Re: convert external drive?
- From: "Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 10:43:54 -0400
"AmeBa" <AmeBa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:A78B103B-787C-445C-97A2-8284727C0CCC@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Our current computer runs Windows XP with a hard drive partitioned into C:
> (FAT32) and D: (NTFS) drives. While the majority of the available space
> was
> given to the D: drive, we keep our files, programs, and whatnot on the C:
> drive. (I think D: mostly gets the system restore files and such.) We
> recently purchased a Western Digital 160GB external drive to back up our
> information. Right now, everything is FAT32, and the external drive is
> also
> FAT32.
>
> Here's my question: Should I reformat the external drive to NTFS before
> copying any files or programs to it? My thought is more to the future, as
> even though we do not currently use the D: drive, we may very well some
> day--and those files would be in NTFS. I don't know a lot about these
> things,
> but I do know that FAT32 can be stored in and coverted to NTFS while it
> doesn't work the other way around. I'd like to make sure I don't have to
> buy
> yet another external drive or back myself into a corner somewhere down the
> road by not planning ahead right now.
>
> And if reformatting is my smartest option, what's the best way to go about
> it?
>
> Thanks for the help.
ArneBa
1. It's not clear from your post *why* you have multi-partitioned your HD.
Is there some reason why one of your partitions (C:) is FAT32 formatted and
the other partition (D:) is NTFS formatted? You indicate your operating
system is XP so this is obviously not a multi-boot configuration where you
would need FAT32 for a pre-XP OS.
2. So unless you have some special need for a FAT32 partition on your
internal drive, it would probably be best, all things considered, to
convert that partition to a NTFS file system. While it's not crucial to do
so (again assuming you do not need the FAT32 partition for some special
need), the general consensus is that for a variety of reasons NTFS is a
superior file system (as opposed to FAT32) for the XP OS. The conversion
process is relatively simple and straightforward and detailed info on
carrying out this process is in your Help and Support files. For safety's
sake, make sure you backup any of your important or critical files before
doing so.
3. All, or virtually all, commercially-available USB external hard drives
come FAT32 formatted. As Richard Urban has pointed out in his response to
you, that's so you can use the USB EHD with the Win9x/Me operating systems
as well as with XP. For example, if you were using Win98 with a USB EHD
formatted NTFS, Win 98 wouldn't be able to "see" the EHD, so that you would
not be able to copy/move data from your internal HD to the external one. XP
has no trouble "seeing" either a FAT32 or NTFS formatted drive.
4. So if you're not intending to use your USB EHD in a Win9x/Me environment,
leave well enough alone. There's really no reason to convert that FAT32 file
system on the EHD to NTFS. You'll still be able to copy/move files from your
internal HD to the external drive for backup purposes. There's no
overarching reason to establish a NTFS file system on a USB EHD.
Anna
.
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