The latest versions of GHOST and PM work on NTFS, as well as on FAT32, and
on some other file systems (e.g., LINUX paritions).
Older versions of GHOST (2002 or earlier) were limited to (1) run form a
DOS boot floppy, (2) save TO only FAT partitions, but they could backup FROM
an NTFS partition. GHOST never works from within an XP command prompt. It
is possible, even easy, to convert a GHOST boot floppy into a bootable CD,
if you have Nero or Easy CD Creator.
The latest GHOST, version 9, is built on Drive Image by PowerQuest, which
Symantec purchased. Thus, it is very different than previous versions of
GHOST. It can create images while XP is still running.
PM versions 7&8 work on XP and thus on NTFS. Earlier PM versions probably
do not work under XP, independent of file system type.
PM can convert FAT32 to NTFS or the reverse. XP itself can convert FAT32 to
NTFS but not the reverse.
Note that PM (all versions I can remember) does not act directly on the boot
volume (i.e., C:\). Instead, PM sets up a small batch job that does the
work during a reboot. The user just hits a button labled "APPLY CHANGES" or
similar while in windows mode, then PM does the rest, including any required
reboots.
General advice when using PM: (1) make the rescue disks they offer when you
install the program, and also whenever you upgrade it or your hardware
(disks, motherboard, etc). You may never need them, but if you do, you will
wish you had them. (2) Run CHKDSK (or on older PCs SCANDISK) before running
PM. PM will refuse to act on a known corrupt file system, nor should you
want it to do so. However, its oen disk-checker is not foolproof, so run
the Microsoft or Norton equivalent manually. (3) Defrag before running PM.
It usually speeds up re-partitioning operations. (4) Have a backup of
personal data, if not the entire hard drive. PM is a good program, but some
failures have been reported. Also, what if the power goes off during the
re-partitioning or format-converting?
