FAT32 and NTFS on 2 hard drives?

[Shaun B]

Hi all , I had XP installed on one hard drive --40 gig NTFS-- , and my other
drive was --80 gig NTFS-- ....I changed them both to FAT32 after finding
that XP makes it impossable to see the start up prompt from a bootdisk...ie
C:\ and D:\..

No matter what I tried when installing XP with its "convert to NTFS" or
"format to NTFS" the same problem happend for the prompt. thats why they
were changed to FAT32. So now that I have XP going on a crummy FAT32 is it
ok to have the OS on FAT32 and the other drive as NTFS?
I need the 80 gig to be NTFS for a program MYDVD for capturing from a DV
camera....

How do I format a drive as NTFS and still get to see them at the boot
prompt? I know XP wont do it.....
Oh and I have partitioned and repartitioned my 40 gig to death. So it wont
be a partition problem from FDISK , im quite good at using it now.

Thanks plp Shaun B

 

[neil]

It is by design, DOS cannot read NTFS. You may be able to find a NTFS reader
on the net to allow you to boot to a boot disk then read your NTFS drive.

Neil

 

[thecreator]

Hi Shaun,

You can run Windows XP on a FAT32 partition. I am running Windows XP
Home Edition Service Pack 2 on a FAT32 Partition with no problems. I have a
40 GB Hard Drive partitioned into 2 equal partitions of 20 GB.

The partition size for FAT32 Format needs to be 32 GB or smaller and
that is why it is called FAT32. NTFS File System format can be larger than
32 GB in size. You can convert from Fat32 to NTFS without problems, but you
convert to FAT32 format, you need Partition Magic or wipe the Hard Drive
completely clean and use FDisk to do it and repartition the Hard Drive, if
formatting with FAT32 without Partition Magic.

I am not sure, but I think that if you are on a FAT32 Formatted
Partition, you won't be able to view NTFS files on a NTFS Partition, unless
it is a Shared folder or file.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Shaun,

WinXP has no trouble reading and writing to either file system on the same
machine, you can use both on the system if you like. No system using NTFS is
readable from a DOS boot disk, it's a different file system. You can use the
Recovery Console, BartPE, or a Knoppix CD if needed to work on an NTFS
drive.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[ebct]

This is not correct. FAT32 can be much larger than 32 GB and the name
refers to its 32bit address scheme, not a size limitation.

 

[Tom]

The partition size for FAT32 Format needs to be 32 GB or smaller and
that is why it is called FAT32. NTFS File System format can be larger than
32 GB in size. You can convert from Fat32 to NTFS without problems, but you
convert to FAT32 format, you need Partition Magic or wipe the Hard Drive
completely clean and use FDisk to do it and repartition the Hard Drive, if
formatting with FAT32 without Partition Magic.

This isn't correct.; the inability to use more than a 32gig partition formatted in FAT32 is a limitation made by the operating system, not the 32bit scheme. In actuality, FAT32 can reside on a 2 terabyte partiton/drive.

 

[Enkidu]

Hi all , I had XP installed on one hard drive --40 gig NTFS-- , and my other
drive was --80 gig NTFS-- ....I changed them both to FAT32 after finding
that XP makes it impossable to see the start up prompt from a bootdisk...ie
C:\ and D:\..

No matter what I tried when installing XP with its "convert to NTFS" or
"format to NTFS" the same problem happend for the prompt. thats why they
were changed to FAT32. So now that I have XP going on a crummy FAT32 is it
ok to have the OS on FAT32 and the other drive as NTFS?
I need the 80 gig to be NTFS for a program MYDVD for capturing from a DV
camera....

How do I format a drive as NTFS and still get to see them at the boot
prompt? I know XP wont do it.....
Oh and I have partitioned and repartitioned my 40 gig to death. So it wont
be a partition problem from FDISK , im quite good at using it now.

What sort of bootdisk? If it is a Win98 or DOS boot disk it
will not be able to read an NTFS partition as it does not
contain the drivers.

What are you doing that you nedd to acces your partitions
from the DOS prompt?

There are third-party bootdisks out there on the Internet
that will read NTFS partitions.

Cheers,

Cliff

 

[Alex Nichol]

Hi all , I had XP installed on one hard drive --40 gig NTFS-- , and my other
drive was --80 gig NTFS-- ....I changed them both to FAT32 after finding
that XP makes it impossable to see the start up prompt from a bootdisk...ie
C:\ and D:\..

No matter what I tried when installing XP with its "convert to NTFS" or
"format to NTFS" the same problem happend for the prompt. thats why they
were changed to FAT32. So now that I have XP going on a crummy FAT32 is it
ok to have the OS on FAT32 and the other drive as NTFS?
I need the 80 gig to be NTFS for a program MYDVD for capturing from a DV
camera....

How do I format a drive as NTFS and still get to see them at the boot
prompt? I know XP wont do it.....

A DOS boot floppy will not see an NTFS partition at all (other than with
fairly expensive add-ons. Repair in XP is done after booting its CD and
using the R option, You should not need to use DOS other than
occasionally - if you have to run real mode DOS programs, make a
separate FAT 32 partition for them; XP will be perfectly happy with the
mix

 

[Timothy Daniels]

if you have to run real mode DOS programs, make a
separate FAT 32 partition for them; XP will be perfectly
happy with the mix

How does one install a DOS program so it runs under
an NTFS-resident Windows XP but which resides in a
FAT32 partition?

*TimDaniels*

 

[Tom]

XP (as an operating system) can read both FAT and NTFS just fine, and DOS has nothing to do with it.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

:

How does one install a DOS program so it runs under
an NTFS-resident Windows XP but which resides in a
FAT32 partition?

XP (as an operating system) can read both FAT and NTFS just fine,
and DOS has nothing to do with it.

I asked "how does one install...". IOW, "how does one install
a DOS program in an NTFS-resident Windows XP but insure
that it resides in another partition"?

*TimDaniels*

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Timothy,

DOS- the operating system - requires being installed on a FAT file system.
Programs that are DOS-compatible don't care what file system is in use, the
operating system handles that. A DOS-era program will either run or not run
in an NT environment (using wowexec and ntvdm), but it has naught to do with
the file system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Timothy Daniels]

DOS- the operating system - requires being installed on a FAT
file system. Programs that are DOS-compatible don't care what
file system is in use, the operating system handles that. A DOS-era
program will either run or not run in an NT environment (using
wowexec and ntvdm), but it has naught to do with the file system.

I get that a DOS program in a FAT32 partition will run under
Windows XP which may be resident in a NTFS partition, but how
does the installation procedure go in order to install the program
in a partition that is not the OS's resident partition? It's the
installation part that I'm asking about.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

A DOS *program* will either run or not run in an NT environment, it has
nothing to do with the file system - again that interaction is handled by
the operating system. To install a program to any partition requires that
the program installer support that function - however many 16-bit programs
can simply be copied to a particular location (many do not require any
registry entries to be created, nor do they require any particular files be
placed in the system folder).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Alex Nichol]

How does one install a DOS program so it runs under
an NTFS-resident Windows XP but which resides in a
FAT32 partition?

Well - there is no point. If it runs under XP in the DOS emulation,
that gives full NTFS facilities. What we are talking about is an old
DOS program that has to run direct in DOS in real mode. That needs a
quite separate FAT 32 (or even FAT 16 for an old DOS 6 or earlier)
*installed* in its own FAT 32 partition and booted direct without
reference to Windows

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Well - there is no point. If it runs under XP in the DOS emulation,
that gives full NTFS facilities. What we are talking about is an old
DOS program that has to run direct in DOS in real mode. That needs a
quite separate FAT 32 (or even FAT 16 for an old DOS 6 or earlier)
*installed* in its own FAT 32 partition and booted direct without
reference to Windows

Forget I even mentioned NTFS and FAT32. Assume that I wrote:

"How does one install a DOS program in one partition so that it
runs under a DOS operating system resident in another partition?"

Does one just give a path which includes the program's partition in the
DOS command line for that program (which is in the other partition)?
It would appear from Rick Rogers' reply that just a command to
execute the .exe file is sufficient and that no "installation" in the
Windows sense is necessary.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Tom]

By running the DOS program while in the DOS operating system, e.g. DOS6.0 ME/98. DOS programs do not run very well while in XP, even trying to run it as you want (which doesn't seem possible anyway). Alex made it pretty clear what you need to do (if that is what you want). It is possible to run DOS based programs in XP, with (sometime having to make) making change to the autoexec.nt and config.nt files.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

(Tom, if you change your Outlook Express's Text Encoding
to "None", it would allow other newsreaders to reply without
having to manually insert the ">" characters.)

By running the DOS program while in the DOS operating system,
e.g. DOS6.0 ME/98.

I'm not sure what that is a response to. What does one get/
achieve/do "by running the DOS program while in DOS..."?
IOW, complete the sentence.

DOS programs do not run very well while in XP, even trying to
run it as you want (which doesn't seem possible anyway).

I never said what I "want", but assume that it is to run a DOS
program (in a FAT32 partition) under the DOS mode of
WinXP that is in another partition. Then how does one
1) install the DOS program in the FAT32 partition so that it
will run under the DOS in the WinXP partition, and
2) invoke the DOS program in the FAT32 partition from the
DOS running in the WinXP's partition?

Alex made it pretty clear what you need to do (if that is what you want).
It is possible to run DOS based programs in XP, with (sometime
having to make) making change to the autoexec.nt and config.nt files.

Whaaaaaat.....?


*TimDaniels*

 

[Tom]

(Tom, if you change your Outlook Express's Text Encoding
to "None", it would allow other newsreaders to reply without
having to manually insert the ">" characters.)

No can do, gave up trying to be a conformist, I can read and see mine, and others indentations just fine!

I'm not sure what that is a response to. What does one get/
achieve/do "by running the DOS program while in DOS..."?
IOW, complete the sentence.




I never said what I "want", but assume that it is to run a DOS
program (in a FAT32 partition) under the DOS mode of
WinXP that is in another partition. Then how does one
1) install the DOS program in the FAT32 partition so that it
will run under the DOS in the WinXP partition, and
2) invoke the DOS program in the FAT32 partition from the
DOS running in the WinXP's partition?




Whaaaaaat.....?

Go figure after all this time!

 

[phugoid]

Hey Shaun.......

well, for whatever it's worth. I have 2 drives also, my C Drive is
80G NTFS, and my other is 120G (F Drive) FAT32. Its a Dell XPS and
I've had no problems useing both drives, so apparently everything works
ok, so I assume its no big deal.
I had the 120G drive added to my system at CompUSA and apparently they
knew what they were doing...at least when I brought it in..(the guy who
tried doing it at home, well after he left they didnt work!).....


anywaz, just thought I'd offer my experience with the 2 drives.....

good luck.. George