Installing XP in FAT32

[oslama]

I want to access my data from other drives that are in fat32, but XP installs only in NTFS. will the data be compromised if i transfer it to a ntfs disk.

I want to take advantage of xp multimedia features but i want to retain my av files so i can share it with older machine/OS's

If i burn a mp3 cd in XP (NTFS). Will i be able to play it in various locations ie win98 pc, cd, mp3cd players, dvd etc...

Is there any way to install XP in FAT32 (ie using win98 boot disk).

Also how easy it is to network bw XP,win2K & 98.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: oslama
I want to access my data from other drives that are in fat32, but XP installs only in NTFS. will the data be compromised if i transfer it to a ntfs disk.

That's completely false. Installing WinXP on a FAT32 partition works just fine.

 

[oslama]

but how do i install it in fat 32

the installer has only the ntfs options

 

[thraxes]

is it a system restore CD?

It should be able to do a FAT32 installation just fine... you can always change to NTFS later on.

 

[kd7fhd]

if your hard drive has no partitions, xp will only show ntfs as an option.

run fdisk and create a fat32 partition then reinstall xp. it should then show a fat32 partition and allow you to change it or keep it.

 

[BlueWeasel]

I have installed XP several times, and there was always an option to format using either FAT32 or NTFS.

 

[rutchtkim]

you must specify which file system to format in. Boot into dos and type this at the command prompt
C:\>format <drive letter>: /fs:fat32

 

[Canterwood]

You'll only be able to format in FAT32 on hard drives under 32GB. Anything above and NTFS is your only option.

You can, however install on a FAT32 drive over 32GB that has been formatted before you install XP.

 

[jacktesterson]

completly wrong. create a fat32 paritition and install normally selecting fat 32 when asked

 

[Sunner]

Just FYI, when you're sharing a drive across the network, it won't make a difference if it's NTFS or FAT32, so if all you wanna do is share your files over a network with Win9x boxes, you won't have any issues.
Same thing when burning CD's, it doesn't matter what filesystem you're burning from.

The only reason to go FAT32 is if you're gonna dual boot with OS's that don't handle NTFS well(Win9x, or Linux mostly).

 

[dunkster]

I initially configured my HD with FDISK for FAT32, because I was Ghosting a FAT32 Data partition from another HD. I wasn't convinced that a Ghost image of a FAT32 partition would restore to NTFS partition of the new HD.

Install of XT to FAT32 system partition was a breeze, and so too was conversion of all FAT32 partitions to NTFS after transferring the Ghost partition data to the new HD.

Hope this helps!

 

[Canterwood]

Originally posted by: AMDHardcoreFan
completly wrong. create a fat32 paritition and install normally selecting fat 32 when asked

Who is wrong? XP setup wont let you format any drive over 32GB as FAT32, unless you create a partition smaller than 32GB or pre-format as FAT32 before install.

 

[dunkster]

It's my understanding that there is a 32GB limit for partition size with FAT32.

It's also worth noting that only the most-recent version of FDISK will recognize HDs larger than about 64GB, which I discovered when I attempted to configure my 80GB HD with an earlier FDISK version. FDISK version from 98SE Command directory would not correctly recognize my 80GB drive.

I also found it interesting that PartitionMagic reports an Extended Partition as a Primary partition. I suppose this makes sense, since FDISK will allow EITHER a max of four primary partitions OR max of three primary partitions when creating an extended partition.

Sorry for wandering a bit off-topic, but interesting.

Hope this helps!

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Sunner
Just FYI, when you're sharing a drive across the network, it won't make a difference if it's NTFS or FAT32, so if all you wanna do is share your files over a network with Win9x boxes, you won't have any issues.
Same thing when burning CD's, it doesn't matter what filesystem you're burning from.

The only reason to go FAT32 is if you're gonna dual boot with OS's that don't handle NTFS well(Win9x, or Linux mostly).

Great response. Especially since that is the only reason anyone should want to use crap like FAT32.

Read the FAQs on FAT32 and NTFS. They should clear up a lot of the questions. But basically:
NTFS and FAT32 have no bearing on file sharing across a network.
NTFS and FAT32 have no bearing on creating cds.
FAT32 sucks.

 

[Nothinman]

It's my understanding that there is a 32GB limit for partition size with FAT32.

It's a forced limit by MS to get people to move away from FAT, in reality I believe FAT can go into the terabytes if you you really wanted a FAT partition that big.

I also found it interesting that PartitionMagic reports an Extended Partition as a Primary partition

The extended partition itself is a primary partition, the logical drives within it are not.

I suppose this makes sense, since FDISK will allow EITHER a max of four primary partitions OR max of three primary partitions when creating an extended partition.

Technically it's a PC partition table limitation that FDISK just enforces.

As Sunner said, there's absolutely no reason to use FAT instead of NTFS unless you need local write access to that partiton from an OS like Linux or Win9X, if it's a single boot machine you should use NTFS and forget FAT exists.