computer hardware or software
2007-01-05 06:30:19 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
Normally, you cannot convert NTFS to FAT32... it works for FAT32 to NTFS, but not backwards. The only *supported* way to do this would be to backup any data you wish to keep, and then format the drive as FAT32 to begin with.
The *unsupported* method would be to use Partition Magic to redefine the partition as FAT32. However, this method runs the risk of destroying some or all of your data on the HDD, so I would not recommend it.
2007-01-05 06:33:43 · answer #1 · answered by Not a punk like you 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can convert it back using Partition Magic, but it doesn't always save your data.
Using Partition Magic.. First off, delete the partition that you wish to convert. This is done by going into Disk Management: right click "My Computer" -> Manage -> Disk Management, which is found under the Storage section. Right click the partition you wish to remove, and click "Delete Volume". This will erase the partition. Once you have done this, you must re-create the partition. This is done by right clicking on an unallocated region of a disk, and selecting "Create Partition". Then click "Create Logical Drive". Bear in mind that Windows cannot format a FAT32 partition that is any larger than 32GB. This is the case because FAT32 is terribly inefficient on volumes that are larger than 32GB: fragmentation becomes a serious problem.
To format this new volume, right click it, and choose Format. Again, if the volume you wish to format is larger than 32GB, FAT32 will not be one of the options available to you in the drop-down box. You will have to create multiple partitions if you want to format a large drive as FAT32.
2007-01-05 06:32:56 · answer #2 · answered by footose 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have a legitimate reason to do it, like if you'll be running linux and windows duel boot and you want linux to recognize the drive, you'll have to reformat it, and you'll probably lose the data.
I can't think of any other reason why you'd want to use Fat32 instead of NTFS.
2007-01-05 06:35:59 · answer #3 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't...you can change from FAT32 to NTFS, but not from NTFS to FAT32 (without formatting that is).
2007-01-05 06:32:20 · answer #4 · answered by Yoi_55 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
why do you want to change? ntfs is far better than fat32... anyways copy all the data in that partition to another one, and then format that former partition to fat32 format, and then recopy your data back int it. if your os is on that partition, then reinstall the os on your system
2007-01-05 06:35:51 · answer #5 · answered by james bond 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don't want too, especially if you are using XP. Fat32 is for the older DOS stuff....
2007-01-05 06:36:01 · answer #6 · answered by Mikey ~ The Defender of Myrth 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋