Convert To NTFS

[Tony L]

I Want to convert fat 32 to NTFS. I've read how to convert but my concern is the following below.

"Once you convert a drive or partition to NTFS, you cannot simply convert it back to FAT or FAT32. You will need to reformat the drive or partition which will erase all data, including programs and personal files, on the partition".


I'm woried to continue just incase i need to reformate my HDD.
How safe is this convetion.

[DefX]

You're worried about converting fat32 to NTFS? That should be pretty safe. I've done it a few times in the past. You can either do it with your default OS converter (i'm assuming youre using windows) or you can do what i did and use a program called Partition Magic which i never had problems with. Either way should be fine.

Also, although i don't normally expect to go anything wrong, I would still suggest to backup important data in your hd that u want to convert just in case.

[Tony L]

Thanks, i'll give it a go and do a backup just to be on the safe side.

[mooxyox]

Converting back to FAT32 will be painful, but I see no reason why u would want to do that unless u wish to install WIN98 or something similar on that partition.

[hesterloli]

Yes NTFS is the file system you should be using. Of course Windows 95\98\ME cannot natively read that file system but really there is no reason to use those DOS based systems anymore unless of course you are using a laptop on which one of those systems came with the machine.Here is the best reason for using NTFS. It has security. Any other file system FAT32 of FAT16 does not have security. Why is that a good thing. In this day and age the Internet is full of malware which can download and install into your system just by visiting a site. If you have NTFS file system and you browse the Net while signed in as a user that has little or no permissions to change anything in the system, those malwares can do nothing to you. The NTFS security system will not allow them to alter anything.Go ahead with the File System conversion. It takes a little while but have patience it will finish without issue.

[Tony L]

To convert to NTFS would i have to close any work that i'm doing.

[yoyogi4]

NTFS is an upgrade that supports fat but fat doesn't suppport NTFS.

[Mori]

first u have to format the partition u wanna convert then convert

but if it is the C partition u will do it from windows setup or dos

[Tony L]

So just convert it as an upgrade as below.


u can use the following command:

convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

where instead of drive_letter u should use the letter assigned to your hard drive (C, D etc.)

[Virtualbody1234]

To convert to NTFS would i have to close any work that i'm doing.

Definitely close your work.

[Tony L]

Sorry i meant to have ask earlier, how long does it take ? i know it depends on certain aspect,is is many hours, should i do it over night.
Thanks.

[Galva]

Depends on drive size, speed etc - but not long. Took an 80gig laptop drive < than 45 mintutes last week.

[peat moss]

With all do respect to Tony who I like by the way , how the fuck does this fit in Filesharing topic ? Where's the mods to merge or move a topic ? Kissing ass in BT I suspect . :(

[kiosk]

NTFS offers the following advantages over FAT32:

Recovery. NTFS volumes can recover from disk errors more readily than FAT32 volumes. If a system fails, NTFS uses log files and checkpoint information to restore a file system.

Security. NTFS volumes allow you to restrict access to files and folders using permissions. Windows XP Professional users can also use file encryption to protect data.


Click Start, Run, type CMD, and then hit ENTER.

Then to convert the C: drive, for example, to NTFS, type:

CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and hit the ENTER key.

The conversion won’t occur until you reboot the computer. This is perfectly normal.

[sjw1]

It will also ask for a Volume name - this is the name you give the Drive..

[nodigity]

Another feature of NTFS is that it can contain individual file sizes greater that 4 point something GB's. I guess they never thought there'd be individual files that size back when they developed FAT32:) .

I had to convert my external hard drive to NTFS so that I could store DVD images on it but it was dead easy follow the method above. I backed everything up first thou.

[Chewie]

With all do respect to Tony who I like by the way , how the fuck does this fit in Filesharing topic ? Where's the mods to merge or move a topic ? Kissing ass in BT I suspect . :(
You're right, peat.

/moved

Wait a minute...

NTFS is an upgrade that supports fat but fat doesn't suppport NTFS.What are you talking about?

[Appzalien]

You cannot convert C while you are running windows. You can convert D or E from within windows and unless any of your apps that are running run from D or E it would not matter if you have something running.

You cannot convert C from a dos prompt with say a win98 boot floppy because it doesn't have that capability. Typically what would be the case is your old drive C, running win 98 or XP fat32, would be removed from the system, a new hard drive is mounted and XP ntfs is installed. Then and only then do you hookup the old drive which will become D and from within windows running on C open the run box and convert D to ntfs.

If your C drive is still fat32 and your running XP you can convert it with a restart but you will have to write down the Volume name before you restart. Thats the name that shows up in Windows Explorer for the C drive.

[lightshow]

Just one thing to keep in mind.

If you format your external hard drive with NTFS, it can not be read or written to by any mac computers.

I had a few problems with this when I wanted to edit some of my film with a certain effect in FinalCutPro, but I was unable to get my drive to be read.

But other than that, I don't see a downside to formatting to NTFS. And the 4GB+ file sizes are a deal breaker for me. My raw footage gets up to 20+GB a file.

[tesco]

You cannot convert C while you are running windows. You can convert D or E from within windows and unless any of your apps that are running run from D or E it would not matter if you have something running.

You cannot convert C from a dos prompt with say a win98 boot floppy because it doesn't have that capability. Typically what would be the case is your old drive C, running win 98 or XP fat32, would be removed from the system, a new hard drive is mounted and XP ntfs is installed. Then and only then do you hookup the old drive which will become D and from within windows running on C open the run box and convert D to ntfs. Would be way easier to use something like partition magic or acronis partition thingy to convert it. They will do it either way with a restart.
I also thought xp could convert ntfs to fat32 without a restart but I might be wrong, it's been soooooooo long since I did that.:lol:

[Appzalien]

Any kind of conversion the OS is capable of can be done without a restart on any inactive drive. The C drive cannot be converted because its running windows. If you have a D partition on the same hard drive you could convert that without restarting.

Alot of people, when they acquire a new drive (who convert to ntfs at the time) make the mistake of adding the drive without removing the first. When they are not familiar with jumpers and where to mount a slave or master drive, its a disaster waiting to happen. They will either format the wrong drive and loose all their data or install XP over the wrong drive and loose it that way.
When installing a new drive and at the same time installing a fresh XP (ntsc or not) on it, it is always a good idea to remove the old drive to ensure the data is safe.