Convert ntfs to fat32 without data loss. RAW file system or how to return NTFS? How to change the wrong system format to the correct one

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In this article I will describe one way, how to convert FAT32 to NTFS without data loss using Windows. This may come in handy if you have removable drive or a flash drive that has file system FAT32, and you need to write a file to it that is larger than 4GB.
Since FAT32 does not see files larger than 4GB, you will not be able to write such a file to your disk. In this case, you will need to convert its file system from FAT32 to NTFS.

You can do this using simple formatting disk, but if you already have some files on the disk and you don’t want to lose them, this method will not work. You can convert a disk to FAT32 without losing data using Windows itself.

First, you need to make sure that your disk really has the FAT32 file system. To do this, right-click on the disk icon and select “Properties” from the menu.

Go to the “General” tab and in the “File system” section you will see what system your disk is on. After this, we can safely convert it into the system we need. We will convert a disk from FAT32 to NTFS using the command line and the convert command.

To launch a command prompt window in Windows XP, go to Start - Run, and enter cmd command.

In Windows 7, click “Start” and type cmd in the search window, and when the icon of this program appears at the top, right-click on it and run the program as administrator.

In the window that opens, enter the command: convert k /fs:ntfs, where k is the drive letter that you want to convert.

After a successful disk conversion operation from one file system to another, you will see a “Conversion Complete” message.
That's it, your disk now has the ntfs file system and all the files that were on it are saved. Now you can upload a file larger than 4GB to it.

Unfortunately, converting the file system from NTFS to FAT32 is not possible using this method. To do this you will have to use third party programs. If you need to convert the file system using Windows, the disk will need to be formatted to the desired format. Only all the data on it will disappear during this operation. But before formatting, you can transfer them to your computer and then copy them back.

To format a disk using Windows, right-click on it and select “Format” from the menu.

Then select the file system, the cluster size can be left at default. You can also change the volume label here. For normal formatting Just select “Fast”. This way the disk is formatted faster, due to the fact that virtually all files are only marked as deleted.
That's probably all, I hope this article will help you master the computer.

Do you know that Windows calculator 7 has additional features calculations? You can get acquainted with them by reading this.
Good luck!

It has a number of serious limitations that do not allow it to be fully used in modern conditions. For example, maximum size The file that can be written to a disk with this file system is 4 GB. However, all new flash drives, memory cards and others similar drives formatted by the manufacturer in FAT32.

Because of this, users often find themselves in a situation where they need a drive, but there are already a lot of files on it that have nowhere to copy. Fortunately this problem Quite easily solved by converting the file system from FAT32 to NTFS. Conversion does not require formatting and is performed without data loss. In this material we will talk about how to convert FAT32 to NTFS.

In order to convert FAT32 to NTFS we need. If you are using Windows 8 or Windows 10, then press the combination Windows-X keys and in the menu that appears, select “Command Prompt (Administrator)”

If you are using Windows 7, then in order to launch the command line with administrator rights, you need to open the Start menu and enter the “CMD” command into the search. After this, you need to right-click on the found program and select the “Run as administrator” menu item.

After this you should have administrator rights. All further actions we will perform in it.

To convert file FAT systems 32 in NTFS you need to use the “convert” command. This command can accept a large number of parameters. To view the list available parameters enter the command “convert/?”.

From this list of parameters, we only need /FS:NTFS. This parameter indicates that we want to convert the file system to NTFS. So, full team to convert FAT32 to NTFS it will look like this:

• convert E: /FS:NTFS

• E: – drive letter that you want to convert from FAT32 to NTFS;
• /FS:NTFS – the file system we want to get;

Enter this command to the command line and wait until the message “Conversion complete” appears.

This completes the conversion from FAT32 to NTFS, you can continue to use your disk.

What is file RAW system and how to return the NTFS format without data loss - in this article we will look at these issues in detail, as well as recovery methods.

It often happens that after an incorrect shutdown of your computer, for example, if you unplug the cord from the socket or the power in your house is suddenly turned off, or your computer has experienced a virus attack, an unpleasant situation may occur. The disk file system on your computer or laptop changes its format to RAW and for proper operation device (as a rule, you want to do this as quickly as possible), you need to return it to NTFS format.

What is a RAW disc?

So, RAW file system type, let's figure out what it is. The RAW system is a non-existent system. If the computer indicates that the storage medium has this format, then the drivers cannot determine the type of its file system (FAT, FAT32 OR NTFS).

If the media has received the RAW format, Windows 10 OS will display it among the hard drive partitions, but any actions with it will be impossible, such as defragmentation, checking for errors, and, of course, viewing the data on the disk. The computer will constantly give an error and prompt you to format the disk, and in the “properties” line logical drive» “RAW” will appear. So how do you restore a file system from RAW format in NTFS on the hard drive?

Restoring a file system from RAW to NTFS

The system will offer you the easiest way - to format the disk. But don’t rush to do this, because your data is not lost, now there is simply no access to it. If you format RAW disk to transfer the file system back to NTFS, you will have to restore data from the media for a long time using special programs. We offer several ways to restore a disk from RAW to NTFS without losing data.

Restoring a file system to NTFS from RAW without formatting

Method 1: Windows Tools

Mainly for changing the file system from RAW to NTFS, it helps standard utility from operating system chkdsk. Follow these steps:

• Right click mouse click "Start" and select " command line»
• Type the command chkdsk drive_letter: /f
• The computer will begin a scan, after which it will repair the damage and the NTFS system in the problem area

Chkdsk will also help if it is damaged system disk. For this you will need a flash drive or boot disk.

Here are your steps:

• Start your computer from a flash drive or disk, and then select “Recovery”
• Then open " Extra options", followed by "command line". There, enter chkdsk drive_letter: /f

Important!

When restoring, the partition letters may differ from the disk names. In order to prevent errors in operation, open the list of computer partitions in the command line, then enter diskpart, Then listvolume and you will see which drive is the system one. This will be indicated in the list.

You can also try from previously saved backups.

Method 2: Using special programs

Here's how to make NTFS from a RAW file system using third-party programs.

First of all, we recommend using free program Testdisk. This is a utility that interacts with partitions hard drive. She will help correct the situation. The disadvantage of working with the Testdisk program is that it does not work with Russian names and they may not be displayed correctly.

Here's how to convert RAW to NTFS using Testdisk:

RAW format on your flash drive

Reasons for conversion:

1. When the flash drive is connected, the computer is turned off incorrectly or there is a voltage drop
2. Windows crashes
3. Banal viruses
4. External damage to the flash drive, from impact or fall

How to change the wrong system format to the correct one:

Converter MiniTool Power gives good results Data Recovery. The principle of its operation is that the program does not convert RAW to the desired format, but makes all the files on your flash drive visible, which makes working with them possible. The disadvantage of the program is that only the trial version is free, which works with files no larger than 1 GB.

How to use the program:

Also on our website you can familiarize yourself with the following topics:

• Merging hard drive partitions on Windows 10
• How to change sections of hard disk
• How to change the page file in Windows 10

Most flash drives are produced by manufacturers already formatted in FAT32 format. We start using them without thinking that this file system has serious limitations. One day we need to write to a flash drive big file with the film, but it doesn’t work out for us. What to do? Let's look at this issue from the very beginning.

Surely you have a flash drive? What file system is it formatted in? Don't be embarrassed... Don't know? If you don’t know, then look this way. Open “My Computer” and select there with a mouse click the icon of yours inserted into USB port flash drives. Look in the sidebar. I even circled it in red on purpose in the screenshot. This flash drive deigns to be in the FAT32 file system. Now I will not dwell on the advantages of NTFS over FAT32. I can only say that if you want to transfer files larger than 4 gigabytes on your flash drive, then its file system should be NTFS or exFAT. USB flash drive, with a volume of less than 4 gigabytes, it makes sense to leave it in FAT32 format.

Easy formatting of a flash drive to NTFS

You can simply format a new or empty flash drive, since there is no need to worry about data loss. They simply aren't there. For this you don't need any additional programs, sufficiently built-in Windows Tools. Unfortunately, from context menu(caused by right-clicking on the disk (flash drive) icon) it will not be possible to format the flash drive in NTFS. Even if you select the “Format” item, the window that appears will not have the option of formatting in the NTFS file system.

Therefore, you have to use the format utility, launched from the console. Beginning with Windows versions XP SP3, it is included in the OS from Microsoft. To run it, you need to open the console (Win+R and in the window that appears, type cmd) and type the format command in it. This command has several options. IN in this case, we are interested in the /FS key. That is, the command line should look like:

Format Z: /FS:NTFS

Instead of Z, substitute the letter corresponding to your flash drive in the system. Be careful not to confuse the letter, otherwise you will format another medium, which may be problematic to recover information from.

The format utility can help format a flash drive not only in the NTFS file system. Beginning with Windows systems XP SP3, Windows supports file exFAT system, which was originally created specifically for use on portable storage devices. I will not dwell on its advantages and disadvantages, I will only say that it, like NTFS, allows you to write files larger than 4 gigabytes, which FAT32 cannot do. In order to format a flash drive in exFAT format, you need to type in the command line:

Format X: /FS:exFAT

After that, just press Enter and the formatting process will begin.

By using format commands we can format our flash drive in NTFS or exFAT (whichever you prefer), but in this case all files, if any, will be lost. But what to do if the flash drive is full of something useful? Then we will have to use another command.

Converting a flash drive from FAT32 to NTFS without data loss

If we do not want to lose data on a flash drive, then we can use the convert.exe utility to convert its file system to NTFS. It is built-in to Windows XP SP3 and later. To run it, use the convert command. It should also be typed in the console (see above about launching the console). The convert command can be entered with parameters. It will be better if you familiarize yourself with the capabilities of the utility in advance by entering into the command line:

Convert /?

Help for using the application appears. Before starting the conversion, I would recommend, just in case, to copy the most difficult-to-recover files from the media to HDD. Failures in this process are almost impossible to predict, but it is within our power to minimize losses. In order to convert a flash drive, you need to type the command in the console:

Convert Z: /FS:NTFS /NoSecurity /X

Instead of Z, we should specify the letter of the volume that we are converting. We use the /FS:NTFS key to designate the destination file system. /NoSecurity allows us to do available files for all users (in NTFS, access to files is regulated much more strictly than in the archaic FAT32). The /X key allows us to forcefully close all connections to the flash drive so that nothing interferes with the process. After typing this command, press Enter.

This utility can also be used to convert hard drives no data loss. In order to avoid failures and loss of information, you should follow a simple rule - this process cannot be interrupted. That is, you cannot turn off the computer or remove the media during conversion. Therefore, I advise you to do everything carefully and on a PC equipped with an uninterruptible power supply.

Currently, this is an indisputable fact: file NTFS system(New Technology File System) is one of the most successful and reliable among those existing on this moment file systems. NTFS could not find its niche for a long time due to the fact that for the organization efficient work with its data structures required significant amounts of random access memory. Since PCs with up to 128 MB of RAM were simply unable to get any benefit from using NTFS, it has a reputation for being slow and cumbersome. This is actually not true - modern PCs with 256 MB or more memory get a huge performance boost from using NTFS. As for performance, NTFS is not very effective for small hard drive partitions (up to 1 GB), but working with huge data arrays and impressive directories is organized very efficiently, and this gives it superior speed over other file systems.

The main advantage of NTFS is fault tolerance. The scourge of FAT32 is the so-called lost clusters, which are formed in abundance when incorrect termination OS operation. NTFS is not afraid of this; in case of any failures, it will restore its integrity and performance. If your operating system is Windows XP, then using any file system other than NTFS means significantly limiting your convenience and flexibility of the operating system itself. Windows XP and NTFS are like two parts of a single whole - many useful features operating system is directly tied to the physical and logical structure of this file system, and using FAT or FAT32 only makes sense for compatibility - if several operating systems are installed on the PC, including the already outdated Windows 98 and ME.

How to Convert FAT32 to NTFS without Data Loss
One of best programs for this purpose - PartitionMagic 8.0 from PowerQuest Corporation. Install the program, run it, select it by clicking required disk. Selecting a menu Partition - Convert... We put the switch NTFS - OK. Press the button Apply. (If the version of PowerQuest PartitionMagic is Russified, then everything is clear and simple: the program interface is user-friendly and intuitive).

Converting the FAT32 file system to NTFS without data loss can be done and regular means operating system using the utility convert.exe(File System Conversion Utility): button Start - Run... - Run program - cmd - OK. The cmd.exe command interpreter will start. After the system prompt C:\Documents and Settings\Username> you need to enter the command
CONVERT volume: /FS:NTFS
Here
volume - specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
/FS:NTFS - destination file system: NTFS.
/NoSecurity - security settings for converted files and folders will be available for everyone to change.
/X - force removal of this volume (if it was mounted). All open handles to this volume will become invalid.
For example, if you want to convert drive C, you need to enter
CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS /NoSecurity /X

Notes
1. Since converting a file system is potentially dangerous (in case of any failures, for example, if a power failure occurs, you may lose access to your files), if you do not feel sufficiently prepared, contact the specialists!
2. Attention! Although the above methods allow you to convert FAT32 to NTFS without losing data, it is advisable to copy your data to another media first.
3. The most ideal case is to convert the file system to NTFS when installing (reinstalling) Windows XP. The operating system installation program allows you to do this.
4. If you don't know what file system you are using, the easiest way to find out is: open " Windows Explorer" by clicking on the "My Computer" icon. Right-click on the local disk icon and select “Properties” from the context menu that opens. In the Properties dialog box that opens: Local disk"On the General tab, the file system type is indicated.
5. Before starting conversion, it is recommended to close all open files And running programs.
6. After converting, it is advisable to check the file system for errors and defragment it. To do this, you need to perform the operations specified in paragraph 4. Open the “Service” tab, click the “Run check…” button. In the “Check Disk: Local Disk” dialog box that opens, check the “Automatically fix” checkboxes. system errors" and "Check and repair bad sectors", press the "Launch" button. A check will be carried out (usually after a reboot), and any errors found will be corrected.
To defragment, in the same “Properties: Local Disk” dialog box, click the “Defragmentation” button. In the “Disk Defragmentation” dialog box that opens, click the “Defragmentation” button.

All the best!