Reformatting External hard drive from NTFS to FAT32

[Guest]

I have an external hard drive running on XP SP2 which I originally formatted
in NTFS. My daughter now wishes to use it at college on a Mac which I
understand will only work with FAT32. I followed the undernoted procedure to
reformat the drive to FAT32 but after reformatting it has remained at NTFS.
Any suggestions as to what the problem might be or any other way I can get
back to FAT 32?


-- 1. Formatting an XP System Disk by booting from the XP CD is accomplished
by loading the Recovery Console by typing R at the first window.

2. After selecting the Windows installation you want to access and typing in
the Admin password [leave blank if no password was created] you will see a
command prompt.

3. Type Map & press ENTER

4. Note the letter designation of the drive you want to format. [write it
down]

5. Type format x:<space>/fs:fat32 then press ENTER, where x is the drive
letter you want to format. Substitute NTFS or FAT if desired.

6. Type Y to confirm your selection and then type exit & press ENTER to
restart computer.

almara

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have an external hard drive running on XP SP2 which I originally formatted
in NTFS. My daughter now wishes to use it at college on a Mac which I
understand will only work with FAT32. I followed the undernoted procedure to
reformat the drive to FAT32 but after reformatting it has remained at NTFS.
Any suggestions as to what the problem might be or any other way I can get
back to FAT 32?


-- 1. Formatting an XP System Disk by booting from the XP CD is accomplished
by loading the Recovery Console by typing R at the first window.

2. After selecting the Windows installation you want to access and typing in
the Admin password [leave blank if no password was created] you will see a
command prompt.

3. Type Map & press ENTER

4. Note the letter designation of the drive you want to format. [write it
down]

5. Type format x:<space>/fs:fat32 then press ENTER, where x is the drive
letter you want to format. Substitute NTFS or FAT if desired.

6. Type Y to confirm your selection and then type exit & press ENTER to
restart computer.

almara

There are two types of disk partitions: FAT, and NTFS. You cannot
turn a FAT partition into an NTFS partition with format.exe, nor can
you do the opposite. You must delete your NTFS partition, then
create it as a FAT32 partition, then format it.

Click Start / Help, then type partition into the Search box.
Now follow the instructions under "Create a partition or logical
drive".

 

[Art]

I have an external hard drive running on XP SP2 which I originally
formatted
in NTFS. My daughter now wishes to use it at college on a Mac which I
understand will only work with FAT32. I followed the undernoted procedure
to
reformat the drive to FAT32 but after reformatting it has remained at
NTFS.
Any suggestions as to what the problem might be or any other way I can get
back to FAT 32?


-- 1. Formatting an XP System Disk by booting from the XP CD is
accomplished by loading the Recovery Console by typing R at the first
window.

2. After selecting the Windows installation you want to access and typing
in the Admin password [leave blank if no password was created] you will
see a command prompt.

3. Type Map & press ENTER

4. Note the letter designation of the drive you want to format. [write it
down]

5. Type format x:<space>/fs:fat32 then press ENTER, where x is the drive
letter you want to format. Substitute NTFS or FAT if desired.

6. Type Y to confirm your selection and then type exit & press ENTER to >
restart computer.

almara

Almara:
The problem is that the XP OS will not allow you (or anyone else for that
matter!) to create and format a hard disk partition in FAT32 that's greater
than 32 GB, although the OS will recognize a FAT32 formatted drive of any
capacity without any complaint. (You didn't indicate the size of your USB
external hard drive but I'm assuming it's > 32 GB). Why that specific
limitation was imposed is something I and others have never understood, but
there it is. Probably because Microsoft was (and is) eager for users to use
the NTFS file system and wanted to discourage the use of the FAT32 file
system. In any event, that limitation is a fact of life in a XP environment.

But there is a workaround. First you'll need to uninstall the hard drive
from its USB external hard drive enclosure and install that drive as an
internal drive in your computer. Now that may be a problem (to say the
least) if your USB EHD is, in effect, a sealed unit and there's no practical
way for the disk's removal and subsequent installation back into the
enclosure. Another consideration is that if it is a commercial USB EHD,
removing the drive will most certainly void the warranty. So this might not
be a practical solution to your dilemma. But I'll go on in case you can
proceed with the drive's removal and installation as an internal drive in
your computer.

Using a Win9x/Me Startup Disk that contains the DOS commands, you boot up
with that floppy disk. You'll use the FDISK command to first delete the
"non-DOS" partition, i.e., your present NTFS partition and then use FDISK to
create a FAT32 partition. Then using the FORMAT command, format the
partition. There is no partition/format capacity limitation in this
instance.

If the preceding process is practical in your circumstances and you need
step-by-step instructions for using the FDISK and FORMAT commands, so
indicate in a subsequent posting. If you don't have a Win9x/Me Startup Disk,
do a Google search for "DOS boot disk". You may wonder why you simply can't
use those DOS boot disk commands to partition/format your USB EHD without
the bother of removing the HD and installing it as an internal drive in your
computer. It's because DOS won't recognize a USB device for the purpose of
partitioning/formatting the drive. At least that has been my experience. I
have heard reports from other users that they could directly
partition/format a USB EHD using a DOS boot disk, but that capability has
eluded me. But you may want to give it a try. Naturally you'll return the
drive to its USB enclosure after the partitioning/formatting.
Art

 

[Guest]

Art,

Thanks for your full and helpful response. Unfortunately converting the hard
drive from external to internal is not an option. I've tried rebooting with a
98ME bootdisk and running fdisk but as you say the external drive is not
"seen" by fdisk - the external hard drive is 160gb connected by firewire. It
looks as though the only other option is to invest in a programme like
Partition Magic which I understand has the facility to make the conversion.

almara

I have an external hard drive running on XP SP2 which I originally
formatted
in NTFS. My daughter now wishes to use it at college on a Mac which I
understand will only work with FAT32. I followed the undernoted procedure
to
reformat the drive to FAT32 but after reformatting it has remained at
NTFS.
Any suggestions as to what the problem might be or any other way I can get
back to FAT 32?


-- 1. Formatting an XP System Disk by booting from the XP CD is
accomplished by loading the Recovery Console by typing R at the first
window.

2. After selecting the Windows installation you want to access and typing
in the Admin password [leave blank if no password was created] you will
see a command prompt.

3. Type Map & press ENTER

4. Note the letter designation of the drive you want to format. [write it
down]

5. Type format x:<space>/fs:fat32 then press ENTER, where x is the drive
letter you want to format. Substitute NTFS or FAT if desired.

6. Type Y to confirm your selection and then type exit & press ENTER to >
restart computer.

almara

Almara:
The problem is that the XP OS will not allow you (or anyone else for that
matter!) to create and format a hard disk partition in FAT32 that's greater
than 32 GB, although the OS will recognize a FAT32 formatted drive of any
capacity without any complaint. (You didn't indicate the size of your USB
external hard drive but I'm assuming it's > 32 GB). Why that specific
limitation was imposed is something I and others have never understood, but
there it is. Probably because Microsoft was (and is) eager for users to use
the NTFS file system and wanted to discourage the use of the FAT32 file
system. In any event, that limitation is a fact of life in a XP environment.

But there is a workaround. First you'll need to uninstall the hard drive
from its USB external hard drive enclosure and install that drive as an
internal drive in your computer. Now that may be a problem (to say the
least) if your USB EHD is, in effect, a sealed unit and there's no practical
way for the disk's removal and subsequent installation back into the
enclosure. Another consideration is that if it is a commercial USB EHD,
removing the drive will most certainly void the warranty. So this might not
be a practical solution to your dilemma. But I'll go on in case you can
proceed with the drive's removal and installation as an internal drive in
your computer.

Using a Win9x/Me Startup Disk that contains the DOS commands, you boot up
with that floppy disk. You'll use the FDISK command to first delete the
"non-DOS" partition, i.e., your present NTFS partition and then use FDISK to
create a FAT32 partition. Then using the FORMAT command, format the
partition. There is no partition/format capacity limitation in this
instance.

If the preceding process is practical in your circumstances and you need
step-by-step instructions for using the FDISK and FORMAT commands, so
indicate in a subsequent posting. If you don't have a Win9x/Me Startup Disk,
do a Google search for "DOS boot disk". You may wonder why you simply can't
use those DOS boot disk commands to partition/format your USB EHD without
the bother of removing the HD and installing it as an internal drive in your
computer. It's because DOS won't recognize a USB device for the purpose of
partitioning/formatting the drive. At least that has been my experience. I
have heard reports from other users that they could directly
partition/format a USB EHD using a DOS boot disk, but that capability has
eluded me. But you may want to give it a try. Naturally you'll return the
drive to its USB enclosure after the partitioning/formatting.
Art

 

[David Vair]

Since its external, just delete the partition and format from Disk Management while in windows.
Boot computer normally with drive attached. Right click My computer and select manage. Select Disk
Management from the window that opens up. Delete partition on external drive, then create new
partition and format. OR just give your daughter the drive and let her use the mac to delete and
create new partition.
--
Dave Vair
CNE, CNA, MCP, A+, N+
Computer Education Services Corp. (CESC)

Art,

Thanks for your full and helpful response. Unfortunately converting the hard
drive from external to internal is not an option. I've tried rebooting with a
98ME bootdisk and running fdisk but as you say the external drive is not
"seen" by fdisk - the external hard drive is 160gb connected by firewire. It
looks as though the only other option is to invest in a programme like
Partition Magic which I understand has the facility to make the conversion.

almara

I have an external hard drive running on XP SP2 which I originally
formatted
in NTFS. My daughter now wishes to use it at college on a Mac which I
understand will only work with FAT32. I followed the undernoted procedure
to
reformat the drive to FAT32 but after reformatting it has remained at
NTFS.
Any suggestions as to what the problem might be or any other way I can get
back to FAT 32?


-- 1. Formatting an XP System Disk by booting from the XP CD is
accomplished by loading the Recovery Console by typing R at the first
window.

2. After selecting the Windows installation you want to access and typing
in the Admin password [leave blank if no password was created] you will
see a command prompt.

3. Type Map & press ENTER

4. Note the letter designation of the drive you want to format. [write it
down]

5. Type format x:<space>/fs:fat32 then press ENTER, where x is the drive
letter you want to format. Substitute NTFS or FAT if desired.

6. Type Y to confirm your selection and then type exit & press ENTER to >
restart computer.

almara

Almara:
The problem is that the XP OS will not allow you (or anyone else for that
matter!) to create and format a hard disk partition in FAT32 that's greater
than 32 GB, although the OS will recognize a FAT32 formatted drive of any
capacity without any complaint. (You didn't indicate the size of your USB
external hard drive but I'm assuming it's > 32 GB). Why that specific
limitation was imposed is something I and others have never understood, but
there it is. Probably because Microsoft was (and is) eager for users to use
the NTFS file system and wanted to discourage the use of the FAT32 file
system. In any event, that limitation is a fact of life in a XP environment.

But there is a workaround. First you'll need to uninstall the hard drive
from its USB external hard drive enclosure and install that drive as an
internal drive in your computer. Now that may be a problem (to say the
least) if your USB EHD is, in effect, a sealed unit and there's no practical
way for the disk's removal and subsequent installation back into the
enclosure. Another consideration is that if it is a commercial USB EHD,
removing the drive will most certainly void the warranty. So this might not
be a practical solution to your dilemma. But I'll go on in case you can
proceed with the drive's removal and installation as an internal drive in
your computer.

Using a Win9x/Me Startup Disk that contains the DOS commands, you boot up
with that floppy disk. You'll use the FDISK command to first delete the
"non-DOS" partition, i.e., your present NTFS partition and then use FDISK to
create a FAT32 partition. Then using the FORMAT command, format the
partition. There is no partition/format capacity limitation in this
instance.

If the preceding process is practical in your circumstances and you need
step-by-step instructions for using the FDISK and FORMAT commands, so
indicate in a subsequent posting. If you don't have a Win9x/Me Startup Disk,
do a Google search for "DOS boot disk". You may wonder why you simply can't
use those DOS boot disk commands to partition/format your USB EHD without
the bother of removing the HD and installing it as an internal drive in your
computer. It's because DOS won't recognize a USB device for the purpose of
partitioning/formatting the drive. At least that has been my experience. I
have heard reports from other users that they could directly
partition/format a USB EHD using a DOS boot disk, but that capability has
eluded me. But you may want to give it a try. Naturally you'll return the
drive to its USB enclosure after the partitioning/formatting.
Art

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

The OP wishes to create a 160 GByte FAT32 partition, which
WinXP won't let him.

Since its external, just delete the partition and format from Disk Management while in windows.
Boot computer normally with drive attached. Right click My computer and select manage. Select Disk
Management from the window that opens up. Delete partition on external drive, then create new
partition and format. OR just give your daughter the drive and let her use the mac to delete and
create new partition.
--
Dave Vair
CNE, CNA, MCP, A+, N+
Computer Education Services Corp. (CESC)

Art,

Thanks for your full and helpful response. Unfortunately converting the hard
drive from external to internal is not an option. I've tried rebooting with a
98ME bootdisk and running fdisk but as you say the external drive is not
"seen" by fdisk - the external hard drive is 160gb connected by firewire. It
looks as though the only other option is to invest in a programme like
Partition Magic which I understand has the facility to make the conversion.

almara

I have an external hard drive running on XP SP2 which I originally
formatted
in NTFS. My daughter now wishes to use it at college on a Mac which I
understand will only work with FAT32. I followed the undernoted procedure
to
reformat the drive to FAT32 but after reformatting it has remained at
NTFS.
Any suggestions as to what the problem might be or any other way I can get
back to FAT 32?


-- 1. Formatting an XP System Disk by booting from the XP CD is
accomplished by loading the Recovery Console by typing R at the first
window.

2. After selecting the Windows installation you want to access and typing
in the Admin password [leave blank if no password was created] you will
see a command prompt.

3. Type Map & press ENTER

4. Note the letter designation of the drive you want to format. [write it
down]

5. Type format x:<space>/fs:fat32 then press ENTER, where x is the drive
letter you want to format. Substitute NTFS or FAT if desired.

6. Type Y to confirm your selection and then type exit & press ENTER to >
restart computer.

almara

Almara:
The problem is that the XP OS will not allow you (or anyone else for that
matter!) to create and format a hard disk partition in FAT32 that's greater
than 32 GB, although the OS will recognize a FAT32 formatted drive of any
capacity without any complaint. (You didn't indicate the size of your USB
external hard drive but I'm assuming it's > 32 GB). Why that specific
limitation was imposed is something I and others have never understood, but
there it is. Probably because Microsoft was (and is) eager for users to use
the NTFS file system and wanted to discourage the use of the FAT32 file
system. In any event, that limitation is a fact of life in a XP environment.

But there is a workaround. First you'll need to uninstall the hard drive
from its USB external hard drive enclosure and install that drive as an
internal drive in your computer. Now that may be a problem (to say the
least) if your USB EHD is, in effect, a sealed unit and there's no practical
way for the disk's removal and subsequent installation back into the
enclosure. Another consideration is that if it is a commercial USB EHD,
removing the drive will most certainly void the warranty. So this might not
be a practical solution to your dilemma. But I'll go on in case you can
proceed with the drive's removal and installation as an internal drive in
your computer.

Using a Win9x/Me Startup Disk that contains the DOS commands, you boot up
with that floppy disk. You'll use the FDISK command to first delete the
"non-DOS" partition, i.e., your present NTFS partition and then use FDISK to
create a FAT32 partition. Then using the FORMAT command, format the
partition. There is no partition/format capacity limitation in this
instance.

If the preceding process is practical in your circumstances and you need
step-by-step instructions for using the FDISK and FORMAT commands, so
indicate in a subsequent posting. If you don't have a Win9x/Me Startup Disk,
do a Google search for "DOS boot disk". You may wonder why you simply can't
use those DOS boot disk commands to partition/format your USB EHD without
the bother of removing the HD and installing it as an internal drive in your
computer. It's because DOS won't recognize a USB device for the purpose of
partitioning/formatting the drive. At least that has been my experience. I
have heard reports from other users that they could directly
partition/format a USB EHD using a DOS boot disk, but that capability has
eluded me. But you may want to give it a try. Naturally you'll return the
drive to its USB enclosure after the partitioning/formatting.
Art

 

[Art]

David:
Note the OP is working with a 160 GB HD that she wants to format in FAT32.
I'm sure you're aware that XP will not allow formatting a drive of that size
in FAT32 (the limit being 32 GB).

Note to almara:
I would guess Partition Magic would be able to effect the conversion. I used
PM to convert NTFS partitions to FAT32 ones without any problem regardless
of the size of the disk, but all my experience has been with doing this with
internal HDs. But it should work with an external HD.
Art

Since its external, just delete the partition and format from Disk
Management while in windows. Boot computer normally with drive attached.
Right click My computer and select manage. Select Disk Management from the
window that opens up. Delete partition on external drive, then create new
partition and format. OR just give your daughter the drive and let her
use the mac to delete and create new partition.
--
Dave Vair
CNE, CNA, MCP, A+, N+
Computer Education Services Corp. (CESC)

Art,

Thanks for your full and helpful response. Unfortunately converting the
hard
drive from external to internal is not an option. I've tried rebooting
with a
98ME bootdisk and running fdisk but as you say the external drive is not
"seen" by fdisk - the external hard drive is 160gb connected by firewire.
It
looks as though the only other option is to invest in a programme like
Partition Magic which I understand has the facility to make the
conversion.

almara

I have an external hard drive running on XP SP2 which I originally
formatted
in NTFS. My daughter now wishes to use it at college on a Mac which I
understand will only work with FAT32. I followed the undernoted
procedure
to
reformat the drive to FAT32 but after reformatting it has remained at
NTFS.
Any suggestions as to what the problem might be or any other way I can
get
back to FAT 32?


-- 1. Formatting an XP System Disk by booting from the XP CD is
accomplished by loading the Recovery Console by typing R at the first
window.

2. After selecting the Windows installation you want to access and
typing
in the Admin password [leave blank if no password was created] you
will
see a command prompt.

3. Type Map & press ENTER

4. Note the letter designation of the drive you want to format. [write
it
down]

5. Type format x:<space>/fs:fat32 then press ENTER, where x is the
drive
letter you want to format. Substitute NTFS or FAT if desired.

6. Type Y to confirm your selection and then type exit & press ENTER
to >
restart computer.

almara

Almara:
The problem is that the XP OS will not allow you (or anyone else for
that
matter!) to create and format a hard disk partition in FAT32 that's
greater
than 32 GB, although the OS will recognize a FAT32 formatted drive of
any
capacity without any complaint. (You didn't indicate the size of your
USB
external hard drive but I'm assuming it's > 32 GB). Why that specific
limitation was imposed is something I and others have never understood,
but
there it is. Probably because Microsoft was (and is) eager for users to
use
the NTFS file system and wanted to discourage the use of the FAT32 file
system. In any event, that limitation is a fact of life in a XP
environment.

But there is a workaround. First you'll need to uninstall the hard drive
from its USB external hard drive enclosure and install that drive as an
internal drive in your computer. Now that may be a problem (to say the
least) if your USB EHD is, in effect, a sealed unit and there's no
practical
way for the disk's removal and subsequent installation back into the
enclosure. Another consideration is that if it is a commercial USB EHD,
removing the drive will most certainly void the warranty. So this might
not
be a practical solution to your dilemma. But I'll go on in case you can
proceed with the drive's removal and installation as an internal drive
in
your computer.

Using a Win9x/Me Startup Disk that contains the DOS commands, you boot
up
with that floppy disk. You'll use the FDISK command to first delete the
"non-DOS" partition, i.e., your present NTFS partition and then use
FDISK to
create a FAT32 partition. Then using the FORMAT command, format the
partition. There is no partition/format capacity limitation in this
instance.

If the preceding process is practical in your circumstances and you need
step-by-step instructions for using the FDISK and FORMAT commands, so
indicate in a subsequent posting. If you don't have a Win9x/Me Startup
Disk,
do a Google search for "DOS boot disk". You may wonder why you simply
can't
use those DOS boot disk commands to partition/format your USB EHD
without
the bother of removing the HD and installing it as an internal drive in
your
computer. It's because DOS won't recognize a USB device for the purpose
of
partitioning/formatting the drive. At least that has been my experience.
I
have heard reports from other users that they could directly
partition/format a USB EHD using a DOS boot disk, but that capability
has
eluded me. But you may want to give it a try. Naturally you'll return
the
drive to its USB enclosure after the partitioning/formatting.
Art

 

[Anna]

http://svp.co.uk/helpdesk/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=viewdownload&downloaditemid=39&nav=0,4

As stated before winxp only allows 32gb to be converted to fat32. Use
link and download the zip file. Theres even a dummys guide pdf.
Program works great. Just converted my 250gb external to fat32 for my
media player.


--
sinimoto
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sinimoto:
The program's description refers to it as a *formatting* program, not a
*conversion* type of program. Can the program you mention actually convert
an NTFS system to FAT32 so that there's no loss of existing data?

As you probably know there are a number of ways one can *format* an existing
NTFS partition to a FAT32 file system even when the partition is > 32 GB,
but obviously any existing data on the partition will be lost.
Anna