How to Migrate from FAT to NTFS on WIN XP PRO w/Maxtro HDD

[hamiechops]

How can I Migrate from FAT to NTFS on WIN XP PRO w/ a Maxtro HDD w/o having to format my HDD again? Can anyone help. Its a 40 gig HDD and its only reading 995 mb.

 

[Blujacket]

"Its a 40 gig HDD and its only reading 995 mb." What is the 995MB, is that free space or is it an erroneous display of the total drive size?

Typing convert in the Help and Support box will give what you seek in converting to NTFS. It is a one-way trip, can't go back to FAT32.

You won't gain much space on the drive unless using 2KB or 4KB cluster sizes [reduces waste/slack space when there's a large number of small files].

 

[hamiechops]

it says i have a capacity of 39197 mb and 38201 of unallocated space. also just so you know im a senior in high school and im going to ITT Tech this summer in CNS and any help would be great cause i want to as much as i can before i go.

 

[norty303]

Sounds like you have 1 very small partition on there. Dunno how you'd fit XP in that space tho.... I'm confused ???

 

[smah]

We're all a little confused. Is this a slave drive on an XP system? Because in Theory, XP would barely fit in that amount of space.

Start, Run, diskmgmt.msc, OK

Tell us what you see in the graphic at the bottom.

 

[hamiechops]

ok, when i installed win xp pro it gave me a choice to set it up w/ FAT or NTFS. i went w/ FAT, i didnt think it would make a diffrence. i didnt even notice i had low disk space untill i tried to install a program. hope this help in explaing. ill try disk management when i get home tonight. sorry to be so confusing.

 

[jsauce]

Its possible that it might just be an error on the disk. Have you tried running chkdsk to see if its reporting improper space? And with Windows XP you should never choose FAT over NTFS. You lose all of the useful security features that come with it, plus it fragments less.

John D. Saucier
jsauce@magicguild.com
Certified Technician
Network Administrator

 

[wolluf]

hamiechops - you've obviously just set this up - so just wipe it and start again (boot from XP install CD. when it get to where you choose install partition, use the tools to delete that partition you have and create a new (ntfs) one which uses the 40GB). Obviously back up anything you have put on there you want to keep before dosing this.

 

[etiger]

Can your bios handle your drive....

 

[micker377]

Is this "unallocated" space or "unused" space? There is a large difference!