athropos
asked on
from NTFS to Fat32 whit only 1 HD format??
Situation is this:
Getting in 4 days a new pc (PIV2,4Ghz, 512 DDR, 2x120 GB, Ti4200 geforce)
every hd is in serveral partities.
wanting to make the C Partitie into NTFS.
if i do that can i convert back into Fat32 whit loss of any data on the other partities?
Is this possible?
Peter Best
Getting in 4 days a new pc (PIV2,4Ghz, 512 DDR, 2x120 GB, Ti4200 geforce)
every hd is in serveral partities.
wanting to make the C Partitie into NTFS.
if i do that can i convert back into Fat32 whit loss of any data on the other partities?
Is this possible?
Peter Best
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Could I use one of these programs to convert my FAT32 HD (C:) to a NTFS HD(C:), without losing data on this C: drive?
Yes and you can also use the CONVERT utility built into Win2000 and XP to do the same.
i heard that having a clean NTFS partition was better than changing it with the built in utility. is that true?
That I don't know for sure The_Computer_Guru_777 but it seems to make sense.
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" heard that having a clean NTFS partition was better than changing it with the built in utility. is that true?"
No, it just takes a looooooong time to convert compared to formatting fresh; depending on how much data you have and the speed of your disk this can take several hours. Otherwise there is no difference in the end result. This is not like doing a Windows Upgrade install between versions which is probably where that misunderstanding started.
The data you lose is all the user permissions data. So if you want to have any kind of filesystem security, use NTFS. If you want to keep that security, don't convert to FAT32.
No, it just takes a looooooong time to convert compared to formatting fresh; depending on how much data you have and the speed of your disk this can take several hours. Otherwise there is no difference in the end result. This is not like doing a Windows Upgrade install between versions which is probably where that misunderstanding started.
The data you lose is all the user permissions data. So if you want to have any kind of filesystem security, use NTFS. If you want to keep that security, don't convert to FAT32.
thanks for clearing that up.
Folks,
Heard mentioned by Microsoft that you can't convert System Partition from FAT32 to NTFS, as it has System files opened/protected. Supposedly, you need to move the drive to the other computer. Once I needed to convert D: where Microsoft SQL server lived. The only way to do it was to restart in Safe Mode.
Heard mentioned by Microsoft that you can't convert System Partition from FAT32 to NTFS, as it has System files opened/protected. Supposedly, you need to move the drive to the other computer. Once I needed to convert D: where Microsoft SQL server lived. The only way to do it was to restart in Safe Mode.
MLSmnv if you use the COVERT utility that comes with NT Win2000 and XP it will converst the System partition.
The Computer Guru,
Yes, its alway best to have an NTFS partition origially than converting from FAT16/FAT32 to NTFS. Though its possible to convert from FAT16/FAT32 to NTFS, but the resultant NTFS partition file allocation blocks would not be effient because, their size will be larger than If you had originally got a pure NTFS partition from start.
Partition Convertion is a one way process and cannot be reversed.
FAT16 - NTFS - Possible
FAT32 - NTFS - Possible
NTFS - FAT16 - NOT Possible
NTFS - FAT32 NOT Possible
FAT16 - FAT32/FAT32 - FAT16 > Connot convert from one FAT to the other.
My 0.2cents
Yes, its alway best to have an NTFS partition origially than converting from FAT16/FAT32 to NTFS. Though its possible to convert from FAT16/FAT32 to NTFS, but the resultant NTFS partition file allocation blocks would not be effient because, their size will be larger than If you had originally got a pure NTFS partition from start.
Partition Convertion is a one way process and cannot be reversed.
FAT16 - NTFS - Possible
FAT32 - NTFS - Possible
NTFS - FAT16 - NOT Possible
NTFS - FAT32 NOT Possible
FAT16 - FAT32/FAT32 - FAT16 > Connot convert from one FAT to the other.
My 0.2cents
"Heard mentioned by Microsoft that you can't convert System Partition from FAT32 to NTFS, as it has System files"
This is incorrect; you can convert the system partition. It requires exclusive access and requires a system reboot, during which the conversion will run. This is opposed to other partitions which can be converted from the GUI while the system is still usable.
"Though its possible to convert from FAT16/FAT32 to NTFS, but the resultant NTFS partition file allocation blocks would not be effient because, their size will be larger"
This is also incorrect as convert.exe will resize the blocks to NTFS default of 512 from FAT32's 4096. HOWEVER, MS does warn that the converted partition will be very, very fragmented and so will have lousy performance. Perhaps this warning is the source of confusion here? The convert.exe program doesn't give the option to change away from NTFS's default size but for most users that is what is best. Perhaps that is also a source of confusion? Anyway, the solution of course is to sit through the defragmentation process and that can take even longer than the conversion process.
To summarize, the sector sizes will be redone by the conversion but then performance will suffer until you defragment the drive.
This is incorrect; you can convert the system partition. It requires exclusive access and requires a system reboot, during which the conversion will run. This is opposed to other partitions which can be converted from the GUI while the system is still usable.
"Though its possible to convert from FAT16/FAT32 to NTFS, but the resultant NTFS partition file allocation blocks would not be effient because, their size will be larger"
This is also incorrect as convert.exe will resize the blocks to NTFS default of 512 from FAT32's 4096. HOWEVER, MS does warn that the converted partition will be very, very fragmented and so will have lousy performance. Perhaps this warning is the source of confusion here? The convert.exe program doesn't give the option to change away from NTFS's default size but for most users that is what is best. Perhaps that is also a source of confusion? Anyway, the solution of course is to sit through the defragmentation process and that can take even longer than the conversion process.
To summarize, the sector sizes will be redone by the conversion but then performance will suffer until you defragment the drive.
thanks for clearing that up.
Sorry, guys, my bad.
It's not possible to convert the disk with system partition from basic to dynamic. It's possible to convert it FAT to NTFS. Apologize. Forgot that it is water that is boiling at 100C, but the right angle is exactly 90 degree ;)
Anyway, when I converted non-system disk with active SQL DB and some other "active tenants", all my attempts were rejected with diagnostic like "protected" or "files opened" or something like this. May be it's only for the particular release of computer/OS/Application.
Anyway, if Windows allows conversion of the system partition, you could do it with whatever you have running on. Maybe you'll need to do it in Safe Mode.
Sorry for the mess, Mike
It's not possible to convert the disk with system partition from basic to dynamic. It's possible to convert it FAT to NTFS. Apologize. Forgot that it is water that is boiling at 100C, but the right angle is exactly 90 degree ;)
Anyway, when I converted non-system disk with active SQL DB and some other "active tenants", all my attempts were rejected with diagnostic like "protected" or "files opened" or something like this. May be it's only for the particular release of computer/OS/Application.
Anyway, if Windows allows conversion of the system partition, you could do it with whatever you have running on. Maybe you'll need to do it in Safe Mode.
Sorry for the mess, Mike
Once you get AD and other heavy software like Microsoft SQL on a server then fiddling with the partitions and disks becomes problematic. For a workstation on the other hand, or even a basic install of 2k Server, yes, you can switch the boot partition from basic to dynamic. Your active tenants, ie nasty intrusive bloatware, will prevent this, but I doubt that is the case with what appears to be a new gamer PC. Safe mode is not needed. Actually, you probably could have stopped all the interfering services and upgraded basic to dynamic.
basic dynamic? what are we refering to? i thought the question was converting a system partition from FAt to NTFS.
Beats me, mlsmnv brought up basic vs dynamic so I responded with corrections just for the record.
At this point, we need to hear back from athropos.
At this point, we need to hear back from athropos.
ok so its IMPOSSIBLE to convert from a NTFS file system to a Fat32?
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Please leave any comments here within the next seven days.
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