Can XP read 2nd Hard Drive formatted to FAT32?

[Jim]

I have a WIN98 2e Box with 2 physical hard drives in it. I
would like to upgrade the operating system on the first
drive to XP-Pro. If I do that, will I still be able to
read/write to the 2nd Hard Drive (Fat32) ??? I use it as a
data - backup drive.

Thanks !

 

[Chris Lanier]

a FAT32 partition can not read or write NTFS partitions. NTFS paritions
can write to FAT32 and read it.

 

[EGMcCann]

"Partitions" don't read a damn thing, any more than "chapters" read a book.

Windows XP can read and write to both NTFS and FAT32 partitions, yes.
Therefore, XP will be able to read both drives.

Windows 98 CANNOT natively read NTFS. There are, however, some NTFS
read-only drivers available online. In other words, if you're going to
dual-boot, do not convert any partition you want Win98 to deal with to NTFS.

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(Stolen with pride from Gary Thorn... thanks!)

 

[Ken Blake]

a FAT32 partition can not read or write NTFS partitions. NTFS paritions
can write to FAT32 and read it.

No, this isn't at all correct. Partitions do not read or write to
other partitions. It's operating systems that do this.

Windows XP can read and write to any combination of NTFS, FAT32,
FAT16, and FAT12, regardless of what file system it itself is
installed on. So If Windows XP is installed on a FAT32 partition,
it can indeed read and write an NTFS partition.

The answer to Jim's question is, simply, yes. He can read and
write to his second hard drive; whether the first drive is NTFS
or FAT32 is completely irrelevant.