How to Change Your File System From FAT32 to NTFS?
In this article we will find out how to change your file system from FAT32 to NTFS. And we will use the way to keep all your data on the disk intact!
Overview of the Problem
First of all let us see what are the reasons to get a new file system, and why would anyone need it. Imagine that you want to download a file larger than 4 GB, for example, a film in high quality or a DVD disk image. You won’t be able to do it, though, because when saving the file to disk you will have an error message that FAT32 file system does not support files larger than 4GB.
Another advantage of NTFS is that it does not require such frequent defragmentation (partially, this feature was mentioned in the article on accelerating Windows), and it works faster, accordingly.
To change the file system, you can use two methods, with the loss of data and without it. Let us study them both.
Changing Your File System
By Mere Formatting Your Hard Disk
This is the easiest thing to do. If there is no data on the disk or you don’t need it, you can just format the disk.
Go to “This PC,” right-click your mouse on the necessary disk and press Format. The only step left to take is to select the format type, e.g. NTFS.
Converting FAT32 File System Into NTFS
This procedure allows you to keep your files. i.e. they will all remain in the disk. You can convert the file system without installing any software but using only Windows tools. To do it, launch the command prompt and type in something like this: convert c: /FS:NTFS
where C is the disk to be converted and FS:NTFS is the file system the disk will be converted to.
Important note! From my own experience, when converting from FAT32 to NTFS all file and folder names turned into unreadable symbols though the files by themselves were intact and could be used.Just they had to be opened and renamed which is quite a tiresome work to do. The process can take up much time (for a disk of 50-100 GB it took about 2 hours).
What is important to know? Whatever procedure you are using for conversion, save all important data. What if there is a failure? A power cut which is quite a frequent thing to happen? Software errors and the like?
If, for any reason, you failed to save your data before converting your file system or there was a notorious power surge and your data is now lost, don’t get upset – it can still be recovered. Depending on the file system of your data carrier you can use of the special programs for data recovery – Hetman FAT Recovery or Hetman Partition Recovery.
You can read about recovery of data lost due to a power surge or power cut in our article Recovering Data After a Blackout
Can software covert a "FAT16" partition with DOS files to NTFS?
Save all nessesary data to a separate drive. Just repartition this drive, and format it in a NTFS File System.
Read yow to change your file system from FAT32 to NTFS. If you do have any questions, don't hesitate to contact our technical support service - we will be happy to help you.
How to change your file system from FAT32 to NTFS. If you do have any questions, don't hesitate to contact our technical support service - we will be happy to help you.
Are there any disadvantages to using NTFS over FAT32, and if so, what are they?
Yes, there are a few disadvantages to using NTFS over FAT32.
How can the file system of a drive be determined in Windows?
What is the maximum file size and partition size allowed by FAT32 and NTFS?
FAT32: The maximum file size is 4GB and the maximum partition size is 2TB. NTFS: The maximum file size is 16TB and the maximum partition size is 256TB.
Can a drive formatted in NTFS be accessed by a computer running an older version of Windows?
No, a drive formatted in NTFS cannot be accessed by a computer running an older version of Windows. NTFS is a newer file system that was introduced with Windows NT and is not compatible with older versions of Windows.
What precautions should be taken before converting a drive from FAT32 to NTFS?
Read how to change your file system from FAT32 to NTFS. If you do have any questions, don't hesitate to contact our technical support service - we will be happy to help you.