Re: convert external drive?

"Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23ZW59HAeFHA.2752@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "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
>

4) That depends on how large the files are and how they are copying them. If
any files are larger than 4 GB or they are using ntbackup then the 4 GB FAT
limit will come into effect. Another reason to convert to NTFS is security.
If any of the files are encrypted they will stay encrypted. User permissions
can also be copied if using NTFS. These may or may not be important to the
OP.

Kerry


.

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