Converting external drive from fat32 to ntfs

Dan2312 · Jun 19, 2010

Im attempting to convert my external hd using cmd in windows 7,

ive ran convert h: /fs:ntfs - it does its checks and says the drive is dirty, it then suggests running autochk or chkdsk /f,

i ran chkdsk /f, it finds no problems etc, so i re-run the convert command and it still says the drive is dirty, ive attempted to run autochk but it won't run in win32 mode.

how can i get it to convert to ntfs?

ps; its a 320gb freecom drive with 25gb free, i know some drives can be a bit funny about space before attempting something like this, im sure 25gb is more than enough to attempt this conversion.

help please.

slyfox2151 · Jun 19, 2010

maybe try deleting the partition all together?

then repartition it as NTFS.

if that dosnt work, try a FULL FORMAT.

r9 · Jun 19, 2010

If the data on the drive is important I would not try converting. The smart way is to backup data format the disk than copy back the data.

slyfox2151 · Jun 19, 2010

tsk tsk tsk, never risk data like that, did not read that part.

its foolish to risk data when changing file systems.

Deleted member 3 · Jun 19, 2010

Boot from your Vista/7 disk and start the command prompt from there.

Dan2312 · Jun 19, 2010

ill format it then. cheers guys.

johnspack · Jun 19, 2010

Have you tried chkdsk /r ? chkdsk /f doesn't always fix all of the problems. It takes a lot longer to run, but could fix the issue.

Jeffis108 · Jun 20, 2010

Are you running command prompt as administrator ?

Formula350 · Jun 21, 2010

I'd just pull the external drive apart and toss the drive in the computer.

I've converted a couple drives in my time, data came out fine in both occasions. I do believe there is a certain amount of free space required to do the operation though.

I don't have a FAT disk in this laptop, so I can't say for sure, but doesn't the Disk Management give the option to convert to NTFS? You get to that when you right click on Computer and select "Manage", then on theft under Storage is where Disk Management is.

System Name	AMD Ryzen
Processor	78003xd
Motherboard	Asus B650 TUF Gaming Plus Wifi
Cooling	Corsair Hydro 100i
Memory	32GB DDR5 Corsair CAS-30 6000MHZ
Video Card(s)	MSI 4090 Ventus 3x OC
Storage	2x Corsair MP600 2TB + 6 TB Seagate + 4 TB Corsair WD Black
Display(s)	34" MSI MPG ARTYMIS 343CQR
Case	Cooler Master HAF 500
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair 850w modular
Mouse	Gigabyte
Keyboard	Asus Cerberus
Software	Windows 11

System Name	MRCOMP!
Processor	5800X3D
Motherboard	MSI Gaming Plus
Cooling	Corsair 280 AIO
Memory	64GB 3600mhz
Video Card(s)	GTX3060
Storage	1TB SSD
Display(s)	Samsung Neo
Case	No Case... just sitting on cardboard :D
Power Supply	Antec 650w

System Name	Primary\|Secondary\|Poweredge r410\|Dell XPS\|SteamDeck
Processor	i7 11700k\|i7 9700k\|2 x E5620 \|i5 5500U\|Zen 2 4c/8t
Memory	32GB DDR4\|16GB DDR4\|16GB DDR4\|32GB ECC DDR3\|8GB DDR4\|16GB LPDDR5
Video Card(s)	RX 7800xt\|RX 6700xt \|On-Board\|On-Board\|8 RDNA 2 CUs
Storage	2TB m.2\|512GB SSD+1TB SSD\|2x256GBSSD 2x2TBGB\|256GB sata\|512GB nvme
Display(s)	50" 4k TV \| Dell 27" \|22" \|3.3"\|7"
VR HMD	Samsung Odyssey+ \| Oculus Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 Pro\|Windows 10 Pro\|Windows 10 Home\| Server 2012 r2\|Windows 10 Pro

System Name	MRCOMP!
Processor	5800X3D
Motherboard	MSI Gaming Plus
Cooling	Corsair 280 AIO
Memory	64GB 3600mhz
Video Card(s)	GTX3060
Storage	1TB SSD
Display(s)	Samsung Neo
Case	No Case... just sitting on cardboard :D
Power Supply	Antec 650w

System Name	AMD Ryzen
Processor	78003xd
Motherboard	Asus B650 TUF Gaming Plus Wifi
Cooling	Corsair Hydro 100i
Memory	32GB DDR5 Corsair CAS-30 6000MHZ
Video Card(s)	MSI 4090 Ventus 3x OC
Storage	2x Corsair MP600 2TB + 6 TB Seagate + 4 TB Corsair WD Black
Display(s)	34" MSI MPG ARTYMIS 343CQR
Case	Cooler Master HAF 500
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair 850w modular
Mouse	Gigabyte
Keyboard	Asus Cerberus
Software	Windows 11

Converting external drive from fat32 to ntfs

Dan2312

slyfox2151

r9

slyfox2151

Deleted member 3

Dan2312

johnspack

Here For Good!

Jeffis108

New Member

Formula350

System Name	System2 Blacknet , System1 Blacknet2
Processor	System2 Threadripper 1920x, System1 2699 v3
Motherboard	System2 Asrock Fatality x399 Professional Gaming, System1 Asus X99-A
Cooling	System2 Noctua NH-U14 TR4-SP3 Dual 140mm fans, System1 AIO
Memory	System2 64GBS DDR4 3000, System1 32gbs DDR4 2400
Video Card(s)	System2 GTX 980Ti System1 GTX 970
Storage	System2 4x SSDs + NVme= 2.250TB 2xStorage Drives=8TB System1 3x SSDs=2TB
Display(s)	1x27" 1440 display 1x 24" 1080 display
Case	System2 Some Nzxt case with soundproofing...
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar U7 MKII
Power Supply	System2 EVGA 750 Watt, System1 XFX XTR 750 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G900 Chaos Spectrum
Keyboard	Ducky
Software	Archlinux, Manjaro, Win11 Ent 24h2
Benchmark Scores	It's linux baby!

System Name	Gaming
Processor	Intel Q9650 @ 3.6
Motherboard	Asus P5E
Cooling	OCZ Vendetta
Memory	Corsair Dominator 1066 (6GB)
Video Card(s)	EVGA Geforce 260-216
Storage	1 SSD Intel X-25M-G2 80GB, 2 WD640 Blacks (RAID 0), 1 Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB
Display(s)	LG E2350 LED
Case	AZZA Helios 910
Audio Device(s)	SoundMAX Onboard
Power Supply	KINGWIN ABT-730MM
Software	Windows 7 PRO 64 Bit

System Name	Firebird
Processor	Ryzen 7 1700X
Motherboard	MSI X370 Titanium
Cooling	Tt Water2.0 PRO (They use the same bracket as 3.0)
Memory	G.Skill TridentZ 2x8GB 3200 15-15-15-35 B-Die (@3333 ATM)
Video Card(s)	ASUS STRIX R9 390 8GB
Storage	Too many. Samsung 750GB, 120GB 850 EVO, Seagate 1TB, Toshiba 1TB, OCZ 32GB Cache Drive
Display(s)	Samsung 46" UN46D6050 1080P HDTV
Case	Home-made tech bench.
Audio Device(s)	ASUS Xonar Essence STX (I use HDMI though cry)
Power Supply	CWT PUC1000V-S 1000W, Abee Supremer (import) 1200W currently used as primary.
Mouse	Razer Copperhead (circa 2005)
Keyboard	Tt Challenger Pro (AVOID! Keys wear super fast)
Software	Win 10 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	Meh.