nanna Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 I have a quick question about ACER computers and reformating my hard drive from FAT 32 to NTFS. ACER laptops never come with a boot disk, but they do have you make a recovery disk when you first set up the machine. They also come with hard drives that are in FAT32, and partitioned into 3 parts (mine is in two partitions of about 50 gigs and one that is about 5 and hidden). I would like to delete the partitions, and convert to NTFS, but i am afraid that the recovery dvd won't work once i have moved to NTFS, or that it will not like the fact that i have erased it's precious hidden recovery partition, or any of several other things that might go wrong. I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on whether my dvd will work or will i have to wipe everything and use some other boot disk. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason.b.c Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 I have a quick question about ACER computers and reformating my hard drive from FAT 32 to NTFS.I wasn't aware that ACER computers were that old..??What version of windows do you have installed on it anyhow..??? If it's XP then it is already N.T.F.S..... ;)To convert a drive from Fat 32 to NTFS .Click start and choose run.Type convert [Drive] / FS:NTFS [/v] [/nametable:filename]I not sure if that actually works though , Never tried it.. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanna Posted June 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 It's xp pro service pack 2, but still FAT32.i'm 99% sure that that command works, i'm just not sure that the recovery disk they have you make at startup will work after that command. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason.b.c Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 but still FAT32.Are you sure it is.?? , Because that dosen't sound right..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanna Posted June 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 positive. i can't find a print screen button on this keyboard, but i'll try to get a screenshot up soon if more evidence is needed. if you go to newegg, you will see that there are a bunch of people who have commented about acers having this format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason.b.c Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 positive. i can't find a print screen button on this keyboard, but i'll try to get a screenshot up soon if more evidence is needed. if you go to newegg, you will see that there are a bunch of people who have commented about acers having this format.Did you see my other post up there..??, Fat 32 to NTFS..Print ScreenSysRq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanna Posted June 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 here's the print screen.So then you think that even if the recovery cd was made on the computer while it was FAT32, that after i wipe the partitions and reformat to NTFS, that it will still work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Jason, it is not true that all WXP computers are NTFS. Windows XP was introduced with the choice of FAT 32 or NTFS to accomodate software that was incompatible the the NTFS file system. This dual system has remained ever since.nanna, if ACER continue to use FAT 32 they most likely have a reason to do so and it would be better to find out why before doing anything that you regret later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanna Posted June 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 good call. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason.b.c Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Well thats wierd..Whats the deal with all the shortcut to stuff on your desktop.??Man.! I wish i had 2 gig's of ram.. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djohn Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Hello nanna. Yes, pops advice is good and he is very knowledgeable on these things. Your screen shot just confirms what he has told you. As to your question, I'm not sure and advise you to wait for confirmation from Chris, but last week I had a similar situation with a Fujitsu Siemens laptop.80 Gb hard drive that had an 8 Mb hidden partition that was only actually seen when I went to format the drive. I did of course realise there must be something there because looking at the properties of the drive prior to formatting, the numbers did not add up. This drive was also in FAT 32. I chose to leave the 8Mb partition and just format the C:/ drive. I chose NTFS from the option given and the disk itself was a full copy of XP home even though it said 'Fujitsu Siemens recovery disk (1) on the label.The format and reinstall of XP home went smooth, then I installed SP2 from a disk and went on-line to download more than 15 months of updates from Microsoft. All the drivers for the Laptop, motherboard/sound/video/modem etc where on another disk named [Fujitsu Siemens recovery disk (2) drivers]. I had loaded this second disk before SP2 and all other updates.So, yes, it did work for that particular machine, but unless someone can give you a definite answer it would be a good idea to phone Acer and ask them if what you want to do is feasible. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanna Posted June 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2006 Thanks guys, I appreciate the info. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pa1916 Posted June 19, 2006 Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 I can't speak for Acer laptops but i do have a Acer desktop the Hard drive had two partitions on it one in Fat 32 the other NTFS i used fdisk to delete the partitions then installed a full version of WXP if you have burnt a recovery disk then you will require the drivers from this disk for the mobo modem ect, if you go to device manager after you have installed XP it will show what you have to install.You will loose some Acer software like NTI cd+dvd software but you can also install these from the recovery disk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Two links you will want to check:http://forums.windowsforum.org/index.php?showtopic=15487andhttp://www.ntfs.com/ntfs_vs_fat.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanna Posted June 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 So as far as i can tell, the only advantages to FAT32 seem to be high performance at low volume, and the ability to use old friggin applications. aside from that, NTFS seems to have it beat pretty badly. ACER sent me back a message after i left them an inquiry as to why they had the hard drive in FAT32. Here is what they wrote. Thank you for contacting Acer America. The Recovery media restores the notebook at FAT32; this is by design. It is up to the user as to whether they wish to convert to NTFS. Acer does not offer recovery media that formats in NTFS nor does it void the warranty by converting to NTFS. You cannot use the Recovery CDs to convert the file system to NTFS (I never asked that, so please don't think i'm that big of a fool). For instructions on how to convert any partition to NTFS please refer to the Microsoft article at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;314097. Acer does not ship anything on the notebook that requires FAT32 nor does it void the warranty by converting to NTFS. The hidden partition is used for the erecovery so that you can run the recovery without having the recovery cds. So what I get from that message, is that ACER simply flipped a coin and decided heads would be FAT32 and tails would be NTFS. it ended up heads. The recovery media in question i think is the ACER recovery media (but windows recovery media will work in either format, and probably better in NTFS), so if no other applications need FAT32, is there any reason for me to have on here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 I can see no practical reasons not to have your computer in NTFS. If you are happy with what ACER told you and are confident that the conversion will go according to plan then, by all means, go ahead.It is highly recommended that you make a backup of your current system before you do the conversion - there is always the chance that something my go wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanna Posted June 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 absolutely. Tonight is back up all the data from all the computers in the house night, then tomorrow is change file system/dual boot with linux day, after work of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.