Re: Removable Media when Converting from FAT32 to NTFS
- From: "R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 15:33:24 -0500
Hi, Clive.
You are worrying about things that really are no problem at all. It's kind
of like asking if you can still drive to the store if you swap your manual
transmission for an automatic. ;^} I don't mean to make light of your
question; it is wise to worry about things that we don't yet understand.
When running Win98 on your FAT32 hard drives, you had no problems reading
floppy disks formatted as FAT12, did you? WinXP also will have no problem
reading FAT32 or FAT16 or FAT12, as well as NTFS. And it will have no more
problems than Win98 in reading your CD/DVD disks, whether they are formatted
CDFS or UDF, or your Memory Stick or other flash disks. I haven't had an
LS120, but I'm sure WinXP can handle it as well as Win98 could. A floppy
disk cannot be formatted as NTFS, so there is no conversion problem at all
for that. For your old FAT32 HD, simply "plug it in" as a secondary drive,
then use WinXP's Disk Management (at the Run prompt, type diskmgmt.msc) to
make sure it is recognized, assign a "drive" letter (or accept the default)
for each volume on it, and then WinXP will simply use it like any other
drive. Copy the files to your new drive, or simply use them where they are.
There should be no need to reformat it, although you may convert it to NTFS,
if you like, at your convenience.
There are some size limits, as you've heard. You might want to check out
this page from the WinXP Pro Resource Kit online:
Size Limitations in NTFS and FAT File Systems
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkc_fil_tdrn.asp
Note that the limits apply across operating systems. In other words, the
maximum file size in FAT32 (4 GB minus 1 byte) is the same whether you are
using Win98 or WinXP. Microsoft did restrict WinXP's ability to FORMAT a
volume as FAT32 to a maximum of 32 GB, but WinXP can happily USE a much
larger volume after it is formatted FAT32 by Win98 or some other operating
system.
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
"Clive Libotte" <clibotte@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:db56pd$105$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Dear Group Members,
> I want to convert a WindowsXP SP2 machine from FAT32 file system to NTFS
> file system, I installed WindowsXP by upgrading from Windows98SE. I know
> how to carry out the conversion as there is plenty of information on this
> task on the Internet. What is not clear is what action, if any, is
> required to change the file systems on removable media such as a three and
> a half inch floppy, an Imation LS120 (yes, they will have their uses for a
> long time yet!), and a USB Memory Stick? Also, I have an old FAT32 HD on
> which there is historical data which I shall need in the future: will I be
> able to read the historical data from this HD on a computer which has an
> NTFS file system?
>
> The reason file systems came to my attention is that when I tried to
> back-up the whole of the WindowsXP hard drive to a new external HD, in an
> attempt to implement Windows Automated Recovery, the file size limitation
> of FAT32 brought the process to a halt. Maybe there is a workaround using
> third-party software and FAT32, but I would prefer the simplest solution
> possible using Windows.
>
> Many thanks to Members providing advice for the resolution this problem.
>
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> Clive Libotte.
.
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- Removable Media when Converting from FAT32 to NTFS
- From: Clive Libotte
- Removable Media when Converting from FAT32 to NTFS
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