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Thread ID: 77929	2007-03-28 05:06:00	Switch from FAT to NTFS	jno (12040)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
536423	2007-03-28 05:06:00	I am looking at the "Project#2" on p . 51 of the April issue of NZ PC World and have two questions: i) How do I find out whether I have a FAT or FAT32 drive or NTFS? I have Windows XP Home edition on my Acer Aspire 3002WLMi laptop . I have gone to System Properties but find no mention of either in all of the windows I have trawled through . So I then thought I would follow the process outlined in the paragraph . Which gave me a DOS (I think!) window in which the cursor blinked at the end of the line: C:\Documents and Settings\John However, when I tried to delete this line in order to put in the specified "convert C:/fs:ntfs" it wouldn't delete . And when I pressed enter to put the cursor on the next (blank) line, the statement C:\Documents . . . etc repeated itself . Hence my second question: ii) How do I write the required "convert C:/fs:ntfs" . . . if of course, I need to?	jno (12040)
536424	2007-03-28 05:14:00	I am looking at the "Project#2" on p . 51 of the April issue of NZ PC World and have two questions: i) How do I find out whether I have a FAT or FAT32 drive or NTFS? I have Windows XP Home edition on my Acer Aspire 3002WLMi laptop . I have gone to System Properties but find no mention of either in all of the windows I have trawled through . You run My computer, highlight the hdd (like C . On the left, it'll say FAT32 or NTFS) . So I then thought I would follow the process outlined in the paragraph . Which gave me a DOS (I think!) window in which the cursor blinked at the end of the line: C:\Documents and Settings\John However, when I tried to delete this line in order to put in the specified "convert C:/fs:ntfs" it wouldn't delete . And when I pressed enter to put the cursor on the next (blank) line, the statement C:\Documents . . . etc repeated itself . Hence my second question: ii) How do I write the required "convert C:/fs:ntfs" . . . if of course, I need to? Typing in what u put should still work . As u found out u cant delete the line . Type cd c:\ to get to c, then type it again . You dont put the quotes in when u convert FAT to NTFS . After u convert the hdd to NTFS, however u cant change it back to FAT, unless u use a 3rd party program .	Speedy Gonzales (78)
536425	2007-03-28 10:03:00	Thanks for this, but I don't know how to "run My Computer"? I've tried Start/Run and then put in My computer but of course this is not a file name! So I right clicked on My Computer in Windows Explorer, but couldn't find any reference to the hdd. So I tried your second suggestion and - lo and behold! I got the message: The type of the file system is FAT32 so we're on our way! But the next line said: Enter current volume label for drive C. Er, yes! What is that? and where do I find it?	jno (12040)
536426	2007-03-28 10:44:00	When he said run My Computer, he meant either double clicking the my computer icon on the desktop (if it's there) or going start->My Computer. Once in my computer, click on your hard disk icon (C: ) and on the panel on the left at the bottom it will tell you the info you need to know. If the drive is called Local Disk (C: ), then it has no volume label, so when asked to enter volume label, you would leave it blank. If the drive is called something other than Local Disk, then that name is the volume label.	Sherman (9181)
536427	2007-03-29 09:24:00	Thanks for this Sherman. I have done what you said after finding that the drive was called Local Disk, but then got the message An incorrect volume label was entered for this drive. In all my working through the various windows on my way to "doing what you said" I came across the window System Information in which I note that the item Boot Device has the value \Device\HarddiskVolume2. I tried entering 2 as the volume label but got the same message. So - where to now?	jno (12040)
536428	2007-03-29 10:26:00	try typing vol c: into the command prompt. That should give you the volume label for the disk. If it says it has no label then you should be able to leave the volume label field blank when convert asks for it. If it still won't work, I don't know what the problem could be.	Sherman (9181)
536429	2007-03-29 10:27:00	Note that there is a space between the "C:" and "/FS:NTFS" parts of the command line. The CONVERT command expects a drive letter or volume name, followed by the file system type. This may be causing you some grief. If it still insists on asking for a volume name for confirmation, try giving the disk a name by right-clicking on the C: drive icon, selecting Properties, and change the text in the top edit field, then OK. Then use that name when prompted.	MushHead (10626)
536430	2007-03-29 13:13:00	i) How do I find out whether I have a FAT or FAT32 drive or NTFS?Open Contol Panel, open Administrative tools, Computer Management, click on Disk Management. You'll get the info there.	Greg (193)
536431	2007-03-30 04:47:00	Hi Sherman . I typed vol c: in as you suggest, and got the required volume label . Thanks . Thanks Greg; as you see, I've now located the type of file system MushHead and Sherman: I've fired up System - Properties and find that (under the General tab) the name in the top field is SYSTEMS which confirmed my action as noted above in response to Sherman . So I've put that in when requested, and got the message: Convert cannot run because the volume is in use by another process . Convert may run if this volume is dismounted first . ALL OPEN HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE INVALID . Would you like to force a dismount on this volume . (Y/N) There's no way I want to do that . . . something I don't understand and have never encountered before, so I cancelled out of that screen . So . . where to from here? Incidentally, I'm intrigued that I'm having so much difficulty in following through this Project #2; I entertained the fond hope that the instructions in PC World would not only be clear - which they are - but also complete and adequate, which clearly they aren't . . at least not for me and my computer setup . I repeat: where to from here?	jno (12040)
536432	2007-03-30 06:20:00	Sigh i miss the days of win 98 when to convert your drive from FAT to FAT32 you could go through the process using a wizard.... A few mouseclicks and a reboot later it was all done. I would try running windows in safe-mode and converting it from there. To run in safe mode, repeatedly press the F8 key before the black screen with the XP logo and scrolling blue bar. (if you see a white bar moving across the bottom of the screen during boot, this is when you press F8). A list will be presented to you. Choose the option to run in safe mode. Once in safe mode, try converting the drive the same way as you have before. If this still doesn't work, then I'm not sure that you should try any further. There are more options that could be tried, but I wouldn't recommend them to you as they would involve either booting into the recovery console (inadvisable unless you know how to navigate a command prompt AND know what you're doing) or booting into a live linux distribution (which also isn't advisable as you can do a lot of damage in linux if you're not careful). There may be other people on this forum who can help further though..... or who have seen something blindingly obvious that I've missed;)	Sherman (9181)
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