remove disk partition and convert to NTFS

[jzupicich]

My PC has two FAT partitions C: and D:, both of which contain data and
programs.I would like to wind up with a single NTFS partition.

( I have already backed up both drives to an external USB drive.)

I guess I could uninstall the the programs on D: ,
then copy the data files over to C:,
then remove the partion D: and reinstall the programs. and
then convert to NTFS.
What is the best procedure to get there?. Is there a simpler better
way to do this?

I would appreciate any advice. John Z

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

My PC has two FAT partitions C: and D:, both of which contain data and
programs.I would like to wind up with a single NTFS partition.

( I have already backed up both drives to an external USB drive.)

I guess I could uninstall the the programs on D: ,
then copy the data files over to C:,
then remove the partion D: and reinstall the programs. and
then convert to NTFS.
What is the best procedure to get there?. Is there a simpler better
way to do this?

I would appreciate any advice. John Z

You could do this:
1. Back up everything on both drives.
2. Delete drive D:.
3. Use a partition manager such as Acronis to expand drive C:.
4. Convert drive C: to NTFS.
5. Restore the data from drive D:.

Note this:
- There is no point of copying programs from D: to C:. You
have to reinstall them.
- Using drive C: for Windows and for your programs, and
storing your data on drive D:, is IMHO a far better way
of running a PC than keeping the lot on a single drive. It
allows you, for example, to create an image of drive C: and
to use this image when things go bad. Some imaging products
such as Version 7 of Acronis TrueImage are free - you can
get it from here: http://www.acronis.com/mag/DVhbcjdI

 

[Dave Patrick]

Windows 2000 includes the convert.exe utility that allows you to convert to
NTFS without any loss of data. The downside to this is you'll end up with
512 byte clusters which is pretty inefficient, slow, and more prone to
fragmentation. The overhead of traversing a greater number of clusters to
retrieve and commit data will result in a degradation in file system (or
disk I/O) performance. Best to choose NTFS at the time of install.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Andrew Rossmann]

Windows 2000 includes the convert.exe utility that allows you to convert to
NTFS without any loss of data. The downside to this is you'll end up with
512 byte clusters which is pretty inefficient, slow, and more prone to
fragmentation. The overhead of traversing a greater number of clusters to
retrieve and commit data will result in a degradation in file system (or
disk I/O) performance. Best to choose NTFS at the time of install.

The 512byte (0.5K) cluster issue depends on how some structures are
aligned. There are tools out there that can adjust the partition so it
will convert with 4K clusters.

 

[Dave Patrick]

I only described the built-in tool convert.exe

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[EM]

I agree with pegasus as far as programs on C: data on D:
that way if you have to reinstall OS your data remains intact. I would simply convert each partition to NTFS

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