Re: dismounting a drive

childofthe1980s wrote:
Hello:

I have an external hard drive, and I am using the DOS "convert" command to convert the drive from FAT32 to NTFS so that I can copy files to the hard drive that are greater than 4GB.

I'm getting a message asking if I want to "dismount the volume". I don't know what that means. What does it mean? Also, if I dismount just to change the drive format, will I lose the data on the drive?

Thanks!

childofthe1980s

That is terminology from Unix.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_%28Unix%29

Dismounting is needed, because you are changing file systems!

Imagine the poor OS for a moment. It is treating the partition as FAT32
one minute. Now, imagine some software changed all the structures
underneath to NTFS. The FAT32 handling software would go nuts, if
it did any read operations while that was happening. Instead,
you need an orderly transition like this.

FAT32 Handler ----> (No Handler) ---> NTFS Handler
FAT32 Volume Convert running NTFS Volume

Since the file system is being changed, the volume is "unmounted"
so that it is no longer visible in "My Computer". Once the
transition of the data structures on the disk is complete,
an NTFS handler will be asked to parse the contents of the partition.
At that point, the volume would be recognized as NTFS, and
would appear in My Computer again. All the same files should
still be there.

In Unix, you are prevented from "unmounting" a volume, if a single
file is "busy" on the volume. For example, if you opened a text
file with a text editor, just to read it, then tried to unmount
the volume, the command would fail. Windows should have similar
protections, so if any other programs are accessing the volume
in question, the programs should be exited. Then, in theory,
the unmount should be able to proceed.

Paul
.

Relevant Pages

  • SYSTEM: From FAT32 to NTFS
    ... Windows XP supports both FAT32 and NTFS. ... you can do so from the command prompt ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Reformat
    ... Using xp windows professional Recovery Console to reformat back to Fat32 ... from NTFS have not had any luck completing my goal not very good with command ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics)
  • Re: NTFS & FAT32
    ... Use the "Convert" command to keep the current files on the drive. ... A NTFS file system allows files that are larger than 4 GB. ... No harm in keeping it formatted as Fat32 if you don't need to put files larger than 4GB onto it. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • virtual drive driver and few problems
    ... wxp) ... formating virtual drive with fat32, i get error: system could not finish operation, but drive was successfully formated. ... NTFS works fine. ... "Not enough server storage is available to process this command". ...
    (microsoft.public.development.device.drivers)
  • Re: Mounting NTFS parition from a USB device for FC3
    ... I have been using the command line to unmount the volume ... > for mounting NTFS, so that my USB with NTFS will always mount? ...
    (Fedora)