Re: Set-up and file system change

"ChasX" <ChasX@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>I plan to upgrade from W98SE to XPProf(with S.P.2). There are 2 H.D.'s in my
>system. Iwant to format C and on D I have all the XP compatible drivers to
>install. When I format C I assume I will be given the opportunity to set up
>the NTFS file system on C. Will I be given the same oppurtinity for D and if
>I do change the file system on D will it effect my data. If the data is
>effected can I leave it as FAT 32 , install the drivers when required and
>then convert the file system.
>I ran the M.S system analyzer and everything seems compatible with XP.
>Thanks for the help.
>Chas

I don't understand your concerns about preserving data if you plan on
formatting both drives. Formatting destroys everything on the drive
so there is nothing to preserve.

The file system used by a drive has no effect on the usabiliity or
accessibility of the data stored on that drive, unless the file and
folder level security features of NTFS are used to protect specific
data items.

You can convert the existing partitions from FAT32 to NTFS by using
the CONVERT utility that comes with Windows XP. However using this
utility will almost certainly result in the NTFS drives using a
less-than-optimal 512 byte cluster size because of partition alignment
considerations with FAT32 partitions. In order to successfully
convert FAT32 partitions to NTFS and avoid the small cluster size it
is first necessary to align the existing partitions correctly for
NTFS, a task which requires a special partitioning utility such as
Partition Magic (Symantec) or BootItNG (www.bootitng.com).

For further information see the article on converting partitions to
NTFS by the late Alex Nichol, MVP at
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm
.

Relevant Pages

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