Convert

Convert is a command-line program that converts an existing FAT16 or FAT32 partition to NTFS.

CAUTION

This conversion process is a one-way street. The only way to revert an NTFS partition back to a FAT partition with the native tools is to reformat the drive. To revert and not lose your data, you have to use a program such as PartitionMagic (from Symantec).

The command-line syntax for the Convert program is as follows:

 CONVERT volume /FS:NTFS [/V] 

The arguments are as follows:

volume	Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon), mount point, or volume name
/FS:NTFS	Specifies that the volume be converted to NTFS
/V	Specifies that Convert should be run in Verbose mode

Considering the work the Convert program has to do, it's surprisingly fast, even on a well-populated disk.

NOTE

If the Recovery Console was installed on the disk partition you're converting to NTFS, you'll have to reinstall the Recovery Console after the conversion has completed. For more information about the Recovery Console, see "Recovery Console," page 1279.