 Is There Anyway to Convert NTFS to FAT32 without Formatting Partition and Losing Data?
FAT32 is an older file system compared to NTFS, but it is simple and readable from a great number of operating systems, and also supported by a wide range of system utilities. FAT32 can well work on DOS v7 and higher Windows 98, ME, 2000, etc.
If you need to access some files from DOS mode or Windows 9X, you have to use FAT or FAT32 file system, but you must choose NTFS when you need to store the big files over 4GB. Converting a FAT32 to NTFS partition can be supported by Windows built-in utility, but you cannot convert from NTFS back to FAT32 without losing data as all of Windows has no tools that can do this.
Based on your different needs, many computer users may desire to change from FAT32 to NTFS, Luckily, All windows provides a nondestructive way that allow you to change FAT or FAT32 to NTFS partition directly.
How to Convert FAT32 to NTFS?
You could press WIN+R key and type "cmd" to open Command Line Prompt, then using the following command:
CONVERT.EXE driveletter: /FS:NTFS
For an instance, typing "convert.exe C: /fs:ntfs" would change C: drive to NTFS without data loss.
Why Convert to FAT32?
Below are a few real cases.
"I need to format my d: from NTFS to FAT32. My c: used NTFS, the main reason I need my d: to change to fat32 is because the application I use that came with computer cannot create backup for me unless its fat32."
"I have Sony PS3, it can not support NTFS partition when i need to play games. Are there some methods to change NTFS to FAT 32 without any 3rd-party programs or re-formatting the partition?"
There are some hardware devices or software programs only support FAT32 file system, so it is really required to be done without reformatting partition.
Can I Convert NTFS to FAT32?
To convert to FAT32, this is an oft-asked topic. Unluckily, there is no accessible method of accomplishing this. Why? The answer is rather simple: FAT32 is an earlier file system, but NTFS is superior to it in about every way.
In fact, your choices boil down to realizing one of two ways: reformatting the drive with FAT32, which after-effects in the data files being lost. Another way use a third-party program – Partition Magic, but unfortunately, partition magic often conversions fail, or worse, destroys data.
We suggest you use reformatting way to convert NTFS to FAT32 partition, and also you need to firstly backup your important data before format partition. After reformat with FAT32, restore the previous data. The following is an instruction available on all systems including Windows 7/2000/XP/Vista and Server 2003, 2008.
- Open Windows Explorer and choose your drive that you want to reformat.
- Right click the drive and select the "Format" option from the context menu.
- Select "FAT32" from this drop down box under the "File System" section and tick at the "Quick Format" option.
- Click the "Start" button to start the re-formatting process. It may take a few minutes according to the size of your drive.
The FAT32 option will be unavailable to you in the drop-down box if the drive size you desire to format is larger than 32GB (Partition Assistant can format the 32GB partition). From the above discussion, you should be aware that we only can indirectly convert NTFS to FAT32 on the basis of ensuring data security.
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