Hi;

One of my disks is FAT32 (it's the disk with the boot partition on it -
boot.ini etc) and it's in FAT32 format. Can I change this to NTFS?

Thanks;
Marvin

"Marvin Miller" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi;
>
> One of my disks is FAT32 (it's the disk with the boot partition on it -
> boot.ini etc) and it's in FAT32 format. Can I change this to NTFS?
>
> Thanks;
> Marvin
>
>

c:\>convert /?
Converts FAT volumes to NTFS.

CONVERT volume /FS:NTFS [/V] [/CvtArea:filename] [/NoSecurity] [/X]

volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
mount point, or volume name.
/FS:NTFS Specifies that the volume is to be converted to NTFS.
/V Specifies that Convert should be run in verbose mode.
/CvtArea:filename
Specifies a contiguous file in the root directory to be
the place holder for NTFS system files.
/NoSecurity Specifies the converted files and directories security
settings to be accessible by everyone.
/X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.
All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid.

eg, "convert c: /fs:ntfs"

Hi, Marvin.

Yes, you can convert your partition from FAT32 to NTFS by using the Convert
command from the command prompt. In addition to the information Barry
posted (which you can get easily by typing "convert /?" at the command
prompt), click Start | Help and Support, and type "convert" into the Search
box.

Note this line from the Convert topic in Help:
"If convert cannot lock the drive (for example, the system volume or the
current drive), it offers to convert the drive the next time the computer
restarts."

Also, note some non-intuitive terminology. The Boot.ini file is in the
System Partition (typically, Drive C. The Boot Volume - which may be just
about any primary partition or any logical drive in an extended partition on
any physical drive - is the one that holds the Boot Folder (\Windows, by
default). Very often, Drive C: is both the System Partition and the Boot
Volume. In other words, it holds both C:\boot.ini and C:\Windows. But many
computers are organized like mine: C: is the System Partition, but
D:\Windows is my Boot Folder and D: is my Boot Volume. (For more on this
subject, see this KB article:
Definition of System Partition and Boot Partition
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314470/EN-US/.)

The actual convert process is quick and easy. But it's a one-way street; MS
provides no easy way to convert back to FAT.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(E-Mail Removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP

"Marvin Miller" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi;
>
> One of my disks is FAT32 (it's the disk with the boot partition on it -
> boot.ini etc) and it's in FAT32 format. Can I change this to NTFS?
>
> Thanks;
> Marvin

"R. C. White" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:#(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi, Marvin.
>
> Yes, you can convert your partition from FAT32 to NTFS by using the
Convert
> command from the command prompt. In addition to the information Barry
> posted (which you can get easily by typing "convert /?" at the command
> prompt), click Start | Help and Support, and type "convert" into the
Search
> box.
>
> Note this line from the Convert topic in Help:
> "If convert cannot lock the drive (for example, the system volume or the
> current drive), it offers to convert the drive the next time the computer
> restarts."
>
> Also, note some non-intuitive terminology. The Boot.ini file is in the
> System Partition (typically, Drive C. The Boot Volume - which may be
just
> about any primary partition or any logical drive in an extended partition
on
> any physical drive - is the one that holds the Boot Folder (\Windows, by
> default). Very often, Drive C: is both the System Partition and the Boot
> Volume. In other words, it holds both C:\boot.ini and C:\Windows. But
many
> computers are organized like mine: C: is the System Partition, but
> D:\Windows is my Boot Folder and D: is my Boot Volume. (For more on this
> subject, see this KB article:
> Definition of System Partition and Boot Partition
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314470/EN-US/.)
>
> The actual convert process is quick and easy. But it's a one-way street;
MS
> provides no easy way to convert back to FAT.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
> (E-Mail Removed)
> Microsoft Windows MVP
>
> "Marvin Miller" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hi;
> >
> > One of my disks is FAT32 (it's the disk with the boot partition on it -
> > boot.ini etc) and it's in FAT32 format. Can I change this to NTFS?
> >
> > Thanks;
> > Marvin
>
>

Hello,

"Marvin Miller" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi;
>
> One of my disks is FAT32 (it's the disk with the boot partition on it -
> boot.ini etc) and it's in FAT32 format. Can I change this to NTFS?
>
> Thanks;
> Marvin
>

http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.php

Converting a partition from FAT32 to NTFS can be done by an inbuilt utility
in the Windows XP operating system - but it is important to realise that it
is a one-way process. You cannot convert back, except possibly by use of
Partition Magic 7.01, and that is not always successful. Windows XP has no
tool for converting from NTFS to FAT32.

There are a couple of things to do in advance if the conversion is to be
efficient. If you do not take these preliminary steps, you are liable to end
up with only 512 byte clusters, which is not a good idea.

What happens is that FAT32 partitions formatted by most Windows versions
except Windows XP itself (and possibly Windows 2000) have an odd multiple of
2 kilobytes in the "system" sectors before the data area, where the File
Allocation Tables themselves and clustering start. Therefore, clusters 4 KB
in size are not aligned on 4 KB boundaries, as NTFS will want. CONVERT.EXE,
finding it cannot use 4K clusters, gives up and makes the clusters only 512
bytes (one half KB) instead. (For a table of the varying default cluster
sizes used by FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS for partitions of varying sizes, click
here.)

Download the BOOTITNG.ZIP file to its own folder, extract the contents of
the ZIP file, then run BOOTITNG.EXE, which will make a bootable floppy. Boot
this floppy. For purposes of Partition Management, there is no need to
install the program to hard disk, so click Cancel Install, thus entering
Maintenance. Click Partition Work. Highlight the partition you intend to
convert. Click Slide, which has an option check box to Align for NTFS only.
Click OK. As it has to move almost every sector on the entire partition,
this will take a very long time - schedule it for a meal break, or start it
to run overnight. (If it finishes quickly, that probably means that the
partition was properly aligned already.)

Consult the Hints in the Windows Product Activation article (under What
About Formatting a Hard Disk?) regarding the resetting of the volume serial
number, which will have been changed. The hints given will assure that you
do not lose a Windows Product Activation "life."

http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php#format

HINT No. 2: Another thing that changes the VSN is converting a FAT 32
partition to NTFS. So, if you upgrade a system using FAT 32 to Windows XP
and intend to convert to NTFS, do the conversion before activating the
system. Remember, you can wait a while: you have 30 days before you need to
activate. The machine's hardware at the time of the first activation is what
counts. Or, if you have already activated, use Volume ID as described in
Hint No. 1. If you are doing this after activation, also first back up the
WPA.DBL and WPA.BAK files, as described in Hint No. 3 below, and, after
completion of the conversion, restore these files and reboot again.

BootIt NG
http://www.bootitng.com/bootitng.html


HTH, Roman

How to convert a FAT16 volume or a FAT32 volume to an NTFS file system in
Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881/EN-US/



"Marvin Miller" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi;
>
> One of my disks is FAT32 (it's the disk with the boot partition on it -
> boot.ini etc) and it's in FAT32 format. Can I change this to NTFS?
>
> Thanks;
> Marvin
>
>

Read this before you do it: http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

John

Marvin Miller wrote:

> Hi;
>
> One of my disks is FAT32 (it's the disk with the boot partition on it -
> boot.ini etc) and it's in FAT32 format. Can I change this to NTFS?
>
> Thanks;
> Marvin
>
>