# 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.


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## slyfox2151 (Jun 19, 2010)

maybe try deleting the partition all together?

then repartition it as NTFS.


if that dosnt work, try a FULL FORMAT.


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## 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.


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## 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.


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## Deleted member 3 (Jun 19, 2010)

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


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## Dan2312 (Jun 19, 2010)

ill format it then. cheers guys.


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## 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.


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## Jeffis108 (Jun 20, 2010)

Are you running command prompt as administrator ?


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## 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.


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