1. You are viewing our forum as a guest. For full access please Register. WindowsBBS.com is completely free, paid for by advertisers and donations.

From NTFS to FAT32

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by Ranger SVO, 2007/12/25.

  1. 2007/12/25
    Ranger SVO

    Ranger SVO Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2006/05/13
    Messages:
    297
    Likes Received:
    4
    What the title says, how do I do it?

    I have on occation used my Western Digital Passport HD in my car. I simply plug it into the Pioneers USB port and every bit of music is available to me. I can navigate through folders, select songs with no problem.

    I posted this on another site a while back and one of the members PMed me and said it doesnt work.

    Both of our HD's are Western Digital Passports. Mine is an 80Gb, his is a 120Gb. But the real difference and the problem is mine is FAT32 file system (it works) and his is a NTFS file system (it doesnt work). Also both car radios are the same

    How can his be formatted to FAT32?
     
  2. 2007/12/25
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2001/12/30
    Messages:
    12,279
    Likes Received:
    246
    You can't do it without losing everything on the drive:eek: So copy any important files to the pc hard drive.

    Start->Run->and type: diskmgmt.msc
    Right click on the drive and delete partitions
    Right click again and create partition(s)
     

  3. to hide this advert.

  4. 2007/12/25
    Whiskeyman Lifetime Subscription

    Whiskeyman Inactive Alumni

    Joined:
    2005/09/10
    Messages:
    1,772
    Likes Received:
    37
  5. 2007/12/25
    Ranger SVO

    Ranger SVO Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2006/05/13
    Messages:
    297
    Likes Received:
    4
    Can this method handle the entire drive or just 32Mb?

    I am asking because I have never reformatted a drive this way before but if I remember right XP can only change a small amount this way.

    I'm gonna look into this in a little while.

    I do thank both of you for your fast responses, it is greatly appreciated. I realize now what is going on, the USB input for the Pioneer radio was intended for Jump ( thumb) Drives. And as far as I can tell they are all FAT32. I am not sure why my Passport HD used an FAT32 file system and his was NTFS?

    I hope we can make this work
     
    Last edited: 2007/12/25
  6. 2007/12/25
    noahdfear

    noahdfear Inactive

    Joined:
    2003/04/06
    Messages:
    12,178
    Likes Received:
    15
    PowerQuest's PartitionMagic has the ability to convert NTFS partitions to FAT or Fat32 without losing the data. Here's an excerpt from version 8.0 help.

     
  7. 2007/12/26
    hawk22

    hawk22 Geek Member

    Joined:
    2002/01/31
    Messages:
    1,991
    Likes Received:
    26
  8. 2007/12/28
    Ranger SVO

    Ranger SVO Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2006/05/13
    Messages:
    297
    Likes Received:
    4
    I just found something interesting at Westen Digitals web site.

    I went to
    http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=35&swid=34

    and then went to
    WD Passport Portable USB 2.0 Drive and in the download portion was a formatting utility.

    I downloaded the .zip file and opened the notepad file It states that

    Western Digital FAT32 formatter - EXTFAT32.EXE

    FAT32 formatter is a Windows program that runs under 2000 or XP. The utility was designed mainly to restore origial factory FAT32 partiton for WD external drives.

    Feature List:
    - List out WD external drives
    - Restore original factory FAT32 partitiom
    - Restore WD disk icon files
    - Allow the user to specify a custome volume label

    Installation:
    Run ExtFat32xx.msi to install the program.

    To Run:
    -Click the "WD FAT32 Formatter" icon on the desktop to start the program
    -Press ALT+W to display IDE, SCSI and SATA


    The bold portion makes me wonder if the drive was originally sopposed to be FAT32 instead of NTFS.
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.