Convert NTFS to FAT32 ?


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it is possible...but i think you'll have to use a 3rd party program, such as partition magic 7 to do it.

the convert.exe only does FAT32 to NTFS... not the other way around.

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yes.... but extreamly hard.... using partition magic 7 it will let you. However... You have to make sure you're not using any of ntfs's "extra" features... with windows xp this includes file compression. XP does this automatically even if you tell it not to. You can have it search and uncompress files, but by the time you reboot, XP will have already compressed them back, or made new compressed files... with or without system restore on as well...

to this day, I haven't had any luck doing it....

btw.. here's a cut and paste from partition magic's help file conserning this....

NTFS to FAT or FAT32

NTFS is a more advanced file system that FAT and FAT32. Therefore, depending on the NTFS features used on the partition, the type of data, and partition size, you will either be allowed to complete the conversion or not.

If you receive an error message and the conversion stops, one or more of the following usually causes it:

The file system for conversion is not allowed for the current partition size. The FAT32 partition must be greater than 256 MB and the FAT partition must be less than 2 GB.

The Windows 2000/XP NTFS partition has compressed files, sparse files, reparse points, or encrypted files. In such cases, you can uncompress and/or move (or delete) the files or points, then repeat the conversion.

The NTFS partition has data in memory that has not yet been written to the hard disk.

The file system has errors, such as lost clusters and cross-linked files. You can fix these problems, then try the conversion again.

There is not enough temporary space in the partition to do the conversion. The conversion will require the NTFS system and the FAT32 system files until the last step of the conversion. Also, there is data in NTFS FRS's that must be moved to external clusters and saved.

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Ok, thanks for the replies. After I thought about it I don't think NTFS is my problem, infact that was a stupid thing for me to think.

If anyone is familiar with software RAID, please read my other topic in this forum.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Before you attempt anything, I would try the compatibility mode for the games. Do not believe that Bull$#@* about being able to convert back to fat32 with partition magic 7. It would not work for most people because most of the time you are going to have partitions bigger that 2gigs anyways. Also windows 2000/xp does some of that ntfs compression stuff even if you tell it not to.

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