Can NTSF read FAT32 ....

[EDD32]

Hi there,

I have a slave fat32 20gb drive and i am just installing XP on another 60gb drive.
If i go for NTFS on this then will it b able to read the other FAT32 drive ???

And secondly, can the NTFS format b 'changed' to FAT32 without the need to format from scratch ???

Basically i use it to store downloads/music stuff.

Thanks.

[den2k2]

Y don't you just go for NTFS on both drives?

[doctorgonzo]

Yes, Windows XP can read both NTFS and FAT32.

No, you can't easily go from NTFS to FAT32 while saving data. To do that, you need software like Partition Magic. The coversion utility that comes with XP only does the other direction -- FAT32 to NTFS.

[EDD32]

Originally posted by den2k2 Y don't you just go for NTFS on both drives?

sorry, should have mentioned 20gb full of data !!!

and thanks

[HAL9000]

You can convert the drive from FAT32 to NTFS quite easily without losing the data.

[den2k2]

Originally posted by HAL9000 You can convert the drive from FAT32 to NTFS quite easily without losing the data.

What he said I can't remember exactly how its done, one of these guys will tell you or there might be a post somewhere with it already on.

[sdkfz]

XP will do it, here is the result of "convert to ntfs" in xp help

To convert a volume to NTFS from the command prompt
Open Command Prompt.
In the command prompt window, type
convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

For example, typing convert D: /fs:ntfs would format drive D: with the ntfs format.

Notes

To open command prompt, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
You can convert FAT or FAT32 volumes to NTFS with this command.

[EDD32]

Originally posted by sdkfz XP will do it, here is the result of "convert to ntfs" in xp help To convert a volume to NTFS from the command prompt Open Command Prompt. In the command prompt window, type convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

Thanks mate.