i recently formatted a western digital external usb drive from fat32 to ntfs.now i want to convert it back to fat32.windows xp only gives me the option to format drives to ntfs.so i tried a computer with windos 2000 and started to format the drive to fat32.it reached the very end and at that moment i got an error message saying that windows 2000 was unable to format the drive.i tried it several times again to make sure it wasnt a fluke.and every time it would reach the end of the format i would get the same error.of course i was pissed because the format took so long to do that only at the very end would the error occur. so,can ntfs be converted back to fat32?and how? can xp format drives to fat32?and how? at this point i dont know if the computer with windows 2000 is screwing up or it just isnt possible to go from ntfs to fat32 or maybe im just doing something wrong.im sure ive done it before,its just been so long since i formatted a hard drive that i cant remember.
Hi, A 60GB HD will format FAT32 but an 80GB drive is too big - you must create 2 x 40GB partitions. You can convert from FAT32 > NTFS but not the other way! The drive must be re-formatted FAT32 after the NTFS partition has been deleted. 'delpart.exe' is used to do this, but it is a rare old file (from Win NT). Good ol' FDISK I believe can be used to bust out the unknown partition, reboot then running FDISK again, you can create the largest possible FAT partition: FAT16 = 2047MB (2GB) FAT32 = ? (it's ~64GB or something like that) Hope this helps :^) Tip: When you have a new blank HD to be used to boot your system from, start the PC from DOS using a Win98 floppy bootdisk. FDISK the blank HD selecting 'no' to FAT32. Ask for the largest possible partition: you will get 2GB FAT. This FAT16 partition is required to dual-boot OS's (ie. WinXP / Linux) and also offers the added benefit of having your boot files (ntldr and boot.ini) not on NTFS. Then install WinXP like usual from CD, on the blank unpartitioned space. Windows will call it E:\ (Boot partition). Windows will call the C:\ (System partition). The interesting thing is: your Boot files are on the System partition, and your System files are on... you guessed it! The Boot partition ;^) Don't ask me (ask Bill...) LoL L8R
The_OGS, i did my old 80gig as 1 partition with win98se & my current 160gig hd as 2, 1-40 & 1-120gig fat32 because c: is used for windows & programs & d: is for data
well its a 160gb external hd.and it was originally one partition fat32 out of the box.so how was that possible to do? and im not using the hd to boot an os.its gonna be for storage purposes and emergency backup if the other hds go out.but anyway you think if i delete the ntfs partition with fdisk that i could format it to fat32?to tell you the truth,i hate messing with fdisk but i gotta do what i gotta do.can fdisk be used from windows or does fdisk only work from dos?
dos as in win98 not dos6 series. did you get a cd with the drive as it might have programs to do what you want to do?
Hiya DDP :^) Just call me OGS. Didn't they make you a mod yet? You must be headed for double-addict... Technically, FAT32 theoretically supports 2047GB (2TB) - but Windows NT (2K, XP) will format only 32GB FAT32 partitions! It will mount larger FAT32 partitions, however, created with another OS. (This explains why a 40GB disk won't format FAT32 in WinXP, but will using Win98/DOS7.1 FDISK) This standard Micro$oft FDISK will double the 32GB to 64GB, but it won't do 120GB - you must be using a third-party open source FDISK-like utility, right? I know, I myself try to avoid NTFS if possible! But it's the way of the future. The FAT file systems were designed for small disks and simple folder structures - FAT16 and FAT32 file systems do not scale well. As the volume gets bigger, the File Allocation Table gets bigger, dramatically increasing the amount of time it takes the OS to compute how much free space is on the volume at boot. Anyway, most people use standard Micro$oft FDISK and I didn't think it liked 80GB (wouldn't work for me! LoL) Besides, a 120GB FAT volume is bloody big, lad :^) Your cluster size is huge and inefficient = lots of slack. But NTFS steals space too - it robs you with System Volume Information and security overhead, easily a gig or 2... So what can ya do? LoL Take care
OGS, i'm over the 8k mark & there was a thread in safety valve on who would make a good mod & my name got mentioned more than anybody else combined. i very rarely use or recommend ntfs as fat32 gives me a backdoor into windows by using a win9x bootdisk which i had to do because of viruses.
third party fdisk?do you know of any that could get my hd to fat32 with a minimum amount of partitions(only primary if possible)? i got a disc with it that has a media center(bckup & recover options)amd ms pro format utility that wont even acknowledge the hd or any hd for that matter.and xp wont give me the option to format to fat32.do i have to delete the ntfs partition before it gives me the option?do i have to use the command prompt to use fdisk or can i use it thru windows. i wish i wouldnt had formatted it to ntfs.after i did it ,i realized all my hds are ntfs and having a fat32 would be a nice variable.its not necessary to have it in fat32 but now that i see this might be a helpful learning experience it has become a necessity in that manner..
Micro$soft has a WindowsPE (Preinstallation Environment) CD-Rom, but it is available only to the largest OEMs. This guy Bart Lagerweij created the BartPE CD http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20050112/windows-firstaid-07.html I built one - and it's a wonderful thing :^) Takes all the fear out of NTFS! You should definitely build one for yourself. Plus, the 2GB FAT16 System partition (see above) can be accessed via DOS. The combination of the two is invincible ;^) Would that I could help out Mr. DDP and maybe payback some of the help you have offered others... L8R goin' to bed (she's calling!)
@ sui-cyco Just leave it NTFS! That is definitely easiest... If you wanted to attach it to Win98 machines, that could be a reason for FAT. This link may help you: http://www.fdisk.com/fdisk/ Your problem is, basically: USB 2.0 is unsupported by DOS/Win98 (there are drivers, but they're not Micro$oft). You are not gonna partition/format an external USB HD with just any bootdisk, y'know? It needs a modern OS just to be recognized. Said modern OS supports (creates) only 32GB FAT32 partitions ;^( The answer is proprietary software from the manufacturer - if it came with it, or is on their website. You say it came FAT32, one partition, 160GB...? Well that's just hard to believe (not callin' you a liar) but it's just not a good plan, that's all... Oh well, gotta go - good luck, let us know how it works out for ya :^) Ciao (as in Mein) OGS
xp doesn't use fdisk per say as it uses it's own version. do you have a win9x boot disk or try this link. http://www.bootdisk.com/ http://www.bootdisk.com/usb.htm
i have windows 98 startup disk but i dont know if its got the files needed to do whatever youre suggesting.and what are you suggesting? at this point i went ahead and made a 32gb fat32 partition.with the rest unallocated.i was wondering if it was possible to format the rest of the hd to ntfs.or if you know a better way to get bigger fat32 partitions that would even be better.having 5 partitions seems a bit ridiculuos and inconvieniet.i think having a fat32 hd could be benefitcial.i have windows 98 and ME,so if i ever need to install them i wont have to reformat a drive.who knows,maybe ntfs will get replaced soon,then everybody would have a set of differently formatted hds as compatibilty will be an issue.there are some people that prefer fat32 also.i havent gotten that deep into the computer to notice the difference too much.
bootup on the win9x bootdisk with cdrom support as might need to use the cd that came with the external hd. type fdisk at the arompt & yes to use large size. see if the menu that comes up is 1-4 or 1-5 because if 1-4 than it doesn't see the external hd. if 1-5 than does see the external hd unless have partitions on the internal hd.
