IT Professionals

Convert FAT32 To NTFS

Posted by on Jun 28, 2005 | 20 Comments

Welcome to Just Ask Matt! Today, Malcolm writes:

Hi, Matt. After reading your article about NTFS, I decided to do the change from FAT32. My system is XP Home. I followed all the procedures as advised in Windows Help, but then I got the following message:

“Convert cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Convert may run if this volume is dismounted first. All opened handles to this volume would then be invalid. Would you like to force a dismount on this volume?”

At this point I chickened out because I do not understand what it is saying. Please, can you advise me?


Well first off, I am glad you enjoyed the article. As for your problem, you might try following these instructions:

First, back up your data. Pictures, Word files, whatever it may be, save it all to something off of that drive/partition. Also, by doing this, understand that there is always the risk of data loss. So if something goes wrong, you are the responsible party. Also, make sure all applications are closed before doing this.

OK, now get yourself to a command prompt. Just Start, Run, CMD will get you there. Now type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS
You will be asked to press Y or N. You will want to say N to unmounting right there and then. You will then be prompted schedule a conversion. Say Y to this. From here, just follow the instructions. Now if memory serves me, you will have to reboot. After the PC has restarted, let it run without you doing ANYTHING. I’d say about five minutes ought to do it. And that should do it for you!

Do you have an IT-related question? Perhaps you are just burnt out on writing on the walls with crayons? Whatever the comments may be, drop me a line, and you too can “Just Ask Matt!”

  • Ryan

    Hey Matt,

    I have been trying to reformat a computer this week and I have gotten to the point where xp pro service pack 1 has just been installed but I am going to upgrade to service pack 2 through boot disk. My problem is when it gets to boot disk #5, it has an error because the file system on the computer is Fat32 and the file system on the computer Im using to make the boot disk is NTFS. Even if that isn’t the problem, how can I change the file system to NTFS even though when I start up the computer it tries to run the windows xp install setup. Could you let me know please, this pc is really becoming a head ache!

    Thanks,
    Ryan

  • oya

    im just worried if im doing the right thing:

    i got 2 hard disc; the first one is NTFS and the other one is FAT32;the 1st one have 3 partitions and the

    last one has 2 partitions.

    i want the last one to be converted into NTFS since i’ve got problems in I/O everytime that im copying

    some files from NTFS to FAT32.

    so as a solution i want to convert that fat32 disc to NTFS, but im worried since that FAT32 disc has 2

    partitions is it ok if the other partition is NTFS and the other one is FAT32?

    is it ok to do the same thing? like this below?

    1. Close all open applications. This process may require a reboot, so be prepared.

    2. Click Start, click Run, and then type cmd, and press Enter.

    3. In the command windows, type:

    convert D: /FS:NTFS

    4. Press Enter.

    thanks! i’ll wait for your reply. i’m just a student and i dont know if im really doing the right thing.
    i dont want to sacrifice my files since its really important to me.

    thanks very much!

  • jaiprakash

    I had installed dual OS in my system(C:WinXP and D:Windows Server 2003), while installing i have formatted in FAT32. Now i need to convert D: Drive into NTFS. So, help me to convert the drive efficiently and properly with out any problem will arise. Tell me the details for accessing from Windows XP. Is there any problem will come while using Dual OS. Send me as soon as possible to my mail id. Thanking You….

  • Mahesh N

    Dear sir,
    I installed win xp professional in c drive with fat format . Now i want to change the format from fat to ntfs with out os re-installation. so pls tell the steps as soon as possible.I expect your solution.
    Thank you,
    Mahesh.N

  • MIchiel B

    Dear Matt,
    I’f tryed to convert my hard disc from a FAT32 to a NTFS, but when I type “CONVERT G: /FS:NTFS”, It says “Enter current volume label for drive G:” I tryed; “G:”, “G” or other possible volume labels. After that it always comes up with “An incorrect volume label was enterd for this drive”. Do u have any idea how I can solve this?

    Thanks,
    Michiel B.

  • Yi

    To MIchiel B
    when you open cmd.exe, try type in “vol X:” (x is the volume that you want to convert) to check the lable of the volume and the result normally come up with “local disk” rather than “X” or in your case “G”

  • http://? terry lueckgen

    thanx man you are the shiznit :)

  • JACK

    hay guyz could YOU plz help me when i type
    CONVERT J: /FS:NTFS (to change my external HD from FAT32 to NTFS)
    it tells me enter your current volume lable for that drive
    i type J
    then it tells me an incorrect lable was intered for this drive ????

  • Faizan

    Hey Sup
    I Hav a question that how to convert NTFS to FAT32

  • kshirod

    sir plz tell me
    how to enable regedit , msconfig and task manager
    viruses are disable this command

  • Senpai

    err hi i’m trying to convert from fat to ntfs but

    when i type convert c:/FS:NTFS
    it ask me for volume .. well i did as u said “vol c:” and still say an incorrect

    what to do @.@

    and ya my OS in C and i want to change the C to NTFS

    thx for ur help ^^

  • kemoo

    man i have the same prob as senpai

  • wei.jie.sen

    OK people, you need to right click your drive you want to change, go to properties… now look at the top… if you’ve tagged or named it. sometimes it will be “driver” so in the command prompt, dont type F: or vol F: or anything like that.. just type whatever name it is, like “driver” if that is your tag. ok??? trust me, this works

  • PLAMEN

    what is the correct answer to
    “Enter current volume for label for drive C:

    ??????????????????????????

  • abdulsaleem

    how can changes file system fat 32 to ntfs

  • scott

    hi, great thread, really helpted me out, for me to change my os to ntfs, which i have now got, but a little weird thing has happened and i cant seem to understand what has happend or why? hense my post….

    well ive wanted to change my os for a while now, for few diffrent reasons, and decided to wait for my 6mths format before i changed it, i know a lot of diff post state you dont need to format after i make this change, but i decided that i would, main reason, is i found it hard to beleive making a huge change to your computers system like this would have dier consequences, lol..( i get a little paronid sometimes lol.)

    anyways after i changed my os, which worked perfectly thanks to your post, i waited a day before i decided to do my format, i use win98 disk to do my format i always have, then bang in my xp, so as always, i stuck in win98 disk, and went into boot menu, did what i always do, in the 6.000.000 formats before this one. only this time, ive come across a little problem, and im thinking it has somet to do with me changing my os??

    hears what i do in boot menu?
    d:
    cd:win98
    format c:

    simple as that, then usually away it goes, but this time its saying C: is an invalid drive o something? which is extremly weird as this has never happend before, as you can imagine this is turning into a huge problem for me, and cant seem to find out why this is happening,

    is this problem happening because i changed my os?
    is they any way around this little problem?

    as of now i am completly out of ideas, so ive decided to ask the man with all the answers lol..

    any help or assistance you can give me on this will be greatly apperchated mate,
    thanks..

  • skimmy

    wow that was easy.
    Everyone with the volume label problem just need to type in the name.
    thanks much wei.jie.sen

  • suhail ismail

    I HAVE A QUESTION THAT HOW TO COVERT NTFS TOFAT32

    PLEASE TELL ME SIR SOLUTION, I WILL WAITING FOR YOUR ANSWER,,,

  • jitesh

    when i try to change fat32 to ntfs…
    it shows the following msg:-

    cannot create the elementary file system structures.

    tell me wat 2 do…….PLZZZ

  • palani rajan

    D:\Documents and Settings\murali> convert d:/fs:ntfs
    The type of the file system is FAT32.
    Convert cannot gain exclusive access to the D: drive,
    so it cannot convert it now. Would you like to
    schedule it to be converted the next time the
    system restarts (Y/N)?