NTFS or Fat 32?

[Guest]

The question I have is if you go with NTFS when installing XP, will you be able to read data saved from win 98 programs, such as Excel and others
Also it is possible to switch from Fat 32 to Ntfs once the insall is complete or is a re-install necessary.
Thank for any help.

 

[Haus]

Hello
I am not sure what you are wanting to know, if you are doing an upgrade from
98 to XP then you will have to convert to NTFS after you do the install, you
will not have the option of file system in an upgrade, yes you can do a
conversion from FAT32 to NTFS, but any files saved in FAT will be lost so
you will need to save them to a disk, you can do a full format and install
with an upgrade XP version but you will need a copy of a previous version at
one point in the install,(restore CD's will not qualify) XP has all the
necessary tools to do a full format and install. you can do an upgrade and
all your files and everything should be alright, I would back them up just
to be on the safe side, always unhook all devices except mouse, keyboard, &
monitor before any major install, and install all the updates afterward.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi MiklHnter,

The question I have is if you go with NTFS when installing XP, will you be

able to read data saved from win 98 programs, such as Excel and others.

Yes, it's not a matter of the file system but rather the programs reading
the data. As long as the program can, the file system is not a matter for
concern.

Also it is possible to switch from Fat 32 to Ntfs once the insall is

complete or is a re-install necessary.

Yes, quite possible, see:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

Thank for any help.

You're welcome.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

The question I have is if you go with NTFS when installing XP, will you be

able to read data saved from win 98 programs, such as Excel and others.

Also it is possible to switch from Fat 32 to Ntfs once the insall is

complete or is a re-install necessary.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

FAT is a file system, not a file format. If a system is converted from FAT
to NTFS, assuming no other issues or problems during conversion from FAT to
NTFS, all the files will still be there. It is best to always be well
backed up, especially when doing such a conversion but unless there is a
problem in the process, no files will be lost and all files can be read by
the same applications that read them prior to the conversion.

Once converted to NTFS, there is no going back, at least not natively within
XP. Hence, if a user wishes to return to the FAT file system, they either
need to format and start over which will lose all files on the drive or they
can use third party software such as Partition Magic, www.powerquest.com to
convert back to FAT.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

The question I have is if you go with NTFS when installing XP, will
you be able to read data saved from win 98 programs, such as Excel
and others.

If you do a clean installation of XP, whether to NTFS or FAT32,
the files will be gone. If you create a dual-boot situation, the
files will still be there and will be readable.

Are you asking whether Windows XP, if installed on an NTFS
volume, can read files stored on a FAT32 volume? If so the answer
is yes. Windows XP can read any combination of NTFS, FAT32,
FAT16, and FAT12, regardless of what file system it itself is
installed on.

Also it is possible to switch from Fat 32 to Ntfs once
the insall is complete or is a re-install necessary.

Yes, you can conver from FAT32 to NTFS. To convert to NTFS, you
use the CONVERT command. But first read
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm because there's an issue
regarding cluster size that isn't obvious.

Also note that conversion is a big step, affecting everything on
your drive. When you take such a big step, no matter how
unlikely, it is always possible that something could go wrong.
For that reason, it's prudent to make sure you have a backup of
anything you can't afford to lose before begining.