convert external drive?

[Guest]

Our current computer runs Windows XP with a hard drive partitioned into C:
(FAT32) and D: (NTFS) drives. While the majority of the available space was
given to the D: drive, we keep our files, programs, and whatnot on the C:
drive. (I think D: mostly gets the system restore files and such.) We
recently purchased a Western Digital 160GB external drive to back up our
information. Right now, everything is FAT32, and the external drive is also
FAT32.

Here's my question: Should I reformat the external drive to NTFS before
copying any files or programs to it? My thought is more to the future, as
even though we do not currently use the D: drive, we may very well some
day--and those files would be in NTFS. I don't know a lot about these things,
but I do know that FAT32 can be stored in and coverted to NTFS while it
doesn't work the other way around. I'd like to make sure I don't have to buy
yet another external drive or back myself into a corner somewhere down the
road by not planning ahead right now.

And if reformatting is my smartest option, what's the best way to go about it?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Guest]

Don't need to reformat the hard drive. You can even directly convert the
system partition into NTFS. for more information, please refer to the
following article:

Title: How to convert a FAT16 volume or a FAT32 volume to an NTFS file
system in Windows XP

Link: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307881

 

[Guest]

You have it right,format to ntfs before loading the files,actually you'd be
wise to convert C: to ntfs.FAT32 is an outdated file system,ecspecially on
xp.To convert,go to run,type:cmd In cmd type:CONVERT C: /FS:ntfs

 

[Richard Urban]

One of the main ideas behind using an external drive is that it can be
connected to "any" computer and it's files can be accessed. If you format
the drive as NTFS you will never be able to connect it to any Win9x type
computer and get to those files. If you leave it at fat32 you can connect
darn near anywhere.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you thought you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Alias]

People still use FAT32?

Alias

One of the main ideas behind using an external drive is that it can be
connected to "any" computer and it's files can be accessed. If you format
the drive as NTFS you will never be able to connect it to any Win9x type
computer and get to those files. If you leave it at fat32 you can connect
darn near anywhere.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you thought you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Ron Sommer]

You can connect a 160 GB drive to "any" computer?
To connect to any computer, you will partition less than 137 GB of the
drive.

 

[Ron Sommer]

I forgot to add this site:
http://www.48bitlba.com/

 

[Guest]

Using a free utility, such as the NTFS Reader for DOS from SysInternals,
will allow you to read the files on a FAT32 based system. The main reason
for NTFS is an increased amount of security, in my opinion, and if you're not
concerned about prying eyes I'd stay with FAT32 for ease of use.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

FAT32 in XP has a 4GB limiation on the files sizes. That is to say you can
not have any file greater than 4GB.

 

[Larry(LJL269)]

On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 22:51:02 -0700, "AmeBa"

|
|Here's my question: Should I reformat the external drive to NTFS before
|copying any files or programs to it?
Yes but consider I was where u r 6 mos ago & mine was
picky re USB2 drivers in my PCI card. Mine also says
that formatting of drive under USB may NOT work.
My feeling is that if its used for backup its only ON
10min every 3 days so format isnt critical unless u
have specific reasons to use NTFS.
Then 2 if u backup ur OS & restore via DOS, it will
have 2 be FAT or u'll have to modify DOS u load to
handle NTFS. Why complicate things?


| My thought is more to the future, as
|even though we do not currently use the D: drive, we may very well some
|day--and those files would be in NTFS. I don't know a lot about these things,
|but I do know that FAT32 can be stored in and coverted to NTFS while it
|doesn't work the other way around.
Well I used PM7 to do FAT->NTFS, 512->4k, NTFS->FAT.
Piece of cake!

|I'd like to make sure I don't have to buy
|yet another external drive or back myself into a corner somewhere down the
|road by not planning ahead right now.
Yes 'Proper planning prevents piss poor performance'.

Just my 2¢ worth. Larry

Any advise is my attempt to contribute more than I have received but I can only assure you that it works on my PC. GOOD LUCK.

 

[Anna]

Our current computer runs Windows XP with a hard drive partitioned into C:
(FAT32) and D: (NTFS) drives. While the majority of the available space
was
given to the D: drive, we keep our files, programs, and whatnot on the C:
drive. (I think D: mostly gets the system restore files and such.) We
recently purchased a Western Digital 160GB external drive to back up our
information. Right now, everything is FAT32, and the external drive is
also
FAT32.

Here's my question: Should I reformat the external drive to NTFS before
copying any files or programs to it? My thought is more to the future, as
even though we do not currently use the D: drive, we may very well some
day--and those files would be in NTFS. I don't know a lot about these
things,
but I do know that FAT32 can be stored in and coverted to NTFS while it
doesn't work the other way around. I'd like to make sure I don't have to
buy
yet another external drive or back myself into a corner somewhere down the
road by not planning ahead right now.

And if reformatting is my smartest option, what's the best way to go about
it?

Thanks for the help.

ArneBa
1. It's not clear from your post *why* you have multi-partitioned your HD.
Is there some reason why one of your partitions (C is FAT32 formatted and
the other partition (D is NTFS formatted? You indicate your operating
system is XP so this is obviously not a multi-boot configuration where you
would need FAT32 for a pre-XP OS.

2. So unless you have some special need for a FAT32 partition on your
internal drive, it would probably be best, all things considered, to
convert that partition to a NTFS file system. While it's not crucial to do
so (again assuming you do not need the FAT32 partition for some special
need), the general consensus is that for a variety of reasons NTFS is a
superior file system (as opposed to FAT32) for the XP OS. The conversion
process is relatively simple and straightforward and detailed info on
carrying out this process is in your Help and Support files. For safety's
sake, make sure you backup any of your important or critical files before
doing so.

3. All, or virtually all, commercially-available USB external hard drives
come FAT32 formatted. As Richard Urban has pointed out in his response to
you, that's so you can use the USB EHD with the Win9x/Me operating systems
as well as with XP. For example, if you were using Win98 with a USB EHD
formatted NTFS, Win 98 wouldn't be able to "see" the EHD, so that you would
not be able to copy/move data from your internal HD to the external one. XP
has no trouble "seeing" either a FAT32 or NTFS formatted drive.

4. So if you're not intending to use your USB EHD in a Win9x/Me environment,
leave well enough alone. There's really no reason to convert that FAT32 file
system on the EHD to NTFS. You'll still be able to copy/move files from your
internal HD to the external drive for backup purposes. There's no
overarching reason to establish a NTFS file system on a USB EHD.
Anna

 

[Larry(LJL269)]

On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 10:22:31 -0400, "Yves Leclerc"

|FAT32 in XP has a 4GB limiation on the files sizes. That is to say you can
|not have any file greater than 4GB.
Only app I have that makes such large files knows enuf
2 split file in pieces (2GB 4 Image4win)

So its never been a constraint for I4W or DI.

HHTH-Larry
Any advise is my attempt to contribute more than I have received but I can only assure you that it works on my PC. GOOD LUCK.

 

[Kerry Brown]

ArneBa
1. It's not clear from your post *why* you have multi-partitioned your HD.
Is there some reason why one of your partitions (C is FAT32 formatted
and the other partition (D is NTFS formatted? You indicate your
operating system is XP so this is obviously not a multi-boot configuration
where you would need FAT32 for a pre-XP OS.

2. So unless you have some special need for a FAT32 partition on your
internal drive, it would probably be best, all things considered, to
convert that partition to a NTFS file system. While it's not crucial to do
so (again assuming you do not need the FAT32 partition for some special
need), the general consensus is that for a variety of reasons NTFS is a
superior file system (as opposed to FAT32) for the XP OS. The conversion
process is relatively simple and straightforward and detailed info on
carrying out this process is in your Help and Support files. For safety's
sake, make sure you backup any of your important or critical files before
doing so.

3. All, or virtually all, commercially-available USB external hard drives
come FAT32 formatted. As Richard Urban has pointed out in his response to
you, that's so you can use the USB EHD with the Win9x/Me operating systems
as well as with XP. For example, if you were using Win98 with a USB EHD
formatted NTFS, Win 98 wouldn't be able to "see" the EHD, so that you
would not be able to copy/move data from your internal HD to the external
one. XP has no trouble "seeing" either a FAT32 or NTFS formatted drive.

4. So if you're not intending to use your USB EHD in a Win9x/Me
environment, leave well enough alone. There's really no reason to convert
that FAT32 file system on the EHD to NTFS. You'll still be able to
copy/move files from your internal HD to the external drive for backup
purposes. There's no overarching reason to establish a NTFS file system on
a USB EHD.
Anna

4) That depends on how large the files are and how they are copying them. If
any files are larger than 4 GB or they are using ntbackup then the 4 GB FAT
limit will come into effect. Another reason to convert to NTFS is security.
If any of the files are encrypted they will stay encrypted. User permissions
can also be copied if using NTFS. These may or may not be important to the
OP.

Kerry

 

[Guest]

ArneBa
1. It's not clear from your post *why* you have multi-partitioned your HD.
Is there some reason why one of your partitions (C is FAT32 formatted and
the other partition (D is NTFS formatted? You indicate your operating
system is XP so this is obviously not a multi-boot configuration where you
would need FAT32 for a pre-XP OS.

This is how the machine came when we bought it; we didn't partition it this
way.

I have actually never been sure about using the D: drive, and was even more
unsure once I found it was a different format. (Keep in mind this computer
was my first up close and personal experience with Windows; we had an Apple
before this, and I've always used Apples in school and work--and to be
honest, I much prefer Macs.

Since the programs and such it originally came with were all on the C:
drive, that's the partition we've always used and saved things on. I've
always been nervous about saving new files on D:, or transferring things over
from C:, so I just left it alone. I guess when I don't fully understand
something or I'm afraid something will go wrong if I try to mess with it, I
feel like I should just stay away. But I read that NTFS runs smoother and has
more security, and since our C: drive is quite full and has slowed, I guess
I'll have to rethink on the D: drive.

Thanks for all the help guys.