FAT32 to NTFS

[neukoln333]

I just bought a new laptop and it came formated as FAT32 with two partitions. I want to convert it all to NTFS but I'm a little worried. I just have a few questions:

1) do i have to do something special to convert BOTH partitions so they become one?
2) WIll i lose all my data, I.E, games, word documents, XP itself?
3) Will i have to reinstall XP?

Thanks for the help, I've been on these forums before with my nit-picking questions that are, what i feel, a product of my technological insecurity.

 

[corkyg]

You can do just about all of the above with Symantec's PartitionMagic 8.

It converts FAT32 to NTFS in partitions and also can go the other way.

It can move your data from one partition to the other and combine the partitions.

You should not have to reinstall XP.

If you can swing it, I strongly suggest you get an external HDD so that you can clone your laptop drive to it and create a full backup.

 

[jordanpr]

Isn't FAT32 good? Why woudl you want to switch from it to NTFS?

 

[rkfrompk]

i converted a drive to ntfs its pretty easy you dont lose any data. NTFS allows bigger file sizes. Fat32 doesnt allow files more than 4 gigs i think so ntfs allows files bigger than 4 gigs. Its good when ur doing things like video editing when the raw data can be up to 40 gigs for one video file.

 

[shabby]

Originally posted by: jordanpr
Isn't FAT32 good? Why woudl you want to switch from it to NTFS?

See when you rip porn dvd's they're over the 4gig limit of fat32. So you gotta switch to ntfs, thats what i did!

 

[neukoln333]

Okay, thanks guys. It may not seem like much to you to expend this nformation, but it makes a world of difference to little 'ol retarded me.

 

[JEDIYoda]

http://www.ez-pc.org/bd/2k/ntfs.asp?printable=yes

Using NTFS has many advantages over FAT and FAT32:

Reliability.
The main advantage of NTFS is reliability: The chance of losing data on an NTFS partition is much smaller than on a FAT partition.

Both FAT and NTFS use a table to store the location of files on a hard disk. This works as an index, when a specific file is needed, the table is referenced to see the physical location of the file on the disk. If a system crash occurs while writing a file, this table might be damaged, causing a loss of data.

NTFS has added insurance in the form of a transaction log. This log stores the undo and redo information for each file. If there is a failure while writing to the file, lost information can be retrieved through the transaction log. Retrieving data using the transaction log is completely automatic; no user input is required.

Security.
NTFS offers increased security by adding extra attributes to every file and folder in addition to the attributes used in FAT (hidden, read-only, system, and archive). With NTFS, you are able to grant or deny other users permission to access, modify, or delete specific files. In Windows XP Home Edition, these security features are limited to each user's My Documents folder. The other versions of Windows NT/2000/XP provide these options to all files on an NTFS partition (simple file sharing must be disabled in the folder options on Windows XP Professional edition to gain access to these features).

File and folder Encryption.
The Microsoft Encrypting File System (EFS) provides encryption for data in NTFS files stored on disk. EFS encryption is public key-based and runs as an integrated-system service, making it easy to manage, difficult to attack, and transparent to the file owner. If a user who attempts to access an encrypted NTFS file has the private key to that file, the file can be decrypted so that the user can open the file and work with it transparently as a normal document. A user without the private key is denied access.

This feature is available in all versions of Windows NT/2000/XP except Windows XP Home Edition.


Larger drive and file size support.
With NTFS, Windows NT/2000/XP can use partitions of 200 MB to 256 TB (1 TeraByte = 1024 GB). The maximum individual file size is 16 TB. In FAT32, these maximums are 2 TB and 4 GB respectively, which illustrates the improved flexibility with NTFS.

Less wasted space on drive.
Because of 64-bit addressing, cluster sizes are lower in NTFS. A hard disk has to be divided in clusters to be able to access a file. Each cluster needs a specific address.

NTFS has 264 (18,446,744,073,709,551,616) available addresses,
FAT32 only has 232 (4,294,967,296).


Because each cluster may only be used by one file, there can be a lot of lost space on a hard disk if a file does not completely fill each cluster it uses. Increasing the amount of available cluster addresses decreases the size of each cluster, minimising the amount of space lost.

File and folder compression.
Disk compression allows you to save space on your drive by selecting specific files, folders or entire drives to be compressed. Unlike using compressed filetypes such as .ZIP or .ARJ which have to be opened using an application before use, NTFS disk compression is completely transparent for the user because it is performed on file system level. An NTFS compressed file is opened directly with the application that requests it.

Disk compression was also available in MS-DOS 6 and later, but this only worked for entire drives and can prove to be an extremely lengthy process. The compression used on NTFS is more refined: compression can be enabled or disabled for every single file or folder and is accomplished in seconds rather than hours.

Caution should be used when compressing many files as this can cause performance loss, as each file needs to be decompressed while it is opened. On quick machines, performance loss is negligible; on slow systems that are near the minimum system requirements for Windows NT/2000/XP, the slowdown may be noticeable.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: neukoln333
I just bought a new laptop and it came formated as FAT32 with two partitions. I want to convert it all to NTFS but I'm a little worried. I just have a few questions:

1) do i have to do something special to convert BOTH partitions so they become one?
2) WIll i lose all my data, I.E, games, word documents, XP itself?
3) Will i have to reinstall XP?

Thanks for the help, I've been on these forums before with my nit-picking questions that are, what i feel, a product of my technological insecurity.

What brand of laptop is this?

There is a reason why one of them is FAT32. The recovery volume will not work if it's formated in NTFS and you need to do a sytem resore.

But if you want to convert a volume, it's really easy to do from a command prompt. The best method is to use a boot disk or press F8 during windows boot to bring up the command prompt. If you are not comfortable doing that, then the 32BIT CMD prompt will work too.

1. Go to Start --> Run --> [Type] CMD [Then Press Enter]
2. At the command prompt type: convert C: /fs:ntfs --> substitute C for what ever drive you want to convert --> press enter
3. This will take a minute or two and after it is done you will need to reboot and wait another few minutes for it to finish.
   
4. Ignore other leighthy directions or recomendations to buy stuff. Since the old NT days, Windows come with this ability built in from the factory.
   

 

[neukoln333]

This is an Acer 5672, 100 gig drive,

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: neukoln333
This is an Acer 5672, 100 gig drive,

The second smaller partition is for system recovery and restore, so do not convert it. The first partition (the larger one) is for the OS and programs, I could not tell you if converting it to NTFS would hamper or prevent you from performing a system recovery later. It may or may not hurt to convert it.


I suspect that converting the boot volume would not hurt, but if you do decide to do it; make sure you have every thing backed up and leave the smaller partiton alone in FAT32.

Keep me informed of what you do and how it turns out.

 

[Noubourne]

convert c: /fs:NTFS

 

[0roo0roo]

backup data, then convert, itsfine. i have some fat some ntsf works ok soi havent' bothered to change it.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
backup data, then convert, itsfine. i have some fat some ntsf works ok soi havent' bothered to change it.

Many recovery partitions won't work once they have been converted to NTFS, so no it may not be fine. The software that reads them is often written in DOS or Linux.

 

[corkyg]

Why not image the recovery partition (FAT32) on to a DVD? I have always wondered why a recovery partition on a laptop would be useful at all. Recovery from what? Think HDD failure and how useful that partition would be.

I am now on my 5th laptop since 1993, and have never relied on a "recovery" partition. I keep a spare, cloned HDD ready to go in case of a HDD component failure.

If that were not available to me, I would image the recovery on a DVD.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: corkyg
Why not image the recovery partition (FAT32) on to a DVD? I have always wondered why a recovery partition on a laptop would be useful at all. Recovery from what? Think HDD failure and how useful that partition would be.

I am now on my 5th laptop since 1993, and have never relied on a "recovery" partition. I keep a spare, cloned HDD ready to go in case of a HDD component failure.

If that were not available to me, I would image the recovery on a DVD.

The intent of a recovery partition is not to protect against drive failure, but as data volume for the recovery discs in the event of a virus, corrupt data in the boot volume, a bad Windows file, etc. The reocovery discs that you get with most large OEM manufacturers get the personal user data, settings, program information, etc from that small partition; that is how all of your settings are restored when something like an anti virus brings your system down and you then need a re-install.

 

[JackMDS]

No Big Philosophical issue.:light:

From a Command line CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and be done with it.:thumbsup:

:sun:

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
backup data, then convert, itsfine. i have some fat some ntsf works ok soi havent' bothered to change it.

Many recovery partitions won't work once they have been converted to NTFS, so no it may not be fine. The software that reads them is often written in DOS or Linux.

yea well thats why i keep the fat 32. i use command line ghost to restore and create partition images so i gotta use fat. sure newer versions of ghost have ntsf support, but i don't feel the need to upgrade just yet. only have to ghost the o/s partition after all, the media storage partitions and such can be ntsf.