Deleteing files from NTFS format drive

[ed]

Hi:
Using Winxp
I am thinking of changing my computer to NTFS from
fat32.
With fat 32 If I wanted to delete "any" files I could use
a boot disk and delete the files and folders.
I have been told that if I change to NTFS file system
I will not be able to do this.
Is this true ?

Is there any program that will allow me to do delete
files from the NTFS drive from a boot floppy or a cdr?
Any help would be appreciated:
Ed

 

[Tom]

Hi:
Using Winxp
I am thinking of changing my computer to NTFS from
fat32.
With fat 32 If I wanted to delete "any" files I could use
a boot disk and delete the files and folders.
I have been told that if I change to NTFS file system
I will not be able to do this.
Is this true ?

Yes, that is true, since a bootdisk is FAT also, and any FAT filing system
cannot read, nor write to an NTFS partition.

Is there any program that will allow me to do delete
files from the NTFS drive from a boot floppy or a cdr?
Any help would be appreciated:
Ed

Yes, XP can do this, and you can use the Recovery Console to do many of
those functions also.

 

[ed]

Hi Tom:
If I use the recovery console will I be able to delete a windows
file like Pagefile.sys ? Lots of time I end up with two of
these on my computer but only one is the right one.

Or sometime I delete a program but it folder and some files
are not deleted. Will I be able to delete them with the
recovery console?

How about a index.dat file ? Somtime they get really
big and I delete them and them WinXP will restore them
to a small value.
Thanks a lot for the fast reply.
Ed
---------------------------------------------------------

 

[Al Dykes]

Hi Tom:
If I use the recovery console will I be able to delete a windows
file like Pagefile.sys ? Lots of time I end up with two of
these on my computer but only one is the right one.

Or sometime I delete a program but it folder and some files
are not deleted. Will I be able to delete them with the
recovery console?

How about a index.dat file ? Somtime they get really
big and I delete them and them WinXP will restore them
to a small value.

Both of these tasks are better done from within windows.
Control panel has was opf setting both of these.

If you find a file called pagefile.sys that you can't
delete it's becauses it's being used and will be recreated
when you reboot.

Look at your settings in ControlPanel/System/performace......

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

Using Winxp
I am thinking of changing my computer to NTFS from
fat32.
With fat 32 If I wanted to delete "any" files I could use
a boot disk and delete the files and folders.
I have been told that if I change to NTFS file system
I will not be able to do this.
Is this true ?

Yes, it's true. Not only will you not be able to delete files,
you won't even be able to see them. In fact you will not be able
to see the NTFS drive in DOS.

Is there any program that will allow me to do delete
files from the NTFS drive from a boot floppy or a cdr?
Any help would be appreciated:

There are third-party programs that can enable you to see NTFS
drives in DOS. One, for example, is called NTFSDOS. The free
version of NTFSDOS lets you view, but not change NTFS files. You
need the paid version to change or delete these.

Why do you want to delete files from DOS?

 

[Alex Nichol]

Using Winxp
I am thinking of changing my computer to NTFS from
fat32.
With fat 32 If I wanted to delete "any" files I could use
a boot disk and delete the files and folders.
I have been told that if I change to NTFS file system
I will not be able to do this.
Is this true ?

You can't use a DOS boot floppy: DOS does not deal in NTFS.

You *can* boot the XP CD to take the immediate R rather than Setup, to
use the recovery console. See Help and support - search on "Recovery
Console Commands"

You can also boot with F8 to the menu and use
Safe Mode - Command Prompt
which is a basic XP with the command interpreter as shell instead of
explorer. That is usually the best to use for doing such deletions as
emptying the Temporary Internet Files folder fully

Other considerations, see my page www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfs.htm