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Convert NTFS to FAT32 (... & set active partition)
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Convert NTFS to FAT32 (... & set active partition) ChrisOfTheOT 10-10-2007
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Posted by ChrisOfTheOT on October 10, 2007, 9:14 am
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 I've got a USB 2.0 hard drive which has 'no recognised file system' on it,
and Windows Disk Management, Partition Magic, etc. cannot format it. (I
tried to convert it from NTFS to FAT32 using the Command Prompt, but it
failed because the drive is too big - 80GB.) Now no software can do anything
with the drive, though most utilities can still 'see' it. (When it's
FAT32ed, I was hoping to use it with Norton Ghost...)

Also, in a hapless attempt to get it formatted - with any file system! - I
set it as the 'Active Partition'. Now nothing will set the 'C' drive back to
'Active' - the option is ghosted out it Disk Management, Partition Magic,
etc.

Sigh. (It's been a VERY long weekend - it's Wednesday now!)

Cheers,

Chris



Posted by ChrisOfTheOT on October 10, 2007, 11:10 am
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"ChrisOfTheOT" wrote in message
:
: I've got a USB 2.0 hard drive which has 'no recognised file system' on it,
: and Windows Disk Management, Partition Magic, etc. cannot format it. (I
: tried to convert it from NTFS to FAT32 using the Command Prompt, but it
: failed because the drive is too big - 80GB.) Now no software can do
anything
: with the drive, though most utilities can still 'see' it. (When it's
: FAT32ed, I was hoping to use it with Norton Ghost...)
:
: Also, in a hapless attempt to get it formatted - with any file system! - I
: set it as the 'Active Partition'. Now nothing will set the 'C' drive back
to
: 'Active' - the option is ghosted out it Disk Management, Partition Magic,
: etc.

Still looking... no luck. This link:

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/microsoft.public.windows.vista.hardware_devices/browse_thread/thread/4192c31911b18d8d/2390dc996f75310c?hl=en&lnk=st&q=%22ntfs+to+fat32%22&rnum=1#2390dc996f75310c

from the MS Vista group (via Google) has a useful post - but, alas - I
cannot remove the drive and put it into a desktop as I don't have a desktop
PC.

So, if anyone has any bright ideas...

Cheers,

Chris



Posted by Charlie Hoffpauir on October 10, 2007, 5:59 pm
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On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:10:10 +0100, "ChrisOfTheOT"

>
>"ChrisOfTheOT" wrote in message
>:
>: I've got a USB 2.0 hard drive which has 'no recognised file system' on it,
>: and Windows Disk Management, Partition Magic, etc. cannot format it. (I
>: tried to convert it from NTFS to FAT32 using the Command Prompt, but it
>: failed because the drive is too big - 80GB.) Now no software can do
>anything
>: with the drive, though most utilities can still 'see' it. (When it's
>: FAT32ed, I was hoping to use it with Norton Ghost...)
>:
>: Also, in a hapless attempt to get it formatted - with any file system! - I
>: set it as the 'Active Partition'. Now nothing will set the 'C' drive back
>to
>: 'Active' - the option is ghosted out it Disk Management, Partition Magic,
>: etc.
>
>Still looking... no luck. This link:
>
>http://groups.google.co.uk/group/microsoft.public.windows.vista.hardware_devices/browse_thread/thread/4192c31911b18d8d/2390dc996f75310c?hl=en&lnk=st&q=%22ntfs+to+fat32%22&rnum=1#2390dc996f75310c
>
>from the MS Vista group (via Google) has a useful post - but, alas - I
>cannot remove the drive and put it into a desktop as I don't have a desktop
>PC.
>
>So, if anyone has any bright ideas...
>
>Cheers,
>
>Chris
>

I've screwed up a few drives "very" badly, but putting them in a
desktop as an IDE drive usually allowed me to correct them with PM.
since that isn't an option for you, I'd say try the disk utilities
supplied by the drive maker. I use WD, Seagate, and Maxtor drives, and
they each provide a suite of utilities that will allow formatting a
really screwed up drive. If your drive is made by someone else, I'd
say try one of those utilities, or check with the drive maker.

If all else fails, you need to find a friend with a desktop computer
with room for temporarily installing another drive.

--
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

Posted by ChrisOfTheOT on October 11, 2007, 9:11 am
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:
: On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:10:10 +0100, "ChrisOfTheOT" wrote:
:
: >
: >"ChrisOfTheOT" wrote in message
: >:
: >: I've got a USB 2.0 hard drive which has 'no recognised file system' on
it,
: >: and Windows Disk Management, Partition Magic, etc. cannot format it. (I
: >: tried to convert it from NTFS to FAT32 using the Command Prompt, but it
: >: failed because the drive is too big - 80GB.) Now no software can do
: >anything
: >: with the drive, though most utilities can still 'see' it. (When it's
: >: FAT32ed, I was hoping to use it with Norton Ghost...)
: >:
: >: Also, in a hapless attempt to get it formatted - with any file
system! - I
: >: set it as the 'Active Partition'. Now nothing will set the 'C' drive
back
: >to
: >: 'Active' - the option is ghosted out it Disk Management, Partition
Magic,
: >: etc.
: >
:
: I've screwed up a few drives "very" badly, but putting them in a
: desktop as an IDE drive usually allowed me to correct them with PM.
: since that isn't an option for you, I'd say try the disk utilities
: supplied by the drive maker. I use WD, Seagate, and Maxtor drives, and
: they each provide a suite of utilities that will allow formatting a
: really screwed up drive. If your drive is made by someone else, I'd
: say try one of those utilities, or check with the drive maker.
:
: If all else fails, you need to find a friend with a desktop computer
: with room for temporarily installing another drive.
:
: --
: Charlie Hoffpauir

Hi Charlie - I've got Hitachi drives which use the Hitachi Drive Fitness
utility. It's a good little program but the trouble I had was that no
software could 'see' the USB drive, so none could do anything to it.

Fortunately, Gerard's link worked excellently.

Thanks for the reply, Charlie,

Chris



Posted by Joseph Fenn on October 11, 2007, 4:54 pm
Please log in for more thread options

On Wed, 10 Oct 2007, Charlie Hoffpauir wrote:

> On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:10:10 +0100, "ChrisOfTheOT"
>
>>
>> "ChrisOfTheOT" wrote in message
>> :
>> : I've got a USB 2.0 hard drive which has 'no recognised file system' on it,
>> : and Windows Disk Management, Partition Magic, etc. cannot format it. (I
>> : tried to convert it from NTFS to FAT32 using the Command Prompt, but it
>> : failed because the drive is too big - 80GB.) Now no software can do
>> anything
>> : with the drive, though most utilities can still 'see' it. (When it's
>> : FAT32ed, I was hoping to use it with Norton Ghost...)
>> :
>> : Also, in a hapless attempt to get it formatted - with any file system! - I
>> : set it as the 'Active Partition'. Now nothing will set the 'C' drive back
>> to
>> : 'Active' - the option is ghosted out it Disk Management, Partition Magic,
>> : etc.
>>
>> Still looking... no luck. This link:
>>
>>
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/microsoft.public.windows.vista.hardware_devices/browse_thread/thread/4192c31911b18d8d/2390dc996f75310c?hl=en&lnk=st&q=%22ntfs+to+fat32%22&rnum=1#2390dc996f75310c
>>
>> from the MS Vista group (via Google) has a useful post - but, alas - I
>> cannot remove the drive and put it into a desktop as I don't have a desktop
>> PC.
>>
>> So, if anyone has any bright ideas...
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Chris
>>
>
> I've screwed up a few drives "very" badly, but putting them in a
> desktop as an IDE drive usually allowed me to correct them with PM.
> since that isn't an option for you, I'd say try the disk utilities
> supplied by the drive maker. I use WD, Seagate, and Maxtor drives, and
> they each provide a suite of utilities that will allow formatting a
> really screwed up drive. If your drive is made by someone else, I'd
> say try one of those utilities, or check with the drive maker.
>
> If all else fails, you need to find a friend with a desktop computer
> with room for temporarily installing another drive.
>
> --
> Charlie Hoffpauir
> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/
>
Also dont forget the "WIPE" and "MEDIA WIPE" utilities.
I guarantee you cam clean your C: drive with "WIPE". You wont even
have a C: prompt after you do. Preferably use "MEDIA WIPE" instead
as it will just format any disk but leave the drive prompt untouched.
Joe


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