HardDisck is FAT16, I want it to be FAT32

[eekthecat]

Hi,

I've got a second harddisk newly installed in my computer. It works fine but I saw I was FAT16. This isn't the best according to windows. So I want it to be FAT32. My question is how do I do that?

Thanx

 

[rholland]

You don't state whether your first drive is already FAT32 nor your Operating System: FAT32 is supported (MS doesn't technically support it and refers you to your OEM vendor) on Win95 OSR2 (ver 4.00.1111) and later. Win98 and Second Edition support FAT32 by default. If your first drive is FAT32, continue. If not, your Windows version (type VER at MS-DOS prompt window) must be 4.00.1111 or greater and you will need more detailed help.

For Win98(or Win98SE):

Click Start Button
Select Accessories Menu
Select System Tools Menu
Select FAT32 converter; if not there, open Control Panel, then open Add/Remove Programs icon and select Windows Setup tab, then highlight System Tools and click Details button.
Check FAT32 converter, then OK button. You may need your Win98 CD if the setup files weren't installed on your hard disk.

For Win95 OSR2 and greater, I suggest you manually repartion/reformat the drive. If you need to go this route,
seek help again here.

 

[edfair]

What's best according to windows is what windows wants. You would be better advised to study the strengths and weaknesses of both and make the choice. I won't argue either way for your application but will state unequivocally that fat32 would be an unmitigated disaster if it got on any of my machines.
Windows suggests 32 because of the design of the operating environment and the one size fits all mentality.

Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[eekthecat]

The problem is that I use Windows 95... I like it that way, I don't want to use windows 98 or windows 2000 (or that silly ME)

Can I still use that FAT32 converter? Or isn't it implemented in windows 95?

 

[edfair]

Not sure about resident. I would use partition magic to do it , but that's because I use partition magic anyway.
Since you want fat32 it presupposes win95B or C. Use fdisk on second drive, delete existing partition, then create partition, should give you a choice of 16 or 32, then reformat drive. Think the question is "do you want large drive support?"
But be careful. You get careless and delete the partition on your C: drive and you've got fun.

Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[rholland]

Again, FAT32 *requires* Win95 OSR2 or later; you still haven't stated your Win95 version in your post. If you have the original retail version of Win95 (4.00.950), you can't convert to FAT32 at all. Period, End.

I'm not aware that FAT32 converter is officially available for Win95 (any version); you must usually manually repartition the drive (with FDISK from Win95 OSR2+) and reformat to get FAT32 partitions in Win95 (that's why MS doesn't officially support it for Win95 and refers you to your OEM vendor). If you feel this is too much trouble, then your decision to convert is made now.

Even though I too was skeptical at first, I have been using FAT32 almost exclusively since its introduction. To the best of my knowledge and experience, FAT32 is transparent to the vast majority of applications (both DOS and Windows) with the exception of older disk utilities that access/manipulate on-disk structures (like the FAT) directly and the vendor usually provides and update to handle the new on-disk structure required by FAT32. In addition, FAT32 uses smaller clusters which frees up more space for data storage (your mileage may vary).