Ian,
You can change the file system to NTFS in a simple way without any data
lost. Open command prompt, in the command prompt window type in "convert D:
/fs:ntfs" (D is the drive you want to change the file system to NTFS).
With NTFS you will have more security options with your drives. If you have
some users on the computer, with NTFS you can set the permissions for each
user in order for them to be (not to be) able to access this drive or any
folders on it. But if you still have an older version of windows on the
computer then you should choose FAT32, because the older version of windows
can't access the partition with NTFS.
Have a nice day.
Huynh Minh Huong
Email: [log in to unmask]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 10:53 AM
Subject: [PCBUILD] XP Expertise needed


> On a sudden impulse, I dropped XP Pro on top of my faithful Win98SE
system.
> (I hope it doesn't get the sulks)
>
> I have a couple of queries for XP gurus: I did the 'Upgrade' instead of
the
> 'Fresh Install'.  The newish 20gb drive had been recently formatted FAT32,
> and, as there were no options during the install to change to NTFS, it
> stayed that way.
>
> My first query is: Is it possible to change the file system now to NTFS?
> Second query: Are there any significant advantages to changing the file
> system to NTFS?
>
> There was one unexpected result of the conversion.  I defragged the drive
> shortly after the operation and the report shows that the file system is
> FAT32, with a cluster size of 4K.
>
> This seems odd, as the drive's slave, a newish 40gb drive, is also
formatted
> FAT32, but shows a cluster size of 32K.

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