How can I format C drive with NTFS

[PeterM]

I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things up. I
like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that it is in the
NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the WIN XP CD. or can I
use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the win98 startup disk
format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any help is
appreciated.......Peter

 

[Ray Lewis]

http://www.fdisk.com/fdisk/

 

[Sharon F]

I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things up. I
like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that it is in the
NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the WIN XP CD. or can I
use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the win98 startup disk
format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any help is
appreciated.......Peter

Use the Win XP CD to delete the partition. Then recreate it, choosing to
format in NTFS.

Note: If XP is setup and ready to go, use "convert" to change to NTFS.
A good general discussion on FAT*/NTFS (including some pointers on
converting the file system) can be found here:
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfs.htm

 

[PeterM]

Many thanks, that will certainly get me started.......Peter

 

[Denzil Hathway]

I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things up. I
like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that it is in the
NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the WIN XP CD. or can
I
use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the win98 startup disk
format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any help is
appreciated.......Peter

========================

Can I enter this discussion with some questions? I have just installed a
second HDD as a slave on a very slightly older PC. I took this HDD from a PC
at another home location and I would like to re- format it.

XP was on the slave HDD as OEM, consequently it runs currently on NTFS (I'm
not sure I understand what that means). On the older system I had added XP
over Millennium. That master HDD still runs on FAT32 (I'm not sure what that
means either).

Reading this current discussion leads me to several questions.

How do I format my slave HDD? Do I partition? What file system, NTFS or
FAT32?

Do I need to change my current master HDD FAT32 system?. If so, how?

Do file systems have to match on master and slave HDD's?

Sorry to be a bother but I don't know much about this ... but would like to
learn. Thanks, Denzil

 

[Sharon F]

========================

Can I enter this discussion with some questions? I have just installed a
second HDD as a slave on a very slightly older PC. I took this HDD from a PC
at another home location and I would like to re- format it.

XP was on the slave HDD as OEM, consequently it runs currently on NTFS (I'm
not sure I understand what that means). On the older system I had added XP
over Millennium. That master HDD still runs on FAT32 (I'm not sure what that
means either).

Reading this current discussion leads me to several questions.

How do I format my slave HDD? Do I partition? What file system, NTFS or
FAT32?

Do I need to change my current master HDD FAT32 system?. If so, how?

Do file systems have to match on master and slave HDD's?

Sorry to be a bother but I don't know much about this ... but would like to
learn. Thanks, Denzil

Denzil, your situation is different compared to the original poster in this
thread. They were working with the drive that XP boots from and it also
resides there. The considerations for changing file format under those
circumstances are a little more involved and their choices are more
limited.

XP is capable of reading drives that are formatted FAT32 or NTFS so, unless
you want to change this, you're fine with the formats as they are. NOTE:
Any files/folders on the FAT32 partition will not and cannot be protected
by XP's permissions. If you're wanting to clear that second drive to put
new things on it, you can:

- Delete what's on it now and use it as is
- Format the drive: Simply right click on that drive in My Computer or
Windows Explorer and select Format ~or~ use Administrative Tools> Disk
Management. You can elect to use FAT32 or NTFS during the process using
either method.

There is an additional option of using the command line interface to
format. If interested, check XP's Help file for information on
"command-line" Select "Command-line reference A-Z" from the search results
and scroll down to Format for a quick rundown on the needed syntax and the
available switches.

 

[PeterM]

Many thanks to you as well Sharon. Everything is working
swell....................Peter

 

[Denzil Hathway]

I do thank Sharon for answering my questions about re-formatting a slave HDD
under XP. There was one question unanswered though. Since the master HDD is
structured for FAT 32 should I change it to NTFC? If so, how do I do it? ...
and, by doing it, is there any danger to the programs and data already on
that drive?

I realize now that the drives do not have to match but since NTFC evidently
came later than FAT 32 that there must be some advantage to it. Like what?
Still anxious to learn, thanks, Denzil.

 

[PeterM]

Dear Denzel, just my part, I wish I could help you. The answer will come,
these ladies and gents are great here, and are always here to help. My hat
off to them...........Peter

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things
up. I like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that
it
is in the NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the
WIN
XP CD. or can I use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the
win98 startup disk format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any
help is appreciated.......Peter

Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the
opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the
installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot
devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

--

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

 

[Sharon F]

I do thank Sharon for answering my questions about re-formatting a slave HDD
under XP. There was one question unanswered though. Since the master HDD is
structured for FAT 32 should I change it to NTFC? If so, how do I do it? ...
and, by doing it, is there any danger to the programs and data already on
that drive?

I realize now that the drives do not have to match but since NTFC evidently
came later than FAT 32 that there must be some advantage to it. Like what?
Still anxious to learn, thanks, Denzil.

You can convert the master drive to NTFS is you'd like or leave it as is.
XP will work either way. To decide which file system you want to use, you
might want to open up XP's Help and Support and read about the different
formats a bit. Type NTFS into the search box and look in the results under
"Full-text Search Matches." Click on "Choosing between NTFS, FAT and
FAT32." The help topic discusses the pros and cons of each file system.

A drive that has data on it can be converted from FAT32 to NTFS. This is a
one way ticket as conversion from NTFS back to FAT32 is not possible using
the built-in XP disk tools. Existing data will be preserved but as with all
system changes, back up important files before converting just in case
something does happen to go wrong. Rare but possible.

Converting to NTFS tends to create rather small clusters for storage.
Formatting creates cluster sizes suitable for the partition size. There are
methods for getting the more optimal cluster sizes when converting. These
are discussed in the article cited before:
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfs.htm

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Generally, you benefit from better performance from FAT32 on drives less
than 30GB and from NTFS (btw NTFS = New Technology File System) on drives
larger than 30GB. The real advantages of NTFS lie in file security and file
system stability. A great place to learn about NTFS is at
http://www.ntfs.com/.

 

[PeterM]

Again many thanks for the wonderful help. I do have one more question. I
backed up my desktop (NTFS) to a external HD (FAT32) is that a problem, when
I have to restore it again to my NTFS desktop?............Peter

 

[Ken Blake]

Again many thanks for the wonderful help. I do have one more
question. I
backed up my desktop (NTFS) to a external HD (FAT32) is that a
problem, when
I have to restore it again to my NTFS desktop?............Peter

No, it's not a problem. Just as you copied files from an NTFS
drive to a FAT32 one, you can copy from FAT32 to NTFS.

 

[PeterM]

Thanks Ken, that is good news. I appreciate your help............Peter

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Again many thanks for the wonderful help. I do have one more
question. I backed up my desktop (NTFS) to a external HD (FAT32) is
that a problem, when I have to restore it again to my NTFS
desktop?............Peter

You shouldn't have a problem.

WinXP can read FAT12 (the file system used on 3.5" diskettes),
FAT16, FAT32, CDFS (the file system used on most CDs), and NTFS with
equal facility. Further, the file system on any one disk/partition or
diskette has absolutely no affect upon the operating system's ability
to read other compatible file systems on other disks/partitions.

--

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

 

[PeterM]

Thanks a lot Bruce for that kind email, this will make me feel much
better............Peter

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Thanks a lot Bruce for that kind email, this will make me feel much
better............Peter

You're welcome

--

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

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Thanks Ken, that is good news. I appreciate your
help............Peter

You're welcome, Peter. Glad to help.