INTRODUCTION:
Microsoft Windows XP supports the following three file
systems for fixed disks:
- FAT16
- FAT32
- NTFS
We recommend that you use NTFS
with Windows XP because of its advanced performance, security, and reliability
features. This article describes how to convert a FAT16 volume or a FAT32
volume to NTFS.
Convert FAT32 to NTFS:
You have a flash drive or probably an external hard drive that currently has FAT32 file system and you want to change it to NTFS, because FAT32 does not support handling large files (over 4GB) or it is just simply old for your taste. This article is for you then as it explains exactly how you can achieve seamless transition from FAT to NTFS.
FAT 32 to NTFS Conversion Steps:
1) Go to Computer, and note the name of the drive whose
file system you wish to convert.
2) Click on Start.
3) Type cmd in the search bar
if you use Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows Vista. If you use Windows XP, click on Run and
then execute cmd.
4) Execute "chkdsk h: /f "
(without quotes) where H
is the letter of the drive to undergo conversion. This checks the drive for
errors and fixes them automatically.
5) Execute "Convert H: /FS:
NTFS" (without quotes). H is again the letter of the drive to be converted.
6) The command prompt will start the
conversion process and after a few minutes, CMD will say that conversion was successful.
7) You can check it
in the properties of the drive through right click<Properties.
This works on Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows 8 and
Windows Vista. I converted my flash drive's file system using these steps and
it worked flawlessly. It is interesting to note that this method cannot be used
to reconvert NTFS file system back to FAT32. To reconvert back to FAT32, you
will need to format the entire drive which will definitely cause data loss.
