How to Use Convert.exe to Convert a Partition to the NTFS File System

ID: Q214579

This article discusses a Beta release of a Microsoft product. The information in this article is provided as-is and is subject to change without notice.

No formal product support is available from Microsoft for this Beta product. For information about obtaining support for a Beta release, please see the documentation included with the Beta product files, or check the Web location from which you downloaded the release.

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0

SUMMARY

Windows NT 4.0 supports two disk file systems: the FAT file system and the NTFS file system. This article explains how to convert a FAT partition into an NTFS partition, and the considerations to take into account.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about the differences between the FAT and NTFS file systems, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q100108 Overview of FAT, HPFS, and NTFS File Systems

NOTE: Windows NT 4.0 no longer supports the HPFS file system.
The Convert.exe utility is supplied with Windows NT 4.0 to convert a FAT partition into an NTFS partition. Use of Convert.exe is straight forward, but there are considerations that should be taken into account before using the utility.

The following limitations should be recognized before converting a FAT partition to NTFS:

The conversion is a one-way process. After a partition has been converted to NTFS, it is not possible to convert the partition back to a FAT partition. To restore the partition as a FAT partition, the partition would have to be reformatted as FAT (which would erase all data from the partition) and then data can be restored from backup.

The system partition of a RISC-based computer cannot be changed to NTFS. The ARC specification requires that the system partition be FAT. It is possible to create a small (1 MB) FAT partition for the system partition and install Windows NT on an NTFS partition (the boot partition).

Convert.exe requires a certain amount of free space be present on the drive in order to convert the file system. For a detailed description of the amount of free space required for a conversion, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q156560 Free Space Required to Convert FAT to NTFS

If the computer is used to boot to other operating systems, NTFS partitions will not be accesible to the other operating systems. Windows NT is the only operating system that can read and write to NTFS partitions.

NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full backup of the data on the drive that it is to be converted prior to executing the convert command. It is also recommended to verify the integrity of the backup before proceeding, as well as to run RDISK and update the emergency repair disk (ERD).

To convert a FAT partition to NTFS, perform the following steps.

Click Start, click Programs, and then click Command Prompt.

At the command prompt, type:
```
CONVERT [driveletter]: /FS:NTFS 
```

Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.

CONVERT may present the following error:

Convert cannot gain exclusive access to the [driveletter]:, so it cannot convert it now. Would you like to schedule it to be converted the next time the system restarts (Y/N)?

This error will occur if any of the following three conditions exist:

If you run the CONVERT command while the current directory is on the drive that is to be converted (for example, you type CONVERT F: /FS:NTFS at the F:\> prompt). To solve this, either answer "Yes" to the prompt and restart the system, or change to a directory on another drive and retype the command.

If an application has a file open on the drive that is to be converted. To solve this, either answer "Yes" to the prompt and the drive will be converted the next time the computer is restarted, or close any applications that may be using files on the drive to be converted. Remember that this also applies to users accessing files on the drive over the network. This also includes a page file that resides on the drive.

If you attempt to convert the partition from which the operating system is running. It is not possible to convert the boot partition while the operating system is running. To convert the boot partition, it will always be necessary to issue the CONVERT command, answer Yes to the prompt, and then restart the computer. The partition will be converted the next time the computer is restarted. As an alternative, it is possible to boot the computer to an installation of Windows NT on a different partition and convert the partition from that installation of Windows NT.

Additional query words: convert ntfs fat nt 4.00 convert.exe


Keywords          : kbenv kbtool 
Version           : WINDOWS:2000; winnt:4.0
Platform          : WINDOWS winnt 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: May 28, 1999