Linux – Convert FAT32 to NTFS without loss data

fat32filesystemslinuxntfs

I have an external USB hard disk (300GB) in FAT32. The question is how can I convert the type FAT32 to NTFS without loss my data. I have 250 GB of data stored in my disk.

I was trying to do that in windows with Acronis and the native command windows convert, but neither can do. I think maybe was for the big size of data.

I hope someone can guide me a little.

Best Answer

If you want to keep the data safe and do serious filesystem manipulation (which converting the FS certainly is), then first make a backup. Then test the backup.

Next you have three choices:

Boot windows (e.g. use someones computer) and use convert Driveletter: /fs:ntfs. (See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881 for more details).
Reformat the drive. You already have a known good backup and this is likely to be the fastest option. Then restore the data.
Find some utility which lets you convert under Linux. I never heard of one though and some quick googling did not find any.

Related Solutions

Windows – Convert NTFS to FAT32 without losing data

The Live CD of GParted will do what you want.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

Windows – Format an external hard disk to FAT32, only option showing is NTFS

Try doing it via the command prompt. Go to Start -> Execute: cmd -> Enter

Execute the following:

 format (Drive letter): /FS:FAT32

You don’t need to use cmd prompt at all sometimes. But the following way might actually take twice as long or not at all as the above example but you could use it if you are uncomfortable using cmd prompt.

Format the disk as NTFS using first. Once this is complete you can then right-click the partition and choose Format. In File System you can then select FAT32 from the drop down.

The reason you can't do it directly is because Windows has this limited through the GUI.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table#FAT32

The Windows 2000/XP installation program and filesystem creation tool imposes a limitation of 32 GiB [18]. However, both systems can read and write to FAT32 file systems of any size. This limitation is by design and according to Microsoft was imposed because many tasks on a very large FAT32 file system become slow and inefficient.

...

The maximum possible size for a file on a FAT32 volume is 4 GiB minus 1 byte (232−1 bytes). Video applications, large databases, and some other software easily exceed this limit. Larger files require another formatting type such as NTFS.

Best Answer

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Windows – Convert NTFS to FAT32 without losing data

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