A Q or 2 about fat32 (converting to ntfs)

Well, the laptop that I am probably going to purchase (Aspire 3004wlci). As many know, it has that 30/30 partition and I am not sure, but I believe that one or both are fat32. Would it be worth converting all fat32 to ntfs. If so, would I have to burn backup cds or use external HDD to keep my OS ( no OS cd with notebook) after reformatting. Its a 4200 HDD and if the security and performance will be better I would love to take the dive so to speak. Also, would I have to do the same type of backup method for, say, upgrading the HDD. Thanks

 

personally i wouldn't even bothered. unless you're reformating (reinstalling windows)

 

Well if you are looking for performance and space, NTFS will be the better call. It not only compresses files that you dont use often (improving disk space) but it also is a LOT easier to defrag (Due to the lack of directories in NTFS).

This improves both performance and space, and if you really want to take the time to reformat I believe you will find small increases in both.

 

The performance of NTFS is better than FAT32 and NTFS take a little bit space than FAT32. You will feel that running the defragmentation in NTFS is faster than FAT32. You can manually to convert it to NTFS to FAT32 without fromat under a Command prompt. If you have two drives, then type this:
convert c: /fs:ntfs
convert d: /fs:ntfs

 

Would it be possible to transfer all the data from one partition to the other, reformat it then transfer it all to the other partition and rerformat IT, thus not needing to do a physical backup and not losing OS and other programs? Also, I heard that Acer has some type of ghost program (Norton i think) that will be lost if on were to reformat to ntfs. If it exists, is it useful enough to change my mind about the whole reformat thing and what does it/they do (any type of ghost program)? Also I have heard that the recovery cd's/method restores it back to fat32.
Thanks

Oh, I did not know that you could convert without reformat. Hmmm sounds too easy

 

If it's anything like Dell's pseudo version of Norton Ghost, it'll restore the computer to factory settings or something of the sort. If it's actually Norton Ghost, then it's a backup utility that takes snapshots of your hard drive at times of health so that you dont lose your data in case of failure. If that's the case, it might be helpful and the restore cds would bring the computer completely back to factory settings (as you got it from Asus, bloatware, blank hd, and all)

Personally, i'd rather make my own file backups, make my own c: backups and in case of failure, reformat and just transfer it off my external or dvds. This is more work for me, but then i know exactly what is going on and I know for sure that everything is backed up. Ultimately, it's really your call whether you want to reformat or not, convert to NTFS or not, etc. If the benefits of Asus' Ghost and NTFS over FAT32's innefficiencies are not enough, then "don't fix what ain't broke." Or be like me and go fixing what is working properly and keep your fingers crossed.

 

3rd party such as Ghost and Acronic can create an image as a backup. I don't know whether Acer comes with a program for all the models!!
Before using a recovery cd, they require you to reformat the hd. After that, it will be back to fat32. That 's is factory defalut setting. Asus ensemble laptop comes with a program under a Windows XP. If we run the program, it will convert the format from fat32 to NTFS. It is very simple too.

 

so in theory, if i had that program i could switch to ntfs w/o losing any data/OS? Or would it just be quicker and easier to just type that command in Run that the person said earlier in the thread and also not lose anything? thanks all

 

Of course, anything be still the same after cloning. If your original hd's format is fat32, the 2nd hd's format is fat32 as well after cloning. It is the same thing as NTFS. I thing you have to pay attention is that the both hd cannot have any bad sector, otherwise, the image cannot be created.