XP, you can on my computer, then highlight the drive, then right click on properties. It should tell you if the file system is Fat32 or NTFS.

Cheers,
John

[Adi Head]

thanks john.

i've heard two different opinions on the ntfs vs. fat32 issue.
one says that with windows xp you should make all your drives ntfs because windows xp is built for working with ntfs. the other says that the ideal set up for a video editing computer is to keep your system drive fat32 and make the drive where you store your video files ntfs. i don't remember the details and reasons for each argument and i definately didn't understand them. i'm not much of a computer genius. any thoughts?

[Will Fastie]

NTFS is the better way to go on all drives.

There two exceptions. One involves some recovery techniques that require the system drive (usually C:) to be formatted as FAT. As time has passed, this has become less critical; at this point, I would not give that one much weight. The other is the case where the system is set up to boot multiple operating systems, such as XP and Windows 98, from the same drive. Win98 requires FAT.

If your system is only running XP, just use NTFS.

[Adi Head]

thanks.

[Rob Lohman]

The other reasons was overhead with things like security, but
that isn't that important anymore. NTFS gives you a lot of extra
things, like the following:

1. smaller cluster sizes for larger harddisk
this results in less wasted space

2. journeling file system
this system keeps a log of what is being changed and to
what files. So if your system would crash at the instant NTFS
can revert the file back to either BEFORE the change was
made or check if the change was made correctly. Thus
resulting in less corrupted files when a crash happens
(which might be as easy as power failing)

3. larger files
files can be larger than 4 gigabytes

Then there are some extra things mostly related to security...