FAT32 to NTFS & backup restore

[Guest]

Getting ready to convert drive, XP SP2. Have external backup drive, but
backup will be FAT32. Have read prior posts and referenced articles on
conversion. My question is, if conversion goes well but lose just "some"
data, will I be able to restore from FAT32 backup to NTFS? Will eventually
re-do backup as NTFS, but for immediate post-conversion issues, will I be
covered?

 

[Richard Urban]

Yes! You can restore files from a fat32 volume to a NTFS volume. But, if you
are converting the drive where Windows is installed you really need a full
"image" of the drive, such as that created by Acronis TrueImage or Norton
Ghost.

Convert rarely causes problems, but you are covered by a full drive image,
"just in case".

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[MoiMeme]

If you do a file backup then whatever the target partition format is it will
be no problem.
I only would be a problem if you do an image of the partition before
conversion. Then restoring the image as a whole ( restore partition/drive
functions) would restore FAT format as well.
So simply backup your files.
Or if you use an imaging program ( Ghost 10 or Acronis TrueImage, ..), use
file restore functions ( or mount image to a drive letter if using Acronis
TrueImage) and then restore lacking / bad files with those from the image
Good luck

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

Getting ready to convert drive, XP SP2. Have external backup drive,
but backup will be FAT32. Have read prior posts and referenced
articles on conversion. My question is, if conversion goes well but
lose just "some" data, will I be able to restore from FAT32 backup to
NTFS? Will eventually re-do backup as NTFS, but for immediate
post-conversion issues, will I be covered?

The file system you use when you make your backup doesn't matter. You can
back up data from a FAT32 disk to an NTFS disk, and vice versa, and restore
as you wish.

I don't know how you're going to do your backup, but note that if you're
going to use NTBackup you may not want to do it to a FAT32-formatted disk as
it will max out at a 4GB file. You can just do file copies if you want to
backup your data (use xcopy, robocopy, whatnot).

 

[Guest]

Thanks all for the quick and informative replies - on a Sunday morning, no
less. Geeks, get a life! (jk, I'm here too). FWIW, backup will be done using
Seagate software that came with external HD, and may not convert anyway.
Hubby doesn't think it's worth messing with since "nothing's broke", runs
fast enough for us, and we'll probably replace system within a year anyway.

 

[Dave Cohen]

Yes! You can restore files from a fat32 volume to a NTFS volume. But, if you
are converting the drive where Windows is installed you really need a full
"image" of the drive, such as that created by Acronis TrueImage or Norton
Ghost.

Convert rarely causes problems, but you are covered by a full drive image,
"just in case".

Don't forget the offerings of terabyteunlimited.com, cost less than
Ghost or PI although if all you want to do is imaging, Acronis does have
attractive specs. I like the combination of imaging, partition
management and multi os support in one package and have been using
bootitng for a few years.
Dave Cohen

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

Thanks all for the quick and informative replies - on a Sunday
morning, no less. Geeks, get a life! (jk, I'm here too).

FWIW, backup
will be done using Seagate software that came with external HD, and
may not convert anyway. Hubby doesn't think it's worth messing with
since "nothing's broke", runs fast enough for us, and we'll probably
replace system within a year anyway.

I personally use NTFS on all my NT-based OSes - it's much more efficient at
using space, it's more self-healing, and performance is generally
better...but I understand your hesitation.

 

[Ken Blake]

Getting ready to convert drive, XP SP2.

First read http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm because there's an issue
regarding cluster size that isn't obvious.

Have external backup drive,
but backup will be FAT32. Have read prior posts and referenced
articles on conversion. My question is, if conversion goes well but
lose just "some" data, will I be able to restore from FAT32 backup to
NTFS? Will eventually re-do backup as NTFS, but for immediate
post-conversion issues, will I be covered?

Yes, no problem. Windows XP, whether Home or Professional, can access NTFS,
FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12, in any combination at all, and regardless of what
file system it's installed on. If Windows XP is installed using FAT, it can
see and access NTFS just as well as if it were installed under NTFS. And if
it's installed under NTFS, it can see and access FAT drives without a
problem.

 

[Guest]

That's a good line, I'll have to remember it next time I'm locking up the
building for the 5th night in a row. Maybe I'll let hubby read the posts, and
others. I was planning my day around hardware upgrades, backup, conversion;
he was less than enthused. We've got some software that doesn't want to run
right with other than admin login, and since we're not on NTFS, can't assign
permissions by user (just one more reason to go NTFS). Don't know why drive
was formatted FAT32 in the first place - not what I would have done, but I
was too busy at work and couldn't get to it for over a month and we were sick
of ME. You know what they say about the cobbler's children going shoeless.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

That's a good line, I'll have to remember it next time I'm locking up
the building for the 5th night in a row. Maybe I'll let hubby read
the posts, and others. I was planning my day around hardware
upgrades, backup, conversion; he was less than enthused. We've got
some software that doesn't want to run right with other than admin
login, and since we're not on NTFS, can't assign permissions by user
(just one more reason to go NTFS). Don't know why drive was formatted
FAT32 in the first place - not what I would have done, but I was too
busy at work and couldn't get to it for over a month and we were sick
of ME.

You know what they say about the cobbler's children going
shoeless.

Oh my, yes.


<snip>

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Ken. I had already searched for Conversion related-posts and read
that article (see 3rd sentence of my original post), as it is referenced in
every response. That 'gotcha' is actually what made me post my question -
makes sense that I should be able to restore since it would be just a file of
1's and 0's, and not the drive format I care about, but I wanted to make sure
there wasn't another 'gotcha' out there waiting to bite me, and couldn't find
any prior posts that answered that question.

 

[Ken Blake]

Thanks, Ken. I had already searched for Conversion related-posts and
read that article

You're welcome, and glad you read it.

(see 3rd sentence of my original post),

Yes, but your sentence wasn't specific and I wanted to make sure you read
that *particular* article.

 

[Plato]

Getting ready to convert drive, XP SP2. Have external backup drive, but
backup will be FAT32. Have read prior posts and referenced articles on
conversion. My question is, if conversion goes well but lose just "some"
data, will I be able to restore from FAT32 backup to NTFS? Will eventually
re-do backup as NTFS, but for immediate post-conversion issues, will I be
covered?

Backups are best done in fat32 for best recovery in the future. ie you
dont need XP to view/save/recover files on fat32 backup drives.