Fat32 to NTFS

[Jim Brown]

I am considering doing the convert. Is it OK to just go ahead and run
it or do I need to worry about the cluster size?
I will be doing a full backup before running the convert.

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Thank you,
Jim Brown

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[Guest]

You just need to run CONVERT <drive> /FS:NTFS; no need to worry about the cluster size (NTFS uses 4K by default). Excellent idea to always run a full backup prior to any modifications that could have an impact on your system.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

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

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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
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[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. While NTFS will _format_ a hard drive or
partition using a default cluster size of 4 Kb, but the conversion
process, using Convert.exe, creates a cluster size of 512 bytes by
default. This can seriously affect the performance of the system.

Read a little, and learn:

FAT & NTFS File Systems in Windows XP
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfs.htm

Choosing Between File Systems
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tr...prodtechnol/winntas/tips/techrep/filesyst.asp

NTFS file system
http://www.digit-life.com/articles/ntfs/


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

You just need to run CONVERT <drive> /FS:NTFS; no need to worry

about the cluster size (NTFS uses 4K by default). Excellent idea to
always run a full backup prior to any modifications that could have an
impact on your system.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I am considering doing the convert. Is it OK to just go ahead and run
it or do I need to worry about the cluster size?
I will be doing a full backup before running the convert.

You probably need to take precautions to avoid resulting 512 byte
clusters. See www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

 

[Darrell]

Not quite true. As long as your partition(s) are larger than 2GB, the
cluster size created should be 4KB. According to your reference URL.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Yes, those are the default cluster sizes created if one initially
_formats_ a partition as NTFS. Those are _not_ the cluster sizes that
result from a conversion.

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

 

[Alex Nichol]

Not quite true. As long as your partition(s) are larger than 2GB, the
cluster size created should be 4KB. According to your reference URL.

The problem is one that arises in the conversion. Such a FAT 32
partition may have 4 K clusters - but as set up by earlier versions of
the partitioning/formatting, notably by 9x FDISK and FORMAT, the data
clusters are aligned relative to the start of the partition, not on 4 K
boundaries as required by NT, but offset from those by 2K. You would
think the convert could at least achieve a 2K cluster - but no, it gives
up and creates single sector clusters (ie no clustering at all) for 512
bytes

And this is not only on old machines. I just got a new Toshiba Tablet;
and it came with FAT 32 'to give a choice' plus a desktop icon to
convert. Using it resulted in 512 byte clusters, and I had to use their
'restore' CD. That I noticed was based on a Win98 startup boot, and
investigation showed this exact problem. Align with BootIT NG (or
Partition Magic 8 if you happen to have it) first