How About Change NTFS to FAT Partition and Contrariwise
1. Compare NTFS and FAT32
FAT 32 is an old file system; it is simple and readable to work on a large number of operating systems. But, recently, it is understood that the usage of FAT 32 would be replaced by NTFS file system—the superior partition format.
NTFS (New Technology File System) is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. NTFS supersedes the FAT file system as the preferred partition for Microsoft’s Windows OS.
By comparison of NTFS and FAT32, you will find that NTFS file system has more advantages compared to FAT32 format. The listed below are the featuresof NTFS.
- Allows indexing which improves file searching (mostly, faster).
- Better security – file encryption (except Win XP home)
- Supports file quotas.
- compress files to save disk space.
- Supports larger files than FAT (over 4GB).
- Supported format on dynamic disks (except Win XP Home).
- Resistant to fragmentation.
2. How to Convert FAT32 to NTFS
1). Open Command Prompt, press “WIN+R” key, input “cmd” and then press “Enter”.
2). in the command prompt window, type: convert drive_letter: /fs: ntfs
Note that typing “convert D: /fs:ntfs:” would format drive D: with the NTFS format according to your own requirement. And once you convert a FAT32 partition to NTFS, you cannot simply change it back to FAT32 because you have to again format the drive or partition which will erase all data. So, before formatting, back up the data if possible.
3. How to Change NTFS to FAT32 Partition
Why we change superior file system back to FAT32? This question confused many people. The fact is that some devices can only supports FAT32 file system, so to the conversion is required.
1). Double-click my computer to open Explorer and select one drive that you want to reformat. Right click the drive and select the “Format” option from the context menu.
2). Select “FAT32″ from this drop down box under the “File System” section and tick at the “Quick Format” option.
3). Click the “Start” button to start the reformatting process. It may spand a few minutes depanding on the size of your drive. Moreover, you may choose the 3rd-party partition manager (like Partition Assistant Free Edition) to quickly reformat a partition.
Ok, the process is complete; however, another question came out—how to convert NTFS to FAT32 without data losing? Currently, we can not approach the best of both worlds yet. The best safe way is the “backup data – format partition to FAT32 – restore data”.
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