Converting from FAT32 to NTFS file system

[Bruce Banner]

  Could any of you resident computer experts here help me with some info please ? My computer came with a FAT32 file system pre-formatted version of Windows XP Home installed ( I didn't get a Windows CD with it though . I just have a Recovery CD that I guess activates an invisible partition on the disk that holds a factory fresh copy of my operating system in the event of having to do a reformat ) . So what I'm asking is , is it safe to convert the file system on a pre installed copy of Windows , or would a conversion also affect the recovery partition making it maybe even impossible to reformat should anything go wrong ?  I've looked on google for help but can't seem to find any specific guidelines for this kind of scenario because a lot seem to assume you have the Windows XP CD handy 

[jsalemi]

Changing the file system on your active partition has no effect on any other partitions, so you'll be fine doing it. Could take a while, though, depending on how full your disk is, so you may want to launch the conversion before going to bed.

[Gwill]

Isn't converting file systems generally a bad idea?
Is there any advantage to FAT32 these days?  I would "aquire" a copy of a proper installation disc and do a clean install.

[Bruce Banner]

  Although NTFS is supposed to be the slightly better file system in terms of performance I probably wouldn't have bothered . But , recently my Defragger of choice ( Perfect Disk ) has stopped working when it comes to a bootscan ( When it comes to the defragging part it just says that it can't lock the disk for exclusive access and then just reboots without having defragged ) . I've tried a trial copy of DiskKeeper and the boot defrag doesn't work with that either . I've tried stopping the programs on boot that Raxco ( the makers of Perfect Disk ) say can conflict but that hasn't worked either  Although my drive is ok at present , because it's FAT32 if I can't get any program to defrag my Directories ( Windows inbuilt defrag doesn't do this with FAT32 either ) at boot time then over time they're just going to get more and more fragmented and I won't be able to do anything about it  That's why I'm considering converting to NTFS , because with the NTFS file system directories can be defragged online too with no need for a boot scan and so therefore solving my problem  :)Like I said , I probably wouldn't even be considering this , but I can't fathom why the boot scan won't work . There's nothing in my Boot Execute registry that should theoretically stop it running ( checked using autoruns from Sysinternals ) 

[jsalemi]

Isn't converting file systems generally a bad idea?

No; Windows includes a utility to do it, in fact.  As long as there's enough empty disk space for it to temporarily move files during the conversion, there's no harm in converting to NTFS. (Of course, it's wise to backup any data files first. )

The fact that anyone ships a new computer with FAT32 these days is silly, though -- NTFS really is better.

[Gwill]

OK, nice to know.
I haven't ever tried converting file systems, one way or the other, but I seem to remember some terrible trouble when I tired merging or splitting exsisting partisions on a hard drive with some kind of external problem.  After that I've always sworn to the safe way of formatting and re-installing.

[jsalemi]

Changing partitions is a different story -- there are all kinds of hazards with that if you don't do it right. But the file system is contained within a partition, so there's no ill effects in changing it (usually).

[ZephyrZodiac]

My Sony Vaio laptop came with no Windows CD, but with full instructions (plus continuous reminders) for creating one, plus another for all the rest of the stuff, plus the Vaio stuff etc.  Once the CDs had been made, I was able to get rid of the files on the laptop, and gain disk space. 

If you searched for hidden files and folders, it could be that you'll turn up a copy of all those files, which you could then make copies of on CD/DVD, and it may be that the files themselves contain everything necessary to reformat your hard drive and restore using NTFL instead of FAT32.  The recovery CD would presumably contain your registration information.

[jsalemi]

Don't they usually put the Windows registration information on a sticker on the PC/laptop?  That's what Dell does.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Yes, they do, but it has to be somewhere else as well - somewhere hidden away in Windoze, so when you type the registration key numbers/letters in when asked for them, it has some way of matching them up to see you haven't just made a number up off the top of your head.  In order to restore Windoze, you'd need both the sticker and the registration information (which is not the same as the key, the key only unlocks the information, which in turn allows the program to run.)