Convert FAT to NTFS

FAT (File Allocation Table) is used by MS-DOS. It is used to organize and manage files. FAT is also used by some Windows-based operating systems. Each file’s information is stored in FAT by Windows for later retrieval of the file. Size of each file in FAT32, cannot be greater than 4GB. FAT32 is the derivative of FAT, which supports smaller cluster sizes and larger volumes when compared to FAT. Therefore, FAT32 has good space allocation.

NTFS supports file compression and large files. It has high security (file and folder) like Encryption, this is one of the reasons why people prefer converting from FAT to NTFS. It is an advanced file system with many features, which are not available in FAT. It has good speed of saving and accessing files. It has improved performance and recoverability, efficient disk space utilization, fault tolerance. Security attributes can be set on files and folders, which prevents one user from accessing other’s files and folders. It is very flexible when compared to FAT. It supports Encrypting File System (EFS), a built-in encryption system. It uses public key to prevent unauthorized access to file contents.

It also supports disk quotas that allow controlling the amount of disk usage per user. System performance is not affected by fragmentation. There lies two boot sectors, one at the beginning of the volume and another at the end of the volume, which is a copy of the one at the beginning. If the boot sector at the beginning of the volume is corrupted, then this copy at the end of the volume is referred. Windows Vista / 2008 / 7’s built-in Disk Management can extend / shrink NTFS partition only. Log file and checkpoint information is used to restore the consistency of the file system by NTFS, if a system fails.

Converting FAT to NTFS

Converting from FAT to NTFS is a one-way process. It cannot be converted back because Windows XP does not have a tool to do so. A utility called CONVERT is one of the solutions to convert a file system from FAT16 to NTFS.

The windows utility convert.exe requires free space on the partition or on the drive to convert because it needs to create system areas to carry out the process. If it does not find sufficient space, it will not convert the drive or partition.

Before converting FAT16 or FAT32 to NTFS, make sure you back up the data of the drive, which is going to be converted.

It is very easy to convert FAT16 or FAT32 to NTFS. Right Click on the drive you want to convert → select properties → under General tab, you will get to know what the file system is, if it is FAT, we have to format it to FAT32 and then to NTFS → Right click on drive → select format → select file system as FAT32 → check quick format and click start → Now it is formatted to FAT32.

Converting from FAT32 to NTFS

Click on Start → select Run → type cmd → In command prompt, type convert f: /fs:ntfs, f is the drive you want to convert, in this case it is f drive → press Enter → after conversion type exit and hit enter.

If the operating system happens to be on the drive being converted, a prompt to schedule the task when computer is restarted, is displayed. Click yes when prompted.

On receiving the following message, type the drive label and hit Enter.

The type of the file system is FAT.
Enter the current volume label for drive drive letter

Useful Links

Recover FAT32 partition
FAT32 partitions are usually used in USB flash drives, memory cards, SD cards etc. These devices gets corrupted when we do not handle them in a proper way. When FAT partitions gets corrupted then the files stored in it fail to function well. Use Remo Recover to restore the lost files safely.

Recover lost NTFS partition
NTFS file system is the new technology file system which helps us to store large amount of data like documents, photos, video, audio etc. Each partition of the hard drive can have either FAT file system or NTFS file system. If these partitions are corrupted or lost due to several reasons like OS crash, disk boot failure and many more, then the data stored in it becomes inaccessible. Remo Recover is the best recovery software to restore lost partitions back to your system.