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    Converting (?) / Formatting a HD

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by m4rc, Jun 6, 2009.

  1. m4rc

    m4rc Notebook Evangelist

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    Hi,

    I bought a Western Digital external hard drive maybe 10 months ago. I recently discovered, after trying to transfer a few files which were +10 gigs that the hard drive was FAT32 (I believe) which means anything +4 gigs is a problem to put on it.

    Obviously I want a external hard drive that can handle anything I send to it.


    My options are limited. On one notebook I have an 80 gigabyte hard drive which I struggle with every day to make sure it has 2 or 3 gigabytes free. This is the notebook I want to get the +10 gig files off of.

    My other notebook has more free space, around 100 gigs, but not +300 gigabytes (the amount of taken space on the external hard drive which I want to free so I can format the hard drive as NTFS)

    So it basically narrows down to this question: Is there a way to convert an external hard drive from FAT32 to NTFS?

    Can I somehow partition a portion of the external hard drive? Like partition 20 gigs of it and make that NTFS so I can transfer big files on the 20 gig side?

    Thanks in advance!
     
    m4rc, Jun 6, 2009
    #1
  2. chunlianghere

    chunlianghere Notebook Consultant

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    yes u can.. by help of partitioning software. acronis, paragon, n many software able to partition the drive.
     
    chunlianghere, Jun 6, 2009
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  3. jackluo923

    jackluo923 Notebook Virtuoso

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    1. Defrag your external hdd
    2. Start "Run" or apply shortcut " Windows key + R "
    3. Type in CMD
    4. convert x: /fs:ntfs where x is the drive letter for your external hdd
    5. It'll ask you to type in the volume name, just follow the on screen instructions.
     
    jackluo923, Jun 6, 2009
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  4. m4rc

    m4rc Notebook Evangelist

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    Will this format it? I do not want that to happen!!!
     
    m4rc, Jun 6, 2009
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  5. jackluo923

    jackluo923 Notebook Virtuoso

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    No, this will convert your external hdd to ntfs while retaining all of your data.
     
    jackluo923, Jun 6, 2009
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  6. m4rc

    m4rc Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks, I appreciate it. I'll give this a shot now.

    EDIT: It's asking what the current volume label is. What does this mean?

    SUPER DOUBLE EDIT: Nevermind, got it.

    SUPER DUPER TRIPLE EDIT: Thanks a lot! Rep +!
     
    m4rc, Jun 6, 2009
    #6