What is considered to be Root of the c: drive in XP

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jock McSquiggle
  • Start date Start date
J

Jock McSquiggle

Hello
I'm preparing to convert my hard disc from FAT32 to NTFS. To create the
cvtarea file used during conversion using the convert command, various
articles I have read declare it has to be in the root directory of the c:
drive. I have a standard Home XP installation so which directory should this
file be created? PS googling this gives me conflicting information so any
help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Jock said:
I'm preparing to convert my hard disc from FAT32 to NTFS. To create
the cvtarea file used during conversion using the convert command,
various articles I have read declare it has to be in the root
directory of the c: drive. I have a standard Home XP installation
so which directory should this file be created? PS googling this
gives me conflicting information so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


I am unsure what and how you googled.

The 'root' of any 'drive' is the lowest you can go. In C:'s case, C:\.

In other words, open a command prompt, type CD \ and press enter. You
should be at the root of whatever drive the command promt started you at.
 
Thanks for your reply Shenan. If I type cd:\. at a command prompt it shows

C:\Documents and Settings>

Does this sound correct? Wikipedia states that this is the root for WinXP
but other articles I have read on the internet say differently. As I
previously said in my original post I am just looking where I should reserve
an area for the cvtarea file that will hold the MFT.

If this still doesn't look correct to anyone in the MS community please get
back to me and it will be appreciated. Thanks
 
Jock said:
Thanks for your reply Shenan. If I type cd:\. at a command prompt
it shows

C:\Documents and Settings>

Does this sound correct? Wikipedia states that this is the root for
WinXP but other articles I have read on the internet say
differently. As I previously said in my original post I am just
looking where I should reserve an area for the cvtarea file that
will hold the MFT.

If this still doesn't look correct to anyone in the MS community
please get back to me and it will be appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...

Where's you get the colon from?

CD \
or
CHDIR \

(Change Directory to "\".)

Just follow these directions...
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.php
 
Jock McSquiggle said:
Thanks for your reply Shenan. If I type cd:\. at a command prompt it shows

C:\Documents and Settings>

Does this sound correct? Wikipedia states that this is the root for WinXP
but other articles I have read on the internet say differently. As I
previously said in my original post I am just looking where I should
reserve
an area for the cvtarea file that will hold the MFT.

If this still doesn't look correct to anyone in the MS community please
get
back to me and it will be appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...
CD:\ looks incorrect. Should the command be CD C:\? Note the space between
CD and C:.
What seems to have happened is that the entire command is bogus, and cmd did
not make any change to the
folder. Instead, it merely reported the name of the current folder.

In any case, as the other poster mentioned, the root folder of any drive is
<drive letter>:\.
Jim
 
Jim said:
CD:\ looks incorrect. Should the command be CD C:\? Note the space between
CD and C:.
Click to expand...

No. First, you have to switch over to drive c: by just typing "c:". Then
use "cd path" to change to that directory.
 
To convert the drive, open a commandprompt and type:

convert c: /fs:ntfs

It doesn't matter what folder you are in when you do this. But, if you
prefer, you can type

cd \

first.

Couple of points - The process is usually painless, BUT there is a small
risk of losing your data if the process does go pear-shaped. Need I mention
the magic word, backup...?

Also, converting gives you a disk with neutral userpermissions, that is,
anyone can access anything, just as it was on FAT32. This may be perfectly
OK, depending on your requirements. If not, then you can get a VBS script
from Microsoft which installs the standard permissions which you would have
when XP is initially setup on NTFS.
 
Mario Schmidt said:
No. First, you have to switch over to drive c: by just typing "c:". Then
use "cd path" to change to that directory.
Click to expand...

No. ChDir /D c:\path\ or PushD c:\path\ exist.

Stefan
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