Can a fat32 format be changed to accomodate a 80 gig hd?

[Guest]

I purchased a 80gig hd while I was putting togeather my current pc(Azus
A7n8x-x, AMD2600333-Ebarton, 2XKingstone 512DDR DIMM, 2XSamsung 80gig
hd,etc.) It's about 9mos old. I installed the hd I am using as "C"drive and
all my stuff on it , originally in my old cp with windows me. It formated
the 80 gig hd with 32gig and I did not know enough to notice it until later.
I have #1(32) as primary and #2 as Slave.

Can some one advise me to articles or help me upgrade my understanding so I
can understand the basics of what is going on so that I can change out this
fat32 and install the proper format sys. ? Or, if too big a question then
direct me to fix my hd to go th the full 80 on #1(32)? Thank you (I hope
this is understandable)

 

[Bob I]

FAT32 can be converted to NTFS. If you want the whole 80 gig used as one
partition without reinstalling you will need to use a 3rd party
partitioning software.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

XP will only be able to format FAT32 drives to 32GB, natively. Microsoft
has purposely place this limit. Now, in order to expand your partition, you
need to look at utilities like Partition Magic, since XP does not allow your
to expand partitions on its own.

 

[frodo]

the Win98 version of fdisk will allow you to create fat32 partitions
larger than 32 GB. google around for more information, it's out there...

 

[Mercury]

try diskpart /extend - but supposedly not on system volumes.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

I know that! I stated that XP will only do FAT32 formats up to 32GB.
Microsoft has purposely "limited" the format of FAT32 partitions to 32GB
when using XP to format. They also place a file size limit of 4GB when
saving a file to a FAT32 partition.

 

[Guest]

I found all but the "volume" to change the fat32 to NTFS thru articles in PC
Mag. What is the volume the are talking about-- total hd space, space of the
proposed
partition--???

I considered just experimenting and stick in 1as in all/100%. I would sure
appreciate your thoughts--Chuck

 

[Anna]

I found all but the "volume" to change the fat32 to NTFS thru articles in
PC
Mag. What is the volume the are talking about-- total hd space, space of
the
proposed partition--???

I considered just experimenting and stick in 1as in all/100%. I would
sure
appreciate your thoughts--Chuck

Chuck:
First, let me see if I understand your problem, or indeed, if there's any
problem at all...

1. You have two 80 GB HDs. One of them, we'll call it #1 contains the XP OS
and it's the one you boot to.

2. That #1 HD has two partitions; the first partition is 32 GB and has been
formatted FAT32. The second partition is what? unallocated space? Has it
been partitioned/formatted?

3. Your second 80 GB HD, we'll call it #2 has been installed as a Slave to
your #1 HD. Is that right? You use it for storage and/or backup purposes?
Has that drive also been formatted FAT32?

4. Is the problem that you want to convert any FAT32 partitions to NTFS
ones? That's easy enough, but perhaps it's unnecessary.

5. And/or is the problem that you have "unallocated space" on one of those
drives that you want to utilize?

6. Are you familiar with XP's Disk Management utility? Start > right-click
My Computer > Manage > Disk Management? Think you could find your way using
that utility to do what you want to do?

7. Is it that you want one partition on one of your 80 GB drives so that it
encompasses the entire capacity of that drive, i.e., the drive now contains
two partitions and you want only a single one?

Forget about using the diskpart command.

Anyway, if I've misunderstood your situation and what you want to
accomplish, please forgive me. If, however, you want further assistance from
me, or others, please so indicate.
Anna

 

[Guest]

Dear Anna:

You've got what I do not! Step-by-step ability to lawout logical problems.
I am one of those that sees the answer but strugles with the liner parts.

Yes to Q1. Q2.: #1 has one partition of 32 GB and #2 is unallocated and I
donot know how to configure for storage which is how I envisioned it
originally. #2 is formated Basic and NTFS. Q3.: Yes. Q4. I want to get #1 to
NTFS w/o losing my info and get my 46 GB of storage back--for gp's... then
clean up trash on #1 and then config to put programs on #1 and Storage on #2.
Q6. Yes. I have gone as far as everything correct except entering "volume"
which is what fail message says to my entry(DOS) I agree that utl seems to go
where I want but have to answer "volume" Q first. Maytbe more to come but
that is my road block todate.

Do you know what the ref. of "volume" is and where I can go to learn about
drives and there config and related uses?

Thanx in advance--Chuck

 

[Anna]

Chuck:
I'll respond to your query but first of all, may I suggest that when you
post a query or subsequent response, you should include *all pertinent
information* from previous postings that bear on the issue involved. This is
so I, and others, can easily follow the thread. A newsgroup such as this one
should *not* be considered merely a "chatline" between two (or possibly
more) individuals. We all can benefit from the issues raised and responses
to these issues even if we're not directly involved. But we need to
understand precisely what the problem is and whatever proposed solutions
have been offered. And for this we need to follow the thread in some
organized and meaningful fashion. It doesn't necessarily mean that you have
to include *all* previous postings in the thread, just those pertinent
portions that bear on the issue at hand.

So I'm including in my response to you the background information on this
issue...
Anna


Original posting by Chuck...

I found all but the "volume" to change the fat32 to NTFS thru articles in
PC
Mag. What is the volume the are talking about-- total hd space, space of
the
proposed partition--???

I considered just experimenting and stick in 1as in all/100%. I would
sure
appreciate your thoughts--Chuck

Response by Anna...

Dear Anna:

You've got what I do not! Step-by-step ability to lawout logical
problems.
I am one of those that sees the answer but strugles with the liner parts.

Yes to Q1. Q2.: #1 has one partition of 32 GB and #2 is unallocated and
I
donot know how to configure for storage which is how I envisioned it
originally. #2 is formated Basic and NTFS. Q3.: Yes. Q4. I want to get #1
to
NTFS w/o losing my info and get my 46 GB of storage back--for gp's...
then
clean up trash on #1 and then config to put programs on #1 and Storage on
#2.
Q6. Yes. I have gone as far as everything correct except entering
"volume"
which is what fail message says to my entry(DOS) I agree that utl seems to
go
where I want but have to answer "volume" Q first. Maytbe more to come but
that is my road block todate.

Do you know what the ref. of "volume" is and where I can go to learn about
drives and there config and related uses?
Thanx in advance--Chuck

Chuck:
To be perfectly frank, I'm not entirely sure I completely understand your
present situation, but I'm basing the following on what I *think* is your
present configuration...

1. So your #1 HD (your booting drive) contains a single partition of 32 GB
(presumably FAT32) and the remained of that 80 GB drive is unallocated. So
you need to partition/format that "unallocated space" by using XP's Disk
Management utility (Start > right-click My Computer > Manage > Computer
Management > Disk Management). There you can create a partition and format
that "unallocated space". Because of its size, you will format it NTFS. The
Help file in DM will give you details of the process. It's not complicated
at all.

It probably would be best if you would convert that first booting partition
from FAT32 to NTFS. There's a built-in convert function in XP. Access the
Help and Support files and do a search for "convert to ntfs" for the simple
instructions to perform this conversion process.

Now, after doing this, you will have two NTFS partitions on your booting
drive. There's no way within XP that will allow you to "merge" those two
partitions into one. In order to do so non-destructively you would need to
use a third-party partition manager type of program such as Partition Magic.
On the other hand if you would not object to deleting your present XP
partition (the 32 GB one) and losing ALL the data on that partition -- in
effect, starting all over again -- you could do that and create a single
NTFS partition by making a fresh install of XP. Note you would have to
install ALL your programs and data files again. So I don't know if that's a
practical approach for you.

2. Since your second HD is already NTFS-formatted, there's no problem here.

As I've said, I'm not entirely sure that I've responded to your specific
questions, nor am I sure that I precisely understand what you're trying to
accomplish. If I haven't, and you want to give this another try, please do
so.

As to how you can learn more about "volumes" and aspects that relate to hard
drives and their configurations, there are tons of books on the subject and
a wealth of websites containing basic and advanced information re this
subject. You can do a Google search on "hard drive configuration" or some
such and you'll be pointed to these sites.
Anna

 

[Guest]

Dear Anna: At 59, and that's "ole"59, I am not entirely sure of anything
anymore, so I understand.

I am not really sure why I am doing this except to have every body and thing
being able to comunicate as smoothly as possible. The simpler the better,
particularly down the road when I am trying to figure out some other problem
and its fat32 not talking to ntfs or whatever. Also, I want it right as I
can make it.

I am being chased around right now by the IRS and they have my priority ths
week. I will go further on this matter as soon as I satisfy them.
Thanx--Chuck
and... "I'll be Bak"...I hope???

 

[Guest]

dear Anna:

Well, you are right on the button! No works wonderfully in FAT 32 is no
longer an issue. However I don't know really what I'm doing to free of my
remaining 48 case and have to convert the Deidre into storage so if you have
any pointers on the I'm all ears.

Also on the things I would like to do is clean up a lot of the superfluous
duplications dividends eccentric acceptor. In going through my educational
curve by trying to several spy wearers and things of the like. For example I
have on my computer Norton 2002 which quite obviously is outdated and not
much value to me at this time. Not only that, garden has tentacles that
reach throughout the computer and I really don't wish to use Norton and a
longer. By suspicion is, that there is no such program that can weed out and
cleanup programs the way I want them down. So, I'm off to review some
information for the Internal Revenue Service and after this week's over I
can't wait to play with my new toys.

Sincerely, Chuck