NTFS to FAT32?

[Mr_Q 0]

Is it possible to convert an NTFS partition to FAT32? I installed XP as NTFS, but now I cannot get any folders shared on my network. Even though I have permissions set to "everyone", my other XP computer cannot gain access to the supposedly publically shared folder I made.

[Down8 0]

I believe 'Everyone' still refers to all the users recognized by the machine, so you need to either 1) enable the 'Guest' account or 2) set up the same usernames and passwords on both machines. I don't think changing over the FAT32 will make any difference, but I'm not certain on that point.

 

-bZj

[BladeRunner 0]

You're quite correct, the client machine doesn't give a damn what file format has been used on the 'server'.

Win98 machines can quite happily log into and read information from Win2k servers - these are formatted in NTFS.

 

You either need to:

 

Enable the guest account

or

Create a Username/Password for the other machine to use.

[Mr_Q 0]

Got it, thanks for the help.

[fatattack 0]

still a interesting question :

 

is it anyhow possible to convert a NTFS to a FAT32 partition without losing the data?

 

My guess is not but if anyone has a way....

[fnorg 0]

For what I know it’s not possible to do that. Because the file system is so different.

[AndyFair 0]

The only way to revert to FAT32 is to backup the data onto tape, CD-R or whatever, format the drive using FAT32 then copy the data back.

 

The file formats are so different that it's not possible to revert without formatting.

 

AndyF

[loengard 0]

It IS possible with a couple of third-party applications, although I'm not sure if it's really all that reliable.

 

 

Loengard

[DosFreak 2]

I got Partition magic 7.0 a couple of days ago but haven't tried it yet. I did see the option available tho. This is on an NTFS formatted driver in Whistler Pro.

 

I'll test it out tonight.

[Asmo 0]

I tried to use pqmagic 7.0 to convert NTFS to fat32, but it said it couldnt' cuz there were compressed files, and searching through my HD for a few compressed files dosn't sound ilke fun (even though they show up blue in explorer)

[zoooom 0]

Partition magic is the most unreliable software I have ever used. The only thing I have found it to be useful for is the bootdisk that comes with it for emergency situations. The fact that it says it can convert between ntfs and fat32 then I'd guess over half the time ends up wrecking that partition annoys me. Ive also lost data moving partitions. I dont really blame pm for this because you really shouldnt be moving or changing partitons anyways. Its a complicated process. Everything falls into place nicely. Trying to move it around and change the type is bound to cause problems. I bet even converting from fat32 to ntfs has its own little problems. Planning out your partitions before hand is your best bet.

[bobbinbrisco 0]

i have been using partition magic 6 for a while now. i have NEVER lost any data moving and converting paritions. it definitely helped me when formating partitions for linux using the EXT2 format and the like.

[ngc2392 0]

pm7 can do convert from ntfs to fat32 ONLY if there is no system on that partition/disk. i have tried myself with no success. if you put that disk in some other machine and then do convert-i'll bet it will work.