FAT 32----supposed to be NTFS

[Rocky 2]

I finally was going to hook up my 80 gig External HD to to do some back
up work. NOW i find this External HD backs up to FAT 32 NOT NTFS. Whats
going on here??? I have W-XP HOME. Can I use this External HD, to back
up my docs. etc { NTFS } to this FAT 32 file system? Geez always a
problem, or do
i have to send this External HD back to NewEgg. TIA

 

[Jerry]

Any you can't convert the external drive to NTFS because?

 

[Robert Smith]

I finally was going to hook up my 80 gig External HD to to do some
back up work. NOW i find this External HD backs up to FAT 32 NOT
NTFS. Whats going on here??? I have W-XP HOME. Can I use this
External HD, to back up my docs. etc { NTFS } to this FAT 32 file
system? Geez always a problem, or do
i have to send this External HD back to NewEgg. TIA

Here is what the help file states about converting a partition. Hope
this helps!

Convert
Converts FAT <HELP=glossary.hlp TOPIC=gls_file_allocation_table> and
FAT32 <HELP=glossary.hlp TOPIC=gls_fat32> volumes to NTFS
<HELP=glossary.hlp TOPIC=gls_NTFS>.
Syntax
convert [volume] /fs:ntfs [/v] [/cvtarea:FileName] [/nosecurity] [/x]
Parameters
volume
Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon), mount point, or
volume name to convert to NTFS.
/fs:ntfs
Required. Converts the volume to NTFS.
/v
Specifies verbose mode, that is, all messages will be displayed during
conversion.
/cvtarea:FileName
For advanced users only. Specifies that the Master File Table (MFT)
<HELP=glossary.hlp TOPIC=gls_master_file_table> and other NTFS metadata
files are written to an existing, contiguous placeholder file. This
file must be in the root directory of the file system to be converted.
Use of the /CVTAREA parameter can result in a less fragmented file
system after conversion. For best results, the size of this file should
be 1 KB multiplied by the number of files and directories in the file
system, however, the convert utility accepts files of any size.
For more information about using the /cvtarea parameter, see "File
Systems" at the Microsoft Windows XP Resource Kits Web site
<http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=259>.(http://www.microsoft.com/)
Important
You must create the placeholder file using the fsutil file createnew
command prior to running convert. Convert does not create this file for
you. Convert overwrites this file with NTFS metadata. After conversion,
any unused space in this file is freed. For more information about the
fsutil file command, see Related Topics.
/nosecurity
Specifies that the converted files and directory security settings are
accessible by everyone.
/x
Dismounts the volume, if necessary, before it is converted. Any open
handles to the volume will no longer be valid.
Remarks
You must specify that the drive should be converted when the computer
is restarted. Otherwise, you cannot convert the current drive.
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.
The location of the MFT is different on volumes that have been
converted from previous version of NTFS, so volume performance might
not be as good on volumes converted from Windows NT.
Volumes converted from FAT to NTFS lack some performance benefits
compared to volumes initially formatted with NTFS. On converted
volumes, the MFT might become fragmented. In addition, on converted
boot volumes, NTFS permissions are not applied after the volume is
converted.
Examples
To convert the volume on drive E to NTFS and display all messages, type:
convert e: /fs:ntfs /v

 

[Mark]

You can backup to the FAT32 drive....but there will be no security on the
files.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I finally was going to hook up my 80 gig External HD to to do some
back up work. NOW i find this External HD backs up to FAT 32 NOT
NTFS.

No, that's not at all true. The drive may currently be FAT32, but
you can convert it to NTFS or reformat it as NTFS.

Whats going on here??? I have W-XP HOME. Can I use this
External HD, to back up my docs. etc { NTFS } to this FAT 32 file
system?

Of course. You *can* convert it, but you don't have to. Windows
XP can handle NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12 in any and all
combinations.

 

[johnf]

Look at it logically, why would they want to sell it formatted to NTFS & not
FAT32?
That would be fine only for people who are running WinME or WinXP, but it
means it would be useless for anyone using any other OS.
Selling it as FAT32 means it can be used on all OS's, therefore, more sales.

Simple solution, take it to a mate who has some 3rd. party software such as
Partition Magic & get him to convert it for you - or any PC shop will do it.
After all, it IS an external drive, which means you don't even have to take
your PC along.

 

[Gene K]

I finally was going to hook up my 80 gig External HD to to do some
back up work. NOW i find this External HD backs up to FAT 32 NOT
NTFS. Whats going on here??? I have W-XP HOME. Can I use this
External HD, to back up my docs. etc { NTFS } to this FAT 32 file
system? Geez always a problem, or do
i have to send this External HD back to NewEgg. TIA

I have a Maxtor External Harddrive which stores files via FAT32. My Computer
HD stores files via NTFS. They are connected by means if ieee-1394-Firewire.
Files transfer back and forth seamlessly. No problem.

 

[Rocky 2]

I want to thank all who replied to my post. Espc. Ken and Gene, who put
my mind at ease, knowing that W-XP can read all file types. Since I'm
basically new to the pc, that one reply by Robert, scared the heck out
of me . Tomorrow I'll try and back up my Docs. and see what happens.
Thanks again, your help is much appreciated.

 

[Granny]

I want to thank all who replied to my post. Espc. Ken and Gene, who put
my mind at ease, knowing that W-XP can read all file types. Since I'm
basically new to the pc, that one reply by Robert, scared the heck out
of me . Tomorrow I'll try and back up my Docs. and see what happens.
Thanks again, your help is much appreciated.

I had the same issue a while back. I didn't care that it was FAT32 until I
realized there was a size limitation on files. I wanted to do an image of
my laptop and put it on the drive. So I reformatted it to NTFS and was very
happy with it until I needed to make an image of my mom's Windows98 machine.
So now I am going to repartition it again and make part of it FAT32 and part
NTFS. I should be deliriously happy then.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I want to thank all who replied to my post. Espc. Ken and Gene, who
put my mind at ease, knowing that W-XP can read all file types. Since
I'm basically new to the pc, that one reply by Robert, scared the
heck out of me . Tomorrow I'll try and back up my Docs. and see
what happens. Thanks again, your help is much appreciated.

You're welcome. Glad to help.