NTFS back to FAT32

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Guest

hi, in trying to fix some problems on a family members pc i installed my copy
of xp on their pc. i know want to uninstall it and put their windows ME back
on but i have converted the hard drive to NTFS. is there any way of putting
it back to FAT32?? if not what are my options. Many thnaks
 
sugna said:
hi, in trying to fix some problems on a family members pc i installed my copy
of xp on their pc. i know want to uninstall it and put their windows ME back
on but i have converted the hard drive to NTFS. is there any way of putting
it back to FAT32?? if not what are my options. Many thnaks
Click to expand...

Only with a program that has that capability, and the only one I can think that does this is Partition Magic 8, and that cost $69.95 from Symantec. There may be others, but I am unaware of their names. even then, there are no guarantees that it will work properly. Best to back up everything important to you, and then reinstall to FATxx.
 
sugna said:
hi, in trying to fix some problems on a family members pc i
installed my copy of xp on their pc. i know want to uninstall it
and put their windows ME back on but i have converted the hard
drive to NTFS. is there any way of putting it back to FAT32?? if
not what are my options. Many thnaks
Click to expand...


The normal way to "uninstall" any operating system is to format
the hard drive and install a new OS of your choice.

However, if you performed an upgrade from Win98/Me, elected to
backup the old system files, and didn't convert the partition to NTFS,
then all you need do is boot into Safe Mode and Start > Control Panel
Add/Remove Programs. All of these conditions must be met for the
Click to expand...
uninstall option to be available.

Otherwise:

How to Manually Remove Win XP and Restore Win9x
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q314052

--

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
 
thanks for prompt response Tom, there really is nothing to back up. how do i
reinstall to FAT32
 
Well, if you're wanting to go back to ME, you will have to format the hard drive, and reinstall it. You can only revert back to FAT32 only if you are staying with the same operating system (XP in this case) and even then you would need a 3rd party program, as I stated before. So, in this case, to get ME back, you will have to completely reinstall it from scratch.

Refer to a reinstall, as Bruce Chambers posted before; read here on "How To":
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q314052
 
sugna said:
hi, in trying to fix some problems on a family members pc i installed my copy
of xp on their pc. i know want to uninstall it and put their windows ME back
on but i have converted the hard drive to NTFS. is there any way of putting
it back to FAT32?? if not what are my options. Many thnaks
Click to expand...

Boot your computer with a WindowsMe startup disk. Get one from
www.bootdisk.com if you do not have one available.

When it finishes booting and stops at the A:\> prompt enter the
following command:

FDISK

Choose the option to delete a partition and then to delete a non-DOS
partition. WARNING: This will totally toast all of the contents of
the hard drive and recovery will be extremely difficult or expensive
(or both).

Next choose the option to create a partition. Create a new Primary
DOS partition and allocate the entire space on the drive to it (unless
you want to have additional partitions on the drive).

When it is finished exit FDISK, remove the boot disk and insert the
WindowsMe CDROM. Reboot the computer. It should boot from the CDROM
and start the WindowsMe install process, including formatting the hard
drive.

NOTE: An NTFS partition cannot be changed to FAT32 by formatting it.
You must delete the NTFS partition and then create a new FAT32
partition using the same space. Then you must format the FAT32
partition before it can be used.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
 
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