Re: XP Home SP3 -- FAT32 vs NTFS boot disk question

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To answer your last question, older versions of GHOST, up to about 2003, can
only write to FAT (16 or 32) formatted partitions. That was because the
original Norton GHOST was a DOS-based program. You know that you have one
of these versions, if you use a floppy disk to do the recovery.

Newer versions of GHOST are actually built upon the PowerQuest program
called DriveImage. Symantec, who owns the Norton product line, bought
PowerQuest a few years ago. At least some of these newer versions of GHOST
can write to NTFS partitions. More importantly, they can also read from
such a partition to perform a recovery.

Older versions of GHOST can not (reliably) read/write to/from external USB
and firewire drives. Newer versions can do this.

An alternative to GHOST, which works on NTFS and on external drives is
Acronis TrueImage. Further, the bootable CD it makes for you is more
universal than the one from GHOST. By that I mean it will work on a wider
range of computers, since it does not appear to contain copy protection that
limits the usage to the computer on which the program was originally
installed. For example, if the computer dies, the TrueImage CD could be
used to recover an image to a different computer's spare partition, or to an
external hard drive, from which selected files could be copied.

TrueImage could also be used to restore the operating system and programs to
a different computer, but the odds are about 100% that XP's product
activation would object to that. And, unless you have a CD for a retail
version of XP, such transfers are not permitted (i.e., Microsoft will not
allow you to re-activate). Additionally, moving an XP installation to a
different computer, even if permitted under license, often requires a
"repair installation" to get the hardware-specific HAL and assorted drivers
correct. This is how one would install SATA drivers for the controller on
the motherboard. This repair must be performed immediately after the
transfer, before XP is booted for the first time. Only retail versions of
XP support the repair option.

"JW Johnson" <JWJohnson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:DFE4E45E-C286-4BCB-8CF7-A64075F4B0F5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
My boot disk is FAT32 (holdover from Win98). Therefore I'm limited to 32GB
(40GB physical disk). Can my boot disk 1. Be NTFS, and 2. A larger
partition,
such as 80GB or larger? It's not like I'm running of space (I have 240GB
on 2
other disks), but the boot drive is getting up there in age, and I'd like
to
replace it before something bad happens. Ideally, I'd like to use my 80GB
as
my boot disk so I can the 40GB, and replace the 80GB with a 500GB or
larger
drive. Although 90% of my data is on secondary drives, I don't have enough
space on the boot disk to attempt a NTFS conversion.

Also, I use Norton Ghost. Does anyone know if I can image a FAT32 drive to
an NTFS drive? Thanks in advance. Joel


.

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