Shoutbox

quote:

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Originally posted by Nitro
btw.. Umm.. How do I convert to FAT32?

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WARNING: You will lose all data on the disk if you follow these instructions!
To convert a disk from any file system to a FAT32 file system, you must first be logged in as an administrator on your computer. In the control Panel, locate Administrative Tools, then Computer Management. This will open a MS Management Console. On the left side, there is a Disk Management option.

This will bring up a graphic on the right side displaying all disk drives on your computer. For any disk, there may or may not be more than one partition or volume on each physical disk. You will need to delete all of them before putting on a FAT32 file system. Do this by right-clicking each volume and select Delete Partition or Delete Volume. THIS WILL DELETE AND/OR MAKE ALL DATA INACCESSIBLE

When this is done, the whole disk will be marked as unallocated. Right-click this space and select New Partition. Click next, Primary Partition, Next, enter the amount of space you wish the partition to take on the disk (default is the whole disk), and Next. Choose a drive letter to mount the disk as, default should be fine, Next.

You want to 'Format with following settings': change File System to FAT32 (if the size is less than 2GB there will also be an option for FAT), leave allocation unit size as default, and then enter a label for the disk (e.g. USB Drive, External Disk, etc.). Do not select 'quick format' or 'enable compression'. The last page will confirm everything, and will then preform the action.

To convert a FAT to an NTFS, the process is easier, and will not result in data loss.
Before doing this, close any open programs, files and windows that are open that are running off this drive.
Start > Run > cmd to open the command prompt. type in

code:

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convert X: /FS:NTFS /NoSecurity

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where X: is the drive letter you wish to convert, /FS:NTFS specifies the new file system, and /NoSecurity sets full control to the Everyone user group (instead of just the current user).