changing file system

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sreedhar
  • Start date Start date
S

Sreedhar

Hi,

I've re-installed Windows XP on my laptop with four drives. Earlier, the
file system is FAT32. During re-install, I've formatted the system drive (C:)
to NTFS. All other drives are still FAT32.

How can I change the rest of the drives to NTFS without losing my files/data
on those drives.

Thank you.
 
I've re-installed Windows XP on my laptop with four drives. Earlier, the
file system is FAT32. During re-install, I've formatted the system drive (C:)
to NTFS. All other drives are still FAT32.

How can I change the rest of the drives to NTFS without losing my files/data
on those drives.
Click to expand...


To convert to NTFS, you use the CONVERT command. But first read
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm because there's an issue regarding
cluster size that isn't obvious.

Also note that conversion is a big step, affecting everything on your
drive. When you take such a big step, no matter how unlikely, it is
always possible that something could go wrong. For that reason, it's
prudent to make sure you have a backup of anything you can't afford to
lose before beginning.
 
To convert to NTFS, you use the CONVERT command. But first read
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm because there's an issue regarding
cluster size that isn't obvious.

Also note that conversion is a big step, affecting everything on your
drive. When you take such a big step, no matter how unlikely, it is
always possible that something could go wrong. For that reason, it's
prudent to make sure you have a backup of anything you can't afford to
lose before beginning.
Click to expand...


By the way, given the need to make a backup before you do this, and
given that you don't need to convert the system drive, the easiest way
to do this might be to make a backup, then reformat the drive as NTFS,
and finally restore from the backup.
 
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