I just upgraded my system from WinME to WinXP Home edition.
I didn't get any option to convert the boot drive to NTFS during the
upgrade.
It is still Fat32 and things like defragging take forever.
How do I convert it to NTFS without loosing everything?
Does it matter?

Keith wrote:
> I just upgraded my system from WinME to WinXP Home edition.
> I didn't get any option to convert the boot drive to NTFS during the
> upgrade.
> It is still Fat32 and things like defragging take forever.
> How do I convert it to NTFS without loosing everything?
> Does it matter?
>
>


You can safely convert your current hard drive to NTFS whenever
desired, without having to format the partition and reinstall
everything. As always when performing any serious changes, back up any
important data before proceeding, just in case. A little advance
preparation is also strongly recommended, so you can avoid any
performance hits caused by the default cluster size:

Converting FAT32 to NTFS in Windows
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

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both at once. - RAH

CONVERTING FAT32 to NTFS
in Windows XP
(by Alex Nichol, MS-MVP)
http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Keith" wrote:

| I just upgraded my system from WinME to WinXP Home edition.
| I didn't get any option to convert the boot drive to NTFS during the
| upgrade.
| It is still Fat32 and things like defragging take forever.
| How do I convert it to NTFS without loosing everything?
| Does it matter?

in a command prompt, type...
convert c: /fs:ntfs

answer yes you want to to any prompts. reboot.
"Carey Frisch [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%23rerv%(E-Mail Removed)...
> CONVERTING FAT32 to NTFS
> in Windows XP
> (by Alex Nichol, MS-MVP)
> http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows XP - Shell/User
> Microsoft Newsgroups
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Keith" wrote:
>
> | I just upgraded my system from WinME to WinXP Home edition.
> | I didn't get any option to convert the boot drive to NTFS during the
> | upgrade.
> | It is still Fat32 and things like defragging take forever.
> | How do I convert it to NTFS without loosing everything?
> | Does it matter?
>

Aart Jansen wrote:

> in a command prompt, type...
> convert c: /fs:ntfs
>
> answer yes you want to to any prompts. reboot.


Doing as you suggest without reading the article Cary cited below would be a
bad mistake. It would very likely leave you with a 512-byte cluster size,
and corresponding poor performance.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


> "Carey Frisch [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:%23rerv%(E-Mail Removed)...
>> CONVERTING FAT32 to NTFS
>> in Windows XP
>> (by Alex Nichol, MS-MVP)
>> http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm
>>
>> --
>> Carey Frisch
>> Microsoft MVP
>> Windows XP - Shell/User
>> Microsoft Newsgroups
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> "Keith" wrote:
>>
>>> I just upgraded my system from WinME to WinXP Home edition.
>>> I didn't get any option to convert the boot drive to NTFS during the
>>> upgrade.
>>> It is still Fat32 and things like defragging take forever.
>>> How do I convert it to NTFS without loosing everything?
>>> Does it matter?

Agreed 100%

--
Star Fleet Admiral Q @ your service!

Google is your friend!
http://www.google.com

"Ken Blake" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Aart Jansen wrote:
>
>> in a command prompt, type...
>> convert c: /fs:ntfs
>>
>> answer yes you want to to any prompts. reboot.
>
>
> Doing as you suggest without reading the article Cary cited below would be
> a bad mistake. It would very likely leave you with a 512-byte cluster
> size, and corresponding poor performance.
>
> --
> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> Please reply to the newsgroup
>
>
>> "Carey Frisch [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:%23rerv%(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> CONVERTING FAT32 to NTFS
>>> in Windows XP
>>> (by Alex Nichol, MS-MVP)
>>> http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm
>>>
>>> --
>>> Carey Frisch
>>> Microsoft MVP
>>> Windows XP - Shell/User
>>> Microsoft Newsgroups
>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> "Keith" wrote:
>>>
>>>> I just upgraded my system from WinME to WinXP Home edition.
>>>> I didn't get any option to convert the boot drive to NTFS during the
>>>> upgrade.
>>>> It is still Fat32 and things like defragging take forever.
>>>> How do I convert it to NTFS without loosing everything?
>>>> Does it matter?
>
>

Install a new hard drive
copy your data to that
format the original hard drive
install XP as a new install using the NTFS option
worked a treat for me
(I originally did the the Dos conversion to NTFS after upgrading - but
always felt "something was just not quite right)
"Keith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
>I just upgraded my system from WinME to WinXP Home edition.
> I didn't get any option to convert the boot drive to NTFS during the
> upgrade.
> It is still Fat32 and things like defragging take forever.
> How do I convert it to NTFS without loosing everything?
> Does it matter?
>

No need to install a new drive and copy data. From the command prompt, enter
CONVERT x: /FS:NTFS, just replace x with the drive letter to convert.

"kt" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:6E81f.8942$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Install a new hard drive
> copy your data to that
> format the original hard drive
> install XP as a new install using the NTFS option
> worked a treat for me
> (I originally did the the Dos conversion to NTFS after upgrading - but
> always felt "something was just not quite right)
> "Keith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I just upgraded my system from WinME to WinXP Home edition.
>> I didn't get any option to convert the boot drive to NTFS during the
>> upgrade.
>> It is still Fat32 and things like defragging take forever.
>> How do I convert it to NTFS without loosing everything?
>> Does it matter?
>>
>
>