How to Convert between FAT32 & NTFS in Windows

FAT32 & NTFS, for those its greek, are two popular file systems available in windows. For those who are curious let me give a simple overview of both of them: This post list tips for in windows how to change the FAT32 & NTFS file system.

NTFS provides:
* advanced security using access control lists
* Provides file & directory compression for storing more data
* Encryption
* Quotas
* Robustness

NTFS is highly recommended for sensitive data. A clean installed of Windows XP installs NTFS by default. However if you are installing Windows XP over other operating system like Windows 98, you may have installed FAT32 as your file system.

The only benefit of FAT32 is that you can simultaneously use FAT32 formatted disks with older operating systems like Windows 95 Service Pack 2 and Windows 98 in a machine with multiple operating systems.

Personally I would always recommend NTFS over FAT32 any day. More on FAT32 & NTFS here.

So now if you are allured to convert your files to NTFS , is there a way? Yes sir. there is.

1. Open Command Prompt.
2. Click Start, point to All Programs,
3. Point to Accessories
4. Click Command Prompt
5. In the command prompt window, type: convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

For example, typing convert D: /fs:ntfs would format drive D: from FAT to NTFS.

source: computersupport's Xanga Site