Can you convert ntfs to fat32 and repartition?

[al7kz]

Edit: please delete

[GomJabbar]

Well..................Windows XP Help and Support states the following:

Important

Once you convert a drive or partition to NTFS, you cannot simply convert it back to FAT or FAT32. You will need to reformat the drive or partition which will erase all data including programs and personal files on the partition.

[bill bolton]

Is there any way I can reconvert the drive to FAT32 and partition it for the installation of Ubuntu 5.10 or 6.06, two really great OS's, without losing any of the pre-installed software or the hidden partition?

See http://faq.arstechnica.com/link.php?i=1820

Cheers,

Bill

[davidspalding]

Ouch. I seem to recall that setup on the laptop made it an OPTION to convert the system drive to NTFS. It is an option for Win2000 installs. Might've defaulted to YES on the TP to support the security mechanisms. My memory fails....

That said, I would guess that you need to do a full backup of teh system drive, then do a factory restore, and watch for -- and deselect -- a conversion option. Then restore the drive contents.

Or ... look around for a NTFS driver for Linux. I would suspect someone's developed one. OR ... create multiple partitions, FAT32 where needed, and write to *those* from Linux. Linux really oughtn't need to write to a Windows system disk, not if you keep My documents and other personal data on a separate partition. (I posted a how-to here somewhere on separating out system files, programs, user files and documents on segregated partitions. Might've been this or the Gen'l info forums.)

[GomJabbar]

When I recently used the Product Recovery Discs on my T42, after 2 or 3 boots it automatically started the conversion to NTFS. I had no choice in the matter. Maybe if I had done a CTRL+Break that would have stopped it, I don't know. Whatever, it's all in the script that runs during the restore process.

If I am not mistaken, when my wife recently received her new T42, she had the same experience as the OP. I was not home when she turned it on, but she left it at the Windows setup screen, asking for name, date, computer name, password, and all that good stuff.

[jdhurst]

When I turned on my new T42 yesterday it began converting the C drive from FAT32 to NTFS. No! No! I thought, I want it to be FAT32 so I can write to it from linux. Is this part of Lenovo's anti-linux strategy? And of course there is only one huuuge partition; very useful - not!
Is there any way I can reconvert the drive to FAT32 and partition it for the installation of Ubuntu 5.10 or 6.06, two really great OS's, without losing any of the pre-installed software or the hidden partition? Thanks in advance, Joe

First, all NT-based systems were designed for NTFS and should *not* be using FAT. Blame Linux, not Windows - NTFS is a good, solid disk system.

Second, consider VMware. I have Unbuntu 6.06 (Dapper) on my desktop and 5.10 (Breezy) on my laptop. The Linux system runs simultaneously with the Windows host, and connecting the two via Samba and networking is easy.
... JD Hurst

[gearguy]

Or you could:
Back up your data
Use Partition Magic to set up a bootable Fat Parition.
Install linux on that.

And have both NTFS and FAT 32 Partitions on the same disk.

[davidspalding]

I think he wanted the Linux OS (when booted to that) to write to the Windows c: partition. But you're on track ... create a FAT32 partition that the Linux os can write to. Then if it's a file that needs to be on C:, reboot into Windows, and move the file. Small annoyance.

[BruisedQuasar]

Take a look at the newer Xandros Linux distros, the ones you pay for. You can get basic info about Xandros auto partitioning and installing Xandros onto an XP system hard drive,from the Xandros ad at globalcomputer.com, an affiliate of tigerdirect.com.

Currently, Xandros is the most user friendly Linux distro to date. Each year I obtain and test about 32 versions of Linux. I remain unimpressed by Linspire (now owned by Canadian Corel) but I am impressed with the 2006 Xandros distros. Ubuntu puts out an excellent live CD now but I think Xandros has Ubuntu beat this year.

--Bruised

[al7kz]

Edit: please delete

[lutami]

[quote=BruisedQuasar

Currently, Xandros is the most user friendly Linux distro to date. Each year I obtain and test about 32 versions of Linux. I remain unimpressed by Linspire (now owned by Canadian Corel) but I am impressed with the 2006 Xandros distros. Ubuntu puts out an excellent live CD now but I think Xandros has Ubuntu beat this year.

[/quote]

Have found the 'Linux shop' can only find Version : 3.0 OCE

Release Date: 14/02/2005

Is there a 2006 version?

[al7kz]

Edit: please delete

[christopher_wolf]

Windows can be made as secure as linux on the internet should the user be smart enough (on last report, it actually turned out that XP SP2 had *less* potential holes than either Linux or OS X); it doesn't matter what OS you use, provided you use it correctly and in a responsible manner. Whilst Linux requires far less defragging than Windows, there is still some and ext3/ext2 is far from the perfect FS.

And, yes IBM/Lenovo has been shipping Thinkpads with Linux on them for awhile now; why people continue to say "Why don't they have linux or do this and that for us?!" is either far beyond or far behind me. In the end, you are going to end up tweaking it to your personal specs anyway, might as well learn BSD and Linux (or any other OS you want) then do-it-yourself rather than relying on IBM/Lenovo to bend over backwards even more to cater to whims that are far more efficiently resolved via work on the end-user's part. It will come to that anyway with either Windows or a Linux Preload; every user is the same, but different, as is sometimes said. That is how Linux started off to begin with, not as a replacement to Windows or anything else, but as an OS for Linus.

[bill bolton]

And XP is a good os, but for peace of mind on the internet it's linux, linux, linux.

That's just fanboi talk. Linux is essentially no better or worse than XP as an Internet interaction platform. Both need to be managed adequately.

Cheers,

Bill

[davidspalding]

All models:
- C: drive is FAT16 of 2GB
- D: drive is FAT32 of remaining space
Why don't computer makers do something similar now, on say an 80 GB drive, with a C partition in ntfs of 15 to 20 GB, and the rest an extended partition that the user can carve up to suit his or her needs? Or at least let it be ordered up that way. Does Lenovo/IBM read this forum? Exit soapbox mode.

I took care of this for myself, first day I had my TP, took about 10 minutes or less. So what's stopping you? Answer: nothing. Quit yer griping and start yer typing....