Converting FAT32 to NTFS

[freenac]

Greetings,

I've got a fixed 80 GB HD that was formerly Win98SE upgraded to WinXP Pro. The fixed HD filesystem is FAT32.

I've subsequently installed a USB 80 GB external HD that is NTFS.

I want to use ghost.exe to copy fixed HD to external HD. I've read about convert.exe and understand how to use it.


My questions is:

Do I need to realign the partition on the fixed HD before conversion? (I've been looking at bootitng.exe)


Please refer to the following URL for why I'm asking this question:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.php

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration in this matter,
freenac

[phill9800]

Simple and easy way of doing it is as follows..

Backup ALL of the wanted data onto a drive, CD/DVD/HD, whatever.

Then format the partition to whatever type you want it to be.
I wouldnt trust trying to convert it as it might give problems and thats not ideal if the data thats on the drive is wanted. Best to back it up and format it. Easist way..

[stlouis1]

you mean convert the internal drive to ntfs before ghosting it to the external? do you need to? no. the external drive will still read fine whether its fat or ntfs.

i would convert it to ntfs though, since you know how, i've never had problems doing that. you cant convert back to fat without a 3rd party utility like partion magic though. which also means if you decide to go back to win98 next week because you dont like xp. you have to fully reinstall, you wont be able to just uninstall xp. i would keep xp on there for a couple weeks till you get used to it and you've had a chance to try all the software you want to use or will use to make sure they all work