Change of disk from FAT32 to NTFS

[Alain Dekker]

Hi,

Running Windows XP Home, SP3. I understand that NTFS is more efficient than
FAT32 (faster, some nice features). My home computer is only a 60GB disk,
with two partitions. I don't remember the reason for this, but the primary
partition (where the OS is installed) is FAT32 and the secondary partition
is NTFS.

Is there any way to convert the primary partition to NTFS without losing
data? Note that the OS is installed on C:

If I wanted to go for a more modern HDD with, say, 320Gb, whats the basic
procedure for getting everything transferred? Will I have to re-install all
applications, redo all settings, etc or can I "ghost" my old computer onto
the new disk? Will the new disk need to be partitioned in the same way as
the old one?

Many thanks!
Alain

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi,

Running Windows XP Home, SP3. I understand that NTFS is more efficient than
FAT32 (faster, some nice features). My home computer is only a 60GB disk,
with two partitions. I don't remember the reason for this, but the primary
partition (where the OS is installed) is FAT32 and the secondary partition
is NTFS.

Is there any way to convert the primary partition to NTFS without losing
data? Note that the OS is installed on C:

You can safely convert your current hard drive to NTFS whenever
desired, without having to format the partition and reinstall
everything. As always when performing any serious changes, back up any
important data before proceeding, just in case. A little advance
preparation is also strongly recommended, so you can avoid any
performance hits caused by the default cluster size:

Converting FAT32 to NTFS in Windows
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm

If I wanted to go for a more modern HDD with, say, 320Gb, whats the basic
procedure for getting everything transferred? Will I have to re-install all
applications, redo all settings, etc or can I "ghost" my old computer onto
the new disk?

You could use a 3rd party cloning utility (i.e., Acronis TrueImage,
Symantec Ghost, TeraByte's Image for WIndows, etc.to transfer everything
to the larger hard drive. Most of these will adapt from the smaller to
larger partitions.

Will the new disk need to be partitioned in the same way as
the old one?

Generally, cloning software clones by partition, so you'd likely
automatically end up with two proportionately larger partitions on the
new hard drive. But you could then use a partition manager to merge the
two partitions into one, if so desired. (Or you could perform the merge
before the cloning action.)


--

Bruce Chambers

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[Andrew E.]

Two simple ways to do that,go to run,type: cmd In cmd type:
CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS The cmd runs auto.Or,boot to xp cd,recovery
console,select 1 for C:,press enter for password,type the same cmd.

 

[Alain Dekker]

Thanks for that help. I'll back all my data up before trying this. )