How to convert from FAT32 to NTFS?

[Patti Barden]

Somewhere on my computer I saw that my hard drive was in NTFS but an
external harddrive I bought is installed as FAT32. The external hd says it
is best to run it in NTFS.

I haven't put anything on the external hd yet and have no idea how to
convert. Can any one point me in the right direction?
Patti

 

[John John - MVP]

If you haven't yet put anything on the drive it's best to format it
rather than converting it. Right click on the drive and select the
Format option and then select NTFS in the File system box. You can also
do this from the Disk Management tool, to launch the Disk Management
console enter diskmgmt.msc in the Start menu Run box.

John

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Somewhere on my computer I saw that my hard drive was in NTFS but an
external harddrive I bought is installed as FAT32. The external hd says it
is best to run it in NTFS.

I haven't put anything on the external hd yet and have no idea how to
convert. Can any one point me in the right direction?
Patti

As you've nothing on the disk yet, it would be best, as "john John"
said to simply delete the existing FAT32 partition, create a new one,
and format it as NTFS to start.

For future reference, though:

You can safely convert your current 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

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Somewhere on my computer I saw that my hard drive was in NTFS but an
external harddrive I bought is installed as FAT32.

One has nothing to do with another. You can have both at once.

The external hd says it
is best to run it in NTFS.

It has nothing to do with this drive or with it's being external. In
my view, it's best to run all drives as NTFS, *unless* you also want
to use it on an older non-NTFS-aware operating system, like Windows
98.

I haven't put anything on the external hd yet and have no idea how to
convert. Can any one point me in the right direction?

If there's nothing on it, don't convert it, just reformat it.
Right-click on it and choose Format.

 

[Leonard Grey]

Mind if I stick my head in? Thanks, please see below, inline:
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

One has nothing to do with another. You can have both at once.




It has nothing to do with this drive or with it's being external. In
my view, it's best to run all drives as NTFS, *unless* you also want
to use it on an older non-NTFS-aware operating system, like Windows
98.

"In my view, it's best to run all drives as NTFS..."

I understand that very well in the context of internal drives. However,
I don't understand the advantage of NTFS for an external drive used for
data or for backup.

If you plug an NTFS-formatted external hard drive into another computer
where you do /not/ have administrator permissions, you can't access the
data on the drive because NTFS enforces user account permissions. And
you can't use the data on the drive with a Mac. It's not the end of the
world, but you can think of situations where this could be inconvenient.

LG

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Mind if I stick my head in? Thanks, please see below, inline:


"In my view, it's best to run all drives as NTFS..."

I understand that very well in the context of internal drives. However,
I don't understand the advantage of NTFS for an external drive used for
data or for backup.

Most Backup applications store the preserved data in a single file,
which, given the large amount of music or videos that are often present,
can easily exceed 4GB in size. FAT32 cannot support files this large,
but NTFS can.

If you plug an NTFS-formatted external hard drive into another computer
where you do /not/ have administrator permissions, you can't access the
data on the drive because NTFS enforces user account permissions.

True. This helps prevent someone else from accessing your data without
your knowledge, permission, and assistance.

And
you can't use the data on the drive with a Mac.

Again, true. But, if one were preparing an external drive to be shared
between Windows and Mac (or any other non-WinNT OS), one would naturally
choose a file system that is common to all. If one has no such plans,
why not go with NTFS' superiority over FAT32.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Of course I don't mind. All conversations here are public, and your
comments are usually very good ones.

But see my single comment on one of your points, below.

Most Backup applications store the preserved data in a single file,
which, given the large amount of music or videos that are often present,
can easily exceed 4GB in size. FAT32 cannot support files this large,
but NTFS can.




True. This helps prevent someone else from accessing your data without
your knowledge, permission, and assistance.



Again, true. But, if one were preparing an external drive to be shared
between Windows and Mac (or any other non-WinNT OS), one would naturally
choose a file system that is common to all.

Yes, and that was one of my original points. I said "it's best to run
all drives as NTFS, *unless* you also want to use it on an older
non-NTFS-aware operating system, like Windows 98."

 

[Leonard Grey]

Thank you both for your replies.

The 4GB file size limitation is undeniable, but it's not an issue for
me. The size of all my documents and spreadsheets doesn't come close to
that, especially after compression by my backup program. Having quick
and convenient access to that data is most important to me.

Media files - at least, the ones I own - can be backed up to 4 GB
containers, if need be. If I start acquiring video files greater than 4
GB...I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I'm not trying to argue with you...just expressing the preference that
works for me.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Thank you both for your replies.

The 4GB file size limitation is undeniable, but it's not an issue for
me. The size of all my documents and spreadsheets doesn't come close to
that, especially after compression by my backup program. Having quick
and convenient access to that data is most important to me.

Media files - at least, the ones I own - can be backed up to 4 GB
containers, if need be. If I start acquiring video files greater than 4
GB...I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I'm not trying to argue with you...just expressing the preference that
works for me.

That's understood. Each individual is free to choose the method that
works best for his situation.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thank you both for your replies.

The 4GB file size limitation is undeniable, but it's not an issue for
me. The size of all my documents and spreadsheets doesn't come close to
that, especially after compression by my backup program. Having quick
and convenient access to that data is most important to me.

Media files - at least, the ones I own - can be backed up to 4 GB
containers, if need be. If I start acquiring video files greater than 4
GB...I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I'm not trying to argue with you...just expressing the preference that
works for me.

Preferences are fine, and they don't have to be the same for everyone.

 

[Tim Meddick]

There is a reason why removable drives are nearly always formatted FAT - because one
of the big advantages of a removable drive is that you can remove it!!

Having it kept formatted as FAT, you would be able to connect it to nearly any other
PC which would be able to identify and browse it's contents. It's compatibility with
other computers would be virtually universal.

This would include PCs with other operating systems like Win98 or LINUX-based and
MACs as well.

If you changed it's format to NTFS and did not set file and folder permissions to
include "Everyone" as read-only - then your removable drive would only be accessible
on your own machine (and possibly other NT-based OSs under 'Administrator')

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Patti Barden]

Thanks Bruce. I am confused by what you mean "delete the existing FAT32
partition."

The external hd came Formatted in Fat32 and has no partitions. How do I
create a new partition - will windows to that for me or do I need a
Partition program. I have Partition Magic V6 but I am not sure that will
work on XP.
I also read your article re clusters, a bit complicated. You recommend
BootItT NG
and it sounds like a pretty complicated bit of kit.
Patti

 

[John John - MVP]

Your disk has a single FAT32 partition, you just need to reformat it.

John

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks Bruce. I am confused by what you mean "delete the existing FAT32
partition."

The external hd came Formatted in Fat32 and has no partitions.

As I said in my earlier message, it has *one* partition. What you
undoubtedly mean is that it doesn't have more than one.

How do I
create a new partition - will windows to that for me or do I need a
Partition program.

Have you put any data on the drive yet? If not, you can repartition it
as desired from within Windows. From the Start button, go to All
Programs | Administrative Tools | Computer Management | Disk
Management.

I have Partition Magic V6 but I am not sure that will
work on XP.

Yes, but if you want NTFS, you need to have a recent version.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Thanks Bruce. I am confused by what you mean "delete the existing FAT32
partition."

The external hd came Formatted in Fat32 and has no partitions.

Actually, there is a partition - a single one that takes up the entire
capacity of the disk.

How do I
create a new partition - will windows to that for me or do I need a
Partition program. I have Partition Magic V6 but I am not sure that will
work on XP.

You can do this with native WinXP tools. Right-click My Computer >
Manage > Disk Management, and then right-click the drive you want to
modify. You'll get a context menu that will allow you to delete,
create, and format partitions as desired.

I also read your article re clusters, a bit complicated. You recommend
BootItT NG
and it sounds like a pretty complicated bit of kit.
Patti

I offered it as I had no way of knowing your specific level of
technical "comfort." You'd only need to use that information if you
choose to *convert* the FAT32 partition to NTFS, rather than formatting it.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[Patti Barden]

Mind if I stick my head in? Thanks, please see below, inline:
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est



"In my view, it's best to run all drives as NTFS..."

I understand that very well in the context of internal drives. However, I
don't understand the advantage of NTFS for an external drive used for data
or for backup.

If you plug an NTFS-formatted external hard drive into another computer
where you do /not/ have administrator permissions, you can't access the
data on the drive because NTFS enforces user account permissions. And you
can't use the data on the drive with a Mac. It's not the end of the world,
but you can think of situations where this could be inconvenient.

LG

LG, I don't understand admintrator permissions. I will only be using my
cloned
system copied to the external hard disk on another Windows system. I want to
be able to see what is on my external hard disk from another computer if I
need to.
Patti

 

[Tim Meddick]

This is exactly what "Leonard Grey" and I were saying - IF you need to access the
drive on ANY other system than the one the data was created on you [may] have
problems if you can't log on as Administrator on the [new] machine.

*But, then if you're "cloning", that process copies [clones] the file-system [e.g.
NTFS + all it's permissions] as well, so you will not have a choice of what to
"format" the drive as because it will not matter.

After cloning - the drive will be EXACTLY the same file-system as the drive from
which it was cloned no matter what it WAS formatted as...


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Patti Barden]

Thank you Tim and all members for their patience!!! Great learning curve.
Patti

This is exactly what "Leonard Grey" and I were saying - IF you need to
access the drive on ANY other system than the one the data was created on
you [may] have problems if you can't log on as Administrator on the [new]
machine.

*But, then if you're "cloning", that process copies [clones] the
file-system [e.g. NTFS + all it's permissions] as well, so you will not
have a choice of what to "format" the drive as because it will not matter.

After cloning - the drive will be EXACTLY the same file-system as the
drive from which it was cloned no matter what it WAS formatted as...


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

LG, I don't understand admintrator permissions. I will only be using my
cloned
system copied to the external hard disk on another Windows system. I want
to
be able to see what is on my external hard disk from another computer if
I
need to.
Patti