Possible to change a hd from NTFS to FAT32 w/data on it?

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Is it possible to change an active hard drive from NTFS format to FAT32
format? The drive has data on it.

Thanks,
 
Thx..! I'm concerned if my system does die totally I won't be able to pull
off my D drive which has all my \my documents data on it and still be able to
read it on a new install of win xp since I currenlty have it formatted as
NTFS.

Best regards,
 
XP can read NTFS. So why do you think you need to change?

If you do why not copy the data to your C: drive then format it? Then copy
the data back. Or- depending on how much data and what your PC has- copy it
to a DVD or CD's then format? It'll save the cost of the program for one
use.
 
In
Chet Shannon said:
Thx..! I'm concerned if my system does die totally I won't be able
to pull off my D drive which has all my \my documents data on it and
still be able to read it on a new install of win xp since I currenlty
have it formatted as NTFS.

Best regards,
Click to expand...

Not a problem, make sure you have a current backup stored externally. The
only reason to have FAT 32 would be if you wanted to access it on a Windows
98/Me system by physically connecting the hard drive.
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm


 
=?Utf-8?B?Q2hldCBTaGFubm9u?= said:
Is it possible to change an active hard drive from NTFS format to FAT32
format? The drive has data on it.
Click to expand...

Not recommended and not cheap.
 
I thought that if you take a drive from a computer A and put it on computer B
that because of the SSID that gets assigned to the drive from NTFS on
computer A that computer B with an entirely different install of Win XP can't
read the drive from computer A. (long sentence) And if you use FAT32 that
there is no SSID assigned and hence a drive with \my documents files on it is
portable from computer to computer almost like a USB drive is portable. Do I
have this wrong about the SSID assignment? (I'm no expert here by any
measure.)

What I've done is I have all my \my documents on my D drive and my computer
is currently in the throes of crashing on with win xp on drive C. But now
I'm copying all my \my documents files to an external drive which i am hoping
is going to be my backup for my D drive.

Thx Chet
 
In
Chet Shannon said:
I thought that if you take a drive from a computer A and put it on
computer B that because of the SSID that gets assigned to the drive
from NTFS on computer A that computer B with an entirely different
install of Win XP can't read the drive from computer A. (long
sentence) And if you use FAT32 that there is no SSID assigned and
hence a drive with \my documents files on it is portable from
computer to computer almost like a USB drive is portable. Do I have
this wrong about the SSID assignment? (I'm no expert here by any
measure.)

What I've done is I have all my \my documents on my D drive and my
computer is currently in the throes of crashing on with win xp on
drive C. But now I'm copying all my \my documents files to an
external drive which i am hoping is going to be my backup for my D
drive.

Thx Chet
Click to expand...

As long as the files are not encrypted, you only need to take ownership if
you are denied access. The process that converts NTFS to FAT 32 is more
likely to cause problems than being denied access. The best strategy is to
make sure you have current backups stored off the physical computer. I
suggest using imaging applications that create exact snapshots of the hard
drive to an external hard drive or DVD's.
HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm


 
Chet said:
I thought that if you take a drive from a computer A and put it on computer B
that because of the SSID that gets assigned to the drive from NTFS on
computer A that computer B with an entirely different install of Win XP can't
read the drive from computer A. (long sentence) And if you use FAT32 that
there is no SSID assigned and hence a drive with \my documents files on it is
portable from computer to computer almost like a USB drive is portable. Do I
have this wrong about the SSID assignment? (I'm no expert here by any
measure.)
Click to expand...

That's not so. You will be able to see the data after taking ownership
of the files/folders.

HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=308421

However if any of the files are encrypted using XP's native EFS, then
without exporting the certificate and then importing it, you will not be
able to read the data in another system or after a repair install.

See these links for best practices if you are using EFS.

Best practices for the Encrypting File System
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=223316

How to back up the recovery agent Encrypting File System (EFS) private
key in Windows Server 2003, in Windows 2000, and in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=241201

How to add an EFS recovery agent in Windows XP Professional
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=887414
 
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