convert to NTFS (2nd attempt to post, where did 1st go??)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul Mars
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Paul Mars

Someone else built the pc and installed xp pro then handed it over to me to
continue the set up. I installed 2 programs, some data files copied from
backup. Internet dialup setup. Many setting have been tweaked. As: services
deactivated, view settings, adm and user groups.

Then I noticed that it is FAT32, not NTFS. I want NTFS. I read help about
converting, and it said that this could be done after the os is installed.
Kinda sounded like directly after, without actually saying that.

1-Can I convert to FTFS now with out messing with everything that I have
already done??

2-if yes, what are these command line convert arguments for??

/V is for Verbose mode, what is that??

/CutArea:filename specifies contiguous file in root dir place holder for
NTFS sys files, what is this??

/NoSecurity specifies the converted files and dirs security settings for
everyone, what is this??

/X forces volume dismount first if needed. All opened handles to volume
would be invalid, what is this??

Note that all these parameters are optional.

thanks much,
Paul
 
Converting FAT32 to NTFS in Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

[Courtesy of Alex Nichol, MS-MVP]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


| Someone else built the pc and installed xp pro then handed it over to me to
| continue the set up. I installed 2 programs, some data files copied from
| backup. Internet dialup setup. Many setting have been tweaked. As: services
| deactivated, view settings, adm and user groups.
|
| Then I noticed that it is FAT32, not NTFS. I want NTFS. I read help about
| converting, and it said that this could be done after the os is installed.
| Kinda sounded like directly after, without actually saying that.
|
| 1-Can I convert to FTFS now with out messing with everything that I have
| already done??
|
| 2-if yes, what are these command line convert arguments for??
|
| /V is for Verbose mode, what is that??
|
| /CutArea:filename specifies contiguous file in root dir place holder for
| NTFS sys files, what is this??
|
| /NoSecurity specifies the converted files and dirs security settings for
| everyone, what is this??
|
| /X forces volume dismount first if needed. All opened handles to volume
| would be invalid, what is this??
|
| Note that all these parameters are optional.
|
| thanks much,
| Paul
|
|
 
Greetings --

You can safely convert your 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


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH
 
In
Paul Mars said:
excuse my ignorance, but what is wrong with "512 bytes"
Click to expand...


It has a negative effect on performance, since smaller clusters
mean more reads and writes for the same amount of data.
 
Nothing wrong with using FAT-32 provided you know of its limitations.
Certainly a lot easier to recover a system when it's formatted to
FAT-32 than NTFS. BTW, the cluster alignment procedure is not any
more dangerous to do than defragmenting your drive. Always backup
prior to doing anything that involves risk to your data.
 
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