98 upgrade to XP, FAT OR NTFS?

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Guest

I have a hard drive that when belly up (already purchased
new one.) I am trying to recover some of the files from
the bad drive, but don't know the file format.

It was originally W98 which I upgraded to XP Home.

Is the file structure FAT or NTFS?

I need an educated guess because I cannot view the drive
to determine which from system info.

Your help would be appreciated.
 
It could be either format. Do an install of XP on you new
drive, XP can read either FAT32 or NTFS files on the old
drive. Install the old drive as slave.

I would use NTFS because it is more stable than FAT32 on the
new drive, the only need for FAT32 is if you want to run DOS
programs after booting a floppy or you dual boot with W98 or
ME.


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


| I have a hard drive that when belly up (already purchased
| new one.) I am trying to recover some of the files from
| the bad drive, but don't know the file format.
|
| It was originally W98 which I upgraded to XP Home.
|
| Is the file structure FAT or NTFS?
|
| I need an educated guess because I cannot view the drive
| to determine which from system info.
|
| Your help would be appreciated.
 
I have a hard drive that when belly up (already purchased
new one.) I am trying to recover some of the files from
the bad drive, but don't know the file format.

It was originally W98 which I upgraded to XP Home.

Is the file structure FAT or NTFS?

I need an educated guess because I cannot view the drive
to determine which from system info.

Your help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

The drive must have been FAT32 when you were using Windows 98 on it.

If you installed XP Home as an upgrade to your existing Windows 98
then the drive would have remained as FAT32. An upgrade install does
not include conversion to NTFS.

However you could have subsequently converted the drive to NTFS using
the utility that comes with Windows XP, but you should remember having
done so.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
 
Greetings --

At this point, it could be either. The Win98 installation would
have been on the FAT32 file system initially, but you also would have
been offered the option to convert it to NTFS when you performed the
upgrade to WinXP. If you opted not to convert, then it's still FAT32.
WinXP can run on either.


Bruce Chambers

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