Converting from FAT32 to NTFS, if risky?

[Ben]

Hi,
My local network is peer to peer with a mix of Win95,Win98,Win200,WinXP.
What happen if I convert my Win2000 Pro station from FAT32 to NTNFS?
Will users from "FAT32 stations" still able to access to my computer
and use my share folder without problems?
What tool to convert from FAT32 to NTNFS on Win2000 Pro? My computer is
Dell and there is a MS Dos software call "convert.exe" - if it is a good
one?
How long it take to convert to NTNFS if my harddrive is about 25Gb

Thank for sharing your experiences

Ben

 

[Herb Martin]

As with all such stuff, you SHOULD backup;
if you don't have a good backup this is the PERFECT
excuse.

You've been warned, but....

Convert (to NTFS) is extremely robust and stable.
For a client who was upgrading to WinNT 4.0 some
years ago, we made a full backup, then ran convert
and everytime it got started good we pulled the power
on it.

Each time it re-started and picked up basically where
it left off. 10 or so cycles later we let it finish and
compared the data files -- no difference from anything
due to the convert.

Several such tests were run.

Remember to backup your important data though <grin>