Questions Regarding FAT32 ---> NTFS

[Guest]

I'm thinking of converting my C drive to NTFS from FAT32. I'm not much of a
technical expert, so I have a few questions-

1. What exactly are the benefits of the conversion?
2. Anything I need to do beforehand besides backup?
3. I heard things about needing to reactivate Windows XP after a conversion.
Can anyone clarify?

 

[JS]

For the info on FAT32 see: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310525/en-us
Formatting/Partitions see: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348/en-us

Comparisons:
NTFS vs. FAT: Which Is Right for You?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/russel_october01.mspx
FAT32 or NTFS: Making the Choice:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/ntfs_or_fat32_file_system.htm

Converting a partition from FAT32 to NTFS:
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.php
At the end of the above article it talks about product activation.

MS KB Article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881

JS

 

[Guest]

Hmm...So data loss is minimal in the conversion. Also, I only boot windows
XP, so I should convert.

But I'm a little concerned with the whole reactivation thing. I've never had
to activate my copy of Windows (It came pre-installed on my Acer Aspire 5100
Notebook). Will my copy of Windows need reactivation?

 

[JS]

I'd hope for the best but plan for the worst (reactivation).
Find the XP CD and the key code for that CD!

JS

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I'm thinking of converting my C drive to NTFS from FAT32. I'm not much of a
technical expert, so I have a few questions-

1. What exactly are the benefits of the conversion?

Personally, I wouldn't even consider using FAT32 when NTFS is an
option. FAT32 has no security capabilities, no compression
capabilities, no fault tolerance, no support for files larger than 4 Gb
(videos, anyone?), and a lot of wasted hard drive space on volumes
larger than 8 Gb in size. (Just try finding a hard drive that small,
nowadays.) The only reason I can think of to remain with FAT32 would be
if you anticipated a high likelihood of having to connect that external
drive to a Win9x machine. But your computing needs may vary, and there
is no hard and fast answer.

To answer your questions without getting too technical is
difficult, but has been handled quite well by the late Alex Nichol in
the article here:

FAT & NTFS File Systems in Windows XP
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfs.htm

Somewhat more technical information is here:

Limitations of the FAT32 File System in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=kb;en-us;Q314463

Choosing Between File Systems
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tr...prodtechnol/winntas/tips/techrep/filesyst.asp

NTFS file system
http://www.digit-life.com/articles/ntfs/

2. Anything I need to do beforehand besides backup?

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

3. I heard things about needing to reactivate Windows XP after a conversion.
Can anyone clarify?

That shouldn't be necessary, but it's not a problem, anyways.


--

Bruce Chambers

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[Robert Moir]

Hmm...So data loss is minimal in the conversion. Also, I only boot windows
XP, so I should convert.

But I'm a little concerned with the whole reactivation thing. I've never
had
to activate my copy of Windows (It came pre-installed on my Acer Aspire
5100
Notebook). Will my copy of Windows need reactivation?

I've never ever seen that happen or even heard about it from a _credible_
source. Assuming you've got everything you need then XP re-activation isn't
the horror story that some people make it out to be, but either way it
shouldn't happen and hence shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Guest]

Well, I made the conversion without any trouble. I'm not seeing any
performance changes yet, but one thing pleased me- the C: Drive went from 58%
free disc space to 71%.