Recipe 18.7. Converting Your Hard Disk to NTFS

Problem

You have a hard disk that uses the FAT32 file system, and you want to convert it to the more efficient and useful NT file system (NTFS).

Solution

Using the command line

To convert a volume to NTFS, you use XP's convert utility. To convert a volume to NTFS, use the following command:

> convert c: /fs:ntfs

where c: is the volume you want to convert.

You can also use a number of parameters along with the utility:

/v: This runs the utility in verbose mode, so that it provides information about the volume being converted.
/nosecurity: This sets the security privileges on the converted disk so that its files and folders can be used by anyone.
/x: Use this parameter if you're on a network and want to make sure that another user cannot disrupt the conversion process by trying to access the drive when you're converting it. The parameter dismounts the drive from the network and then converts the drive.

Discussion

NTFS is superior to FAT32 in several ways. It lets you open and save files more quickly, offers more security by letting you encrypt files, and gives you more hard disk space by letting you compress files and folders. Of course, before converting, you want to make sure that your hard disk is FAT32 and not already NTFS. To find out what file system your drive uses, right-click the drive in Windows Explorer and choose Properties General. Look for the information next to File System; if you have an NTFS system, it will say so here.

Also, keep in mind that on drives under 1 GB, the NTFS system may be slower than a FAT32 system, so if your drive is that small, you may see a slower performance when you convert. However, on drives over 1 GB, NTFS is faster. And the NTFS file system gives you benefits other than speed, notably being able to compress and encrypt files and folders.

If you have a multiboot system on your FAT32 drive that lets you boot into different operating systems, don't change your file system to NTFS. If you do, you won't be able to use multiboot capabilities.

Make sure the Master File Table is defragmented when you convert to NTFS

The Master File Table (MFT) is an index of all files and folders on a volume. You will be able to access files more quickly if the MFT is defragmented. XP's defragmentation utility can defragment the MFT, but only if the first fragment on the hard disk is capable of being moved. To make sure that the MFT can be defragmented when you convert to NTFS, follow these steps before converting your hard disk to NTFS:

Before converting to NTFS, defragment your hard disk using XP's Disk Defragmenter, as outlined in Recipe 18.8.
Estimate the amount of space that the MFT will require. As a general rule, the MFT uses 12.5% of a partition's space. So a 40 GB drive will require 5 GB.
Create a placeholder file in the root of the partition. This file should be the size of the MFT. Eventually, the placeholder file will be moved out, and the MFT will take its place. If you were going to create a placeholder file called mftholder.txt in a C: drive of 5 GB, you would issue the following command. Note that you can give the file you're creating any name that you want:
```
> fsutil file createnew c:\mftholder.txt 5000000000
```
After you've done that, convert the drive to NTFS by using the convert program with a special parameter:
```
> convert c: /fs:ntfs /cvtarea:mftholder.txt
```
After the volume has been created, run XP's Disk Defragmenter. The MFT will be moved to the front of the partition and defragmented. After you run the Disk Defragmenter, you can delete the placeholder file that you created.

FAT32 drives don't have an MFT, so in this recipe, you're first defragmenting your FAT32 drive, and then creating a placeholder for the MFT for when you convert to NTFS. When you convert to NTFS, the newly created MFT will then be defragmented.

Problem

Solution

Using the command line

Discussion

Make sure the Master File Table is defragmented when you convert to NTFS

See Also