xp sp2 disk management problem

[Guest]

When attempting to change the format of an external hard drive(Western
Digital My books) from FAT32 to NTFS, XP Disk Management does not display the
option "NEW PARTION". Any suggestions. Thank you.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

When attempting to change the format of an external hard drive(Western
Digital My books) from FAT32 to NTFS, XP Disk Management does not display the
option "NEW PARTION" [PARTITION?]. Any suggestions. Thank you.

Try converting it from a Command Prompt:
- Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
- Type this command:
convert X: /fs:ntfs
Replace X: with the drive letter of your external drive.
Remember to back up your important files before performing
the conversion.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

When attempting to change the format of an external hard
drive(Western Digital My books) from FAT32 to NTFS, XP Disk
Management does not display the option "NEW PARTION" [PARTITION?].
Any suggestions. Thank you.

Try converting it from a Command Prompt:
- Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
- Type this command:
convert X: /fs:ntfs
Replace X: with the drive letter of your external drive.
Remember to back up your important files before performing
the conversion.

But first read http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm because there's an issue
regarding cluster size that isn't obvious.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

When attempting to change the format of an external hard
drive(Western Digital My books) from FAT32 to NTFS, XP Disk
Management does not display the option "NEW PARTION" [PARTITION?].
Any suggestions. Thank you.

Try converting it from a Command Prompt:
- Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
- Type this command:
convert X: /fs:ntfs
Replace X: with the drive letter of your external drive.
Remember to back up your important files before performing
the conversion.

But first read http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm because there's an issue
regarding cluster size that isn't obvious.

I wasn't aware of this - interesting stuff. However, there are a couple of
points about this issue:
- If this is a serious issue, why isn't there an official MS KB article on
this
item, with an MS solution?
- The link you quote recommends a third-party product that will move just
about every sector on the disk. This is a high-risk operation at the best
of
times, especially in the hands of a novice, and it will probably result
in a
disaster if there is a power failure in the middle. So instead of a
faster
NTFS partition, the OP might end up with a thrashed NTFS partition.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

When attempting to change the format of an external hard
drive(Western Digital My books) from FAT32 to NTFS, XP Disk
Management does not display the option "NEW PARTION" [PARTITION?].
Any suggestions. Thank you.

Try converting it from a Command Prompt:
- Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
- Type this command:
convert X: /fs:ntfs
Replace X: with the drive letter of your external drive.
Remember to back up your important files before performing
the conversion.

But first read http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm because there's
an issue regarding cluster size that isn't obvious.

I wasn't aware of this - interesting stuff. However, there are a
couple of points about this issue:
- If this is a serious issue, why isn't there an official MS KB
article on this
item, with an MS solution?

Beats me! I'm not privy to what Microsoft decides to say or warn about.

- The link you quote recommends a third-party product that will move
just about every sector on the disk. This is a high-risk operation
at the best of
times, especially in the hands of a novice, and it will probably
result in a
disaster if there is a power failure in the middle. So instead of a
faster
NTFS partition, the OP might end up with a thrashed NTFS partition.

That's why I always recommend a backup before undertaking anything like
this. In fact I would strongly recommend a backup even before doing a plain
conversion. There's *always* a risk that something like a power failure in
te middle of the conversion could trash everything.

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

Bitstring <#[email protected]>, from the wonderful

I wasn't aware of this - interesting stuff. However, there are a couple of
points about this issue:
- If this is a serious issue, why isn't there an official MS KB article on
this
item, with an MS solution?
- The link you quote recommends a third-party product that will move just
about every sector on the disk. This is a high-risk operation at the best
of
times, especially in the hands of a novice, and it will probably result
in a
disaster if there is a power failure in the middle. So instead of a
faster
NTFS partition, the OP might end up with a thrashed NTFS partition.

If there is a power failure during convert you are equally stuffed. I've
used the BootitNG method, works fine. The alternative of 512 byte NTFS
clusters does NOT work fine!

 

[Guest]

I performed the convert command as suggested and it worked great. Thanks all
for your help.

When attempting to change the format of an external hard drive(Western
Digital My books) from FAT32 to NTFS, XP Disk Management does not display the
option "NEW PARTION" [PARTITION?]. Any suggestions. Thank you.

Try converting it from a Command Prompt:
- Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
- Type this command:
convert X: /fs:ntfs
Replace X: with the drive letter of your external drive.
Remember to back up your important files before performing
the conversion.