Re: New HDD - should I convert file system?

Great! Happy to hear that things went well. Thanks for the follow-up.

John

Francododds wrote:

John, Just to wrap up things, I've installed the new 80Gb HDD, and everything is running smoothly. Boot-up now only takes 62 secs now, against 97 secs beforehand. Feel like I've got a new machine!

Good wishes, Adrian (Francododds)

"John John" wrote:


You're welcome.

John

Francododds wrote:

John John, Many thanks for your response to my posting. I have done the file conversion, and everything appears to be working ok. An immediate benefit is that I have instantly gained 1Gb of free space. All I have to do now is install my new hard drive, but I'll wait a few days to make sure everything settles down ok.

Thanks again, Francododds

"John John" wrote:



Windows XP Disk Administrator cannot format FAT32 partitions larger than 32GB. Windows XP can however mount FAT32 volumes larger than 32GB that were created by other operating systems. In other words, if you had an 80GB FAT32 drive in a Windows 98 box and if you were to install that drive in the Windows XP box, Windows XP would see and read/write to it without any problems. System Restore cannot change the file system, for all intents and purposes unless you use third party tools the NTFS conversion is irreversible. If you don't intend to multi-boot with Windows 9x you should probably format the drive to NTFS. NTFS is the file system of choice for Windows XP, it offers greater security than FAT32 and it is less wasteful on storage space. It would be preferable to format to NTFS from scratch then copy the old drive to it, rather than converting it from FAT32 after the imaging/cloning operation. See here for more information:

http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/games/expert/durham_fs.mspx

Or simply search on Microsoft.com for "ntfs fat32", you will find much in depth information and recommendations.

John

Francododds wrote:



I've recently upgraded W98SE to XP Pro, but my 20GB HDD has only 5GB free. I've got a new Seagate 80GB to install as Master and keep the old as Slave. What is this about FAT32 only coping with 32GB, and should I convert to NTFS to overcome this limitation? I've read that the Seagate Discwizard will allow the system to "see" all of the 80GB within the FAT32 system. What are the pro's and con's of doing the conversion, and can a System Restore go back to the old file sytem?

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Converting system partition to NTFS
    ... For some reason the Acer laptop I bought around 18 months ago came with FAT32 and not NTFS as expected, and I have been thinking of converting it to NTFS for some time. ... "...so that you can repair or troubleshoot via command line because your GUI won't boot up" is not a very compelling reason to install Windows XP on FAT32, this is a notion perpetuated by well meaning Windows 9x users who think that FAT32 is better because it allows you to boot to DOS and access your disk if you run into problems. ... But my system partition is running out of space. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
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    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment)
  • Re: error Unauthorized window was detect while running the Media Center Experience, Media Center, wi
    ... Windows off a FAT32 drive; it may sound weird, but it does make a difference ... switching to NTFS resolved the issue. ... > but for the typical end user, backing up data files is used more. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • Re: New HDD - should I convert file system?
    ... In other words, if you had an 80GB FAT32 drive in a Windows 98 box and if you were to install that drive in the Windows XP box, Windows XP would see and read/write to it without any problems. ... System Restore cannot change the file system, for all intents and purposes unless you use third party tools the NTFS conversion is irreversible. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment)
  • Convert FAT32 to NTFS
    ... An article in PC World suggests a relatively easy way to convert Windows XP ... If you've been hanging onto your old FAT32 hard-disk format, ... Besides being faster and more secure, NTFS also gives ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics)
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