How To Convert A FAT32 Volume To NTFS

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Tech Tips : How To convert A FAT32 Volume to NTFS

Question: I am having trouble copying a Virtual PC drive image to a backup external hard drive. It says there is not enough free disk space, eventhough there is over 100 gigabytes of free disk space.

Answer

Some external hard drives come preformated as FAT32. This can cause problems if you ever have to deal with really large files such as Virtual PC hard drive images, large backup files, or large media files such as video captures. FAT32 has a limit of 4GB on the size of files. If you try to copy a larger file, you'll end up with an error like Error Copying File Or Folder - There Is Not Enough Free Disk Space .

It is possible to convert a FAT or FAT32 volume to an NTFS volume without formatting the volume, though it is still a good idea to back up your data before you convert.

A partition can be converted by using Convert.exe. For more information about Convert.exe, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then press ENTER. In the command window, type help convert, and then press ENTER.

How to convert a FAT32 volume to NTFS from the command prompt:

Open Command Prompt. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
In the command prompt window, type: convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

For example, typing convert D: /fs:ntfs would format drive D: with the ntfs format. You can convert FAT or FAT32 volumes to NTFS with this command.

Important

Once you convert a drive or partition to NTFS, you cannot simply convert it back to FAT or FAT32. You will need to reformat the drive or partition which will erase all data, including programs and personal files, on the partition.

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