Fat32 - extra partition

[Tom]

Hi,

My parents decided to "upgrade" their computer on their
own. They actually did a pretty good job, but there are a
few things I would like to correct. They installed
Win2000 over the top of Win98. The file system was left
as FAT32. I would like to convert to NTFS. Is
convert.exe they way to go? How safe is this to do to the
primary partition where all data, programs, and OS are
stored?

Also, there is a second FAT32 partition. This partition is
entirely unused. Is there any way to recover this free
space without reformatting the entire hard drive?
Partition Magic?

Thanks for any help!

Tom

 

[Michael Cecil]

Hi,

My parents decided to "upgrade" their computer on their
own. They actually did a pretty good job, but there are a
few things I would like to correct. They installed
Win2000 over the top of Win98. The file system was left
as FAT32. I would like to convert to NTFS. Is
convert.exe they way to go? How safe is this to do to the
primary partition where all data, programs, and OS are
stored?

It is a non-destructive conversion process but accidents happen so it's a
good idea to backup the crucial files and addresses first. Also, W2K's
convert sometimes uses a small cluster size depending on the disk
geometry. To make sure you will end up with the 4K clusters get BootitNG
from http://www.bootitng.com. Boot up with the floppy, cancel the install
and you'll be in Maintenance Modem, click on the Partition Work icon and
slide the partition to "align for NTFS". It can take a while. Once it's
done, reboot into Windows and use the convert command.
(Convert c: /fs:ntfs)

Also, there is a second FAT32 partition. This partition is
entirely unused. Is there any way to recover this free
space without reformatting the entire hard drive?
Partition Magic?

That would work if you have it. Or the BootitNG will do it as well.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Tom.

Yes, convert.exe will convert the FAT32 partition to NTFS. It's a safe
procedure. That is, I've never heard from anyone who lost data because of
convert.exe. However, nothing is safe from something like a power failure
in the middle of a disk write, so it's always a good idea to have a backup.

As to combining the two partitions, there are three ways I know of:

1. Invest your time: backup, repartition, reformat, restore.

2. Invest your money: Partition Magic ($70?) or something similar.

3. Use DiskPart /extend - but this one is so full of gotchas that it might
not be worth the effort. Search for "extend" in the Help and Support file
and see if you want to try it. It can't be used on the "system partition"
(almost always Drive C or the "boot volume" (also usually Drive C, so
that alone stops most users, unless they can move the HD to a separate
computer temporarily to do the job.

Your best route is probably #1, if you have backups. When you get to the
reformat, use NTFS. The Win2K version of convert.exe often results in
512-byte sectors; a fresh format gets you the standard 4 KB clusters. And,
as Partition Magic's owner's manual explains, PM performs the conversion by
simply calling Microsoft's convert.exe. Small clusters use disk space more
efficiently, but slow down performance because the system has to load 8
times as many clusters to handle most files.

RC

 

[Tom]

Thank you for the quick, detailed, excellent responses!!!

Tom