G
Guest
Hi everyone. Here's a simple question - is converting a
hard disc to FAT32, the same as Partitioning it?
hard disc to FAT32, the same as Partitioning it?
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J
Jim Macklin
No
You format a partition as either FAT32 or NTFS
A partition is a space assigned on a hard drive, it can be
the entire drive or the drive can be divided into several
partitions. Each partition will be identified by a drive
letter and may be named.
The format is applied to the file structure on that
partition.
| Hi everyone. Here's a simple question - is converting a
| hard disc to FAT32, the same as Partitioning it?
You format a partition as either FAT32 or NTFS
A partition is a space assigned on a hard drive, it can be
the entire drive or the drive can be divided into several
partitions. Each partition will be identified by a drive
letter and may be named.
The format is applied to the file structure on that
partition.
| Hi everyone. Here's a simple question - is converting a
| hard disc to FAT32, the same as Partitioning it?
K
Ken Blake, MVP
In (e-mail address removed)
No, not at all. They are two completely separate things.
To partition a disk is to create one or more partitions on it. A
partition is a subset of the entire disk. It can be all of it or
just part of it. When you create a partition it gets a drive
letter, such as C: D: etc. You must partition a disk, creating at
least a single partition, before you can use it. Without at least
one partition there is no file system and no place to write data
on the disk.
Note that many people use the word "partition" to mean dividing
the disk into *two* or more partitions. They think that if they
just have a C: drive on it, it's not partitioned. That's not
correct, of course. A drive *can* have a single partition, and
again, must have at least one partition before it can be used.
When you create a partition, you give it a file system; under XP,
you have a choice of NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12. That file
system represents the method in which data is stored on the
partition. Once you've created a partition and chosen a file
system for it, you can sometimes change that file system to
another one with XP's Convert command. But some conversions are
not supported natively in Windows; for example Windows can
convert from FAT32 to NTFS, but not from NTFS to FAT32. It is
possible to convert from NTFS to FAT32, but only with a
third-party tool such as Partition Magic.
Hi everyone. Here's a simple question - is converting a
hard disc to FAT32, the same as Partitioning it?
No, not at all. They are two completely separate things.
To partition a disk is to create one or more partitions on it. A
partition is a subset of the entire disk. It can be all of it or
just part of it. When you create a partition it gets a drive
letter, such as C: D: etc. You must partition a disk, creating at
least a single partition, before you can use it. Without at least
one partition there is no file system and no place to write data
on the disk.
Note that many people use the word "partition" to mean dividing
the disk into *two* or more partitions. They think that if they
just have a C: drive on it, it's not partitioned. That's not
correct, of course. A drive *can* have a single partition, and
again, must have at least one partition before it can be used.
When you create a partition, you give it a file system; under XP,
you have a choice of NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12. That file
system represents the method in which data is stored on the
partition. Once you've created a partition and chosen a file
system for it, you can sometimes change that file system to
another one with XP's Convert command. But some conversions are
not supported natively in Windows; for example Windows can
convert from FAT32 to NTFS, but not from NTFS to FAT32. It is
possible to convert from NTFS to FAT32, but only with a
third-party tool such as Partition Magic.
G
Guest
confirm that if I add a second HD as slave to my existing-----Original Message-----
Hi everyone. Here's a simple question - is converting a
hard disc to FAT32, the same as Partitioning it?
.
Thanks both of you. Just to clarify everything, can you
FAT32 converted drive (C) on which I shall leave my OS,
using the new drive for expansion only I shall have to
partition it via FDISK and then convert it to FAT32 via
Drive Converter? Your final bit of help would be much
appreciated.
As a matter of interest, the reason I am confused on this
subject is that neither Alan Simpson's Win 98 Bible or Jim
Boyce's Win 98 Users Manual refer to partitioning a hard
disc and yet FDISK appears to be a Windows application.
They simply cover converting a HD to FAT32, refering to it
as a 'partition', so its no wonder us novices get confused!
G
Guest
original post. - I posted NEW in error-----Original Message-----
In (e-mail address removed)
No, not at all. They are two completely separate things.
To partition a disk is to create one or more partitions on it. A
partition is a subset of the entire disk. It can be all of it or
just part of it. When you create a partition it gets a drive
letter, such as C: D: etc. You must partition a disk, creating at
least a single partition, before you can use it. Without at least
one partition there is no file system and no place to write data
on the disk.
Note that many people use the word "partition" to mean dividing
the disk into *two* or more partitions. They think that if they
just have a C: drive on it, it's not partitioned. That's not
correct, of course. A drive *can* have a single partition, and
again, must have at least one partition before it can be used.
When you create a partition, you give it a file system; under XP,
you have a choice of NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12. That file
system represents the method in which data is stored on the
partition. Once you've created a partition and chosen a file
system for it, you can sometimes change that file system to
another one with XP's Convert command. But some conversions are
not supported natively in Windows; for example Windows can
convert from FAT32 to NTFS, but not from NTFS to FAT32. It is
possible to convert from NTFS to FAT32, but only with a
third-party tool such as Partition Magic.
--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup
Ken>. Please see my reply in the new post just below my
A
Alex Nichol
Hi everyone. Here's a simple question - is converting a
hard disc to FAT32, the same as Partitioning it?
No. To be usable a hard drive must be partitioned - making one or more
sections, each formatted for use in a particular system. Think of them
like separate drawers, not necessarily the same size in a filing
cabinet. So you *could* for example have a partition for XP, one for
Linux and one for DOS, with one shared between them. In XP on its own
it is usual to have one or two such partitions on the disk. Each of
these then needs to be defined and formatted with a specific file system
for the operating system to use. DOS would use FAT 16, Linux probably
ext 2. XP normally uses FAT 32 or NTFS - or can be happy with a
mixture. If you have a FAT 32 one you might want to convert it to NTFS
- for considerations about the two systems, see my page at
www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfs.htm
K
Ken Blake, MVP
In (e-mail address removed)
No, you don't have to do that at all.
First of all, why do you want it to be FAT32? Just because the
operating system is installed on a FAT32 drive doesn't mean that
a second drive has to be FAT32. Windows XP can handle any
combination of NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12, regardless of what
file system it's installed on. Unless you have some compelling
reason to prefer FAT32, why not use NTFS?
However, if you do want it to be FAT32 for some reason, simply
partition it as FAT32 in the first place. No need to do any
conversion.
You can create a FAT32 partition either with an old copy of FDISK
or by using the native XP partitioning tool. The only restriction
is that XP will not let you create a FAT32 partition larger than
32GB; If that's what you want (I don't recommend it), then yes,
you have to dig up an old copy of FDISK and use that.
My recommendation is simply to physically install the drive, then
partition and format it as NTFS using XP's facilities.
confirm that if I add a second HD as slave to my existing
FAT32 converted drive (C) on which I shall leave my OS,
using the new drive for expansion only I shall have to
partition it via FDISK and then convert it to FAT32 via
Drive Converter? Your final bit of help would be much
appreciated.
No, you don't have to do that at all.
First of all, why do you want it to be FAT32? Just because the
operating system is installed on a FAT32 drive doesn't mean that
a second drive has to be FAT32. Windows XP can handle any
combination of NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12, regardless of what
file system it's installed on. Unless you have some compelling
reason to prefer FAT32, why not use NTFS?
However, if you do want it to be FAT32 for some reason, simply
partition it as FAT32 in the first place. No need to do any
conversion.
You can create a FAT32 partition either with an old copy of FDISK
or by using the native XP partitioning tool. The only restriction
is that XP will not let you create a FAT32 partition larger than
32GB; If that's what you want (I don't recommend it), then yes,
you have to dig up an old copy of FDISK and use that.
My recommendation is simply to physically install the drive, then
partition and format it as NTFS using XP's facilities.