How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

[Guest PD43]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>> Well, PD43 (& Bill), not exactly...

>>

>> A DOS boot disk, e.g., a Win9x/Me "Startup Disk", will "see" NTFS

>> partitions

>> very well. At least for the most part. The *only* NTFS partitions it will

>> not recognize are those logical drives created in an extended partition.

>> Anna

>

>Not on my system it doesn't.

>Not unless I have NTFSDOS (or whatever) loaded. We must have different

>systems. :-)

>

>Besides which, AFAIK, it is impossible for DOS-based enviroment to see NTFS

>partitions *unless* some NTFS driver has been loaded for it on that disk.

>And it's not on a standard Win9x/DOS startup disk.

 

How did Anna manage post a one-paragraph reply????

 

Or did you edit it?

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

PD43 wrote:

> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>

>>>> Except with third party tools.

>>>

>>> WHICH tools. PAY tools?

>>

>> Try NTFSDOS (or NTFSDOS30). Or NTFS4DOS (is different). Google it.

>> Both were free.

>

> Ain't nobody using that old crap anymore.

>

> You just recently upgraded from 98SE, so maybe you don't know that.

 

There IS somebody "using that old crap" - if SOMEBODY needs access to NTFS

partitions, when windows can't. Unless you've got a "better way" without

windows, or Bart PE, or the like. And no, I don't think the Recovery

Console is better, although it too, like all tools, has its place.

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

PD43 wrote:

> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>

>>> Well, PD43 (& Bill), not exactly...

>>>

>>> A DOS boot disk, e.g., a Win9x/Me "Startup Disk", will "see" NTFS

>>> partitions

>>> very well. At least for the most part. The *only* NTFS partitions it

>>> will

>>> not recognize are those logical drives created in an extended partition.

>>> Anna

>>

>> Not on my system it doesn't.

>> Not unless I have NTFSDOS (or whatever) loaded. We must have different

>> systems. :-)

>>

>> Besides which, AFAIK, it is impossible for DOS-based enviroment to see

>> NTFS

>> partitions *unless* some NTFS driver has been loaded for it on that disk.

>> And it's not on a standard Win9x/DOS startup disk.

>

> How did Anna manage post a one-paragraph reply????

>

> Or did you edit it?

 

I did not. She did. Pretty good, eh? :-)

[Guest PD43]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>> How did Anna manage post a one-paragraph reply????

>>

>> Or did you edit it?

>

>I did not. She did. Pretty good, eh? :-)

 

Never thought I'd see the day.

[Guest PD43]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>>> Try NTFSDOS (or NTFSDOS30). Or NTFS4DOS (is different). Google it.

>>> Both were free.

>>

>> Ain't nobody using that old crap anymore.

>>

>> You just recently upgraded from 98SE, so maybe you don't know that.

>

>There IS somebody "using that old crap" - if SOMEBODY needs access to NTFS

>partitions, when windows can't. Unless you've got a "better way" without

>windows, or Bart PE, or the like. And no, I don't think the Recovery

>Console is better, although it too, like all tools, has its place.

 

I used to love booting from my "A" drive to DOS to do familiar things,

but I found that need disappearing as years went by.

 

I finally converted my system drive to NTFS, built a new computer that

has no floppy drive, and have never missed that option.

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

PD43 wrote:

> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>

>>>> Try NTFSDOS (or NTFSDOS30). Or NTFS4DOS (is different). Google it.

>>>> Both were free.

>>>

>>> Ain't nobody using that old crap anymore.

>>>

>>> You just recently upgraded from 98SE, so maybe you don't know that.

>>

>> There IS somebody "using that old crap" - if SOMEBODY needs access to

>> NTFS partitions, when windows can't. Unless you've got a "better way"

>> without

>> windows, or Bart PE, or the like. And no, I don't think the Recovery

>> Console is better, although it too, like all tools, has its place.

>

> I used to love booting from my "A" drive to DOS to do familiar things,

> but I found that need disappearing as years went by.

>

> I finally converted my system drive to NTFS, built a new computer that

> has no floppy drive, and have never missed that option.

 

You still didn't answer my question, though. See above.

[Guest Colin Barnhorst]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

I'm not the one with the issues. It is the OP.

 

"Terry R." <F1ComNOSPAM@pobox.com> wrote in message

news:uHcOd9leIHA.4144@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> The date and time was 2/28/2008 2:08 PM, and on a whim, Colin Barnhorst

> pounded out on the keyboard:

>

>> If you want to share files on a system running both OS/X and Windows (for

>> example on a MacBook Pro like I have) you need to format the Windows

>> drive with FAT32. NTFS is read-only for OS/X.

>>

>> "Terry R." <F1ComNOSPAM@pobox.com> wrote in message

>> news:uejcmdkeIHA.4312@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>>> The date and time was 2/28/2008 10:56 AM, and on a whim, Colin Barnhorst

>>> pounded out on the keyboard:

>>>

>>>> Or with a Mac.

>>> ???

>>>

>>>> "Ian D" <taurus@nowhere.com> wrote in message

>>>> news:O4XwXbieIHA.6136@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>>>>> "Edwin vMierlo [MVP]" <EdwinvMierlo@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote

>>>>> in message news:O$4XPrgeIHA.5348@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>>>>>>>>> I have unused partition on my drive C: and I need to format it in

>>>>>> FAT32.

>>>>>>>> May I ask why FAT32, what prevents you to format in NTFS ?

>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>> This is a decision that Microsoft have taken to limit FAT32

>>>>>>> partition

>>>>>> sizes

>>>>>>> to 32 Gb, and written the tool accordingly. Why they have taken

>>>>>>> this

>>>>>>> decision is a good question.

>>>>>>>

>>>>>> I know that

>>>>>>

>>>>>> My question (to: Jack):

>>>>>> you want to format FAT32... why not NTFS ?

>>>>>>

>>>>>>

>>>>> Maybe he wants a partition for files to share with Win98 or ME.

>>>>>

>>

>

> I've read Tiger has limited write capabilities (never tested it

> personally) but users on a mixed network I admin don't seem to have issues

> writing to the shared drives.

>

> Have you tried any 3rd party solutions with any success?

> http://www.ntfs-3g.org/

> http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/

>

>

> --

> Terry R.

>

> ***Reply Note***

> Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.

> Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

[Guest Anthony W]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

Bill in Co. wrote:

>> A DOS boot disk, e.g., a Win9x/Me "Startup Disk", will "see" NTFS

>> partitions

>> very well. At least for the most part. The *only* NTFS partitions it will

>> not recognize are those logical drives created in an extended partition.

>> Anna

>

> Not on my system it doesn't.

> Not unless I have NTFSDOS (or whatever) loaded. We must have different

> systems. :-)

>

> Besides which, AFAIK, it is impossible for DOS-based enviroment to see NTFS

> partitions *unless* some NTFS driver has been loaded for it on that disk.

> And it's not on a standard Win9x/DOS startup disk.

 

Dos Fdisk will see NTFS partitions but it cannot read them and I think

that's what Anna was taking about.

 

A windows ME boot disk can be used to partition and format FAT32. From

there you can install WinXP.

 

Tony

[Guest Terry R.]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

The date and time was 2/28/2008 5:23 PM, and on a whim, Colin Barnhorst

pounded out on the keyboard:

> I'm not the one with the issues. It is the OP.

>

> "Terry R." <F1ComNOSPAM@pobox.com> wrote in message

> news:uHcOd9leIHA.4144@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> The date and time was 2/28/2008 2:08 PM, and on a whim, Colin Barnhorst

>> pounded out on the keyboard:

>>

>>> If you want to share files on a system running both OS/X and Windows (for

>>> example on a MacBook Pro like I have) you need to format the Windows

>>> drive with FAT32. NTFS is read-only for OS/X.

>>>

>>> "Terry R." <F1ComNOSPAM@pobox.com> wrote in message

>>> news:uejcmdkeIHA.4312@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>>>> The date and time was 2/28/2008 10:56 AM, and on a whim, Colin Barnhorst

>>>> pounded out on the keyboard:

>>>>

>>>>> Or with a Mac.

>>>> ???

>>>>

>>>>> "Ian D" <taurus@nowhere.com> wrote in message

>>>>> news:O4XwXbieIHA.6136@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>>>>>> "Edwin vMierlo [MVP]" <EdwinvMierlo@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote

>>>>>> in message news:O$4XPrgeIHA.5348@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>>>>>>>>>> I have unused partition on my drive C: and I need to format it in

>>>>>>> FAT32.

>>>>>>>>> May I ask why FAT32, what prevents you to format in NTFS ?

>>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>> This is a decision that Microsoft have taken to limit FAT32

>>>>>>>> partition

>>>>>>> sizes

>>>>>>>> to 32 Gb, and written the tool accordingly. Why they have taken

>>>>>>>> this

>>>>>>>> decision is a good question.

>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>> I know that

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>> My question (to: Jack):

>>>>>>> you want to format FAT32... why not NTFS ?

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>

>>>>>> Maybe he wants a partition for files to share with Win98 or ME.

>>>>>>

>> I've read Tiger has limited write capabilities (never tested it

>> personally) but users on a mixed network I admin don't seem to have issues

>> writing to the shared drives.

>>

>> Have you tried any 3rd party solutions with any success?

>> http://www.ntfs-3g.org/

>> http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/

>>

>>

>

 

No, you are the one stating your Macbook and NTFS, not the OP. I was

wondering if you had tried any 3rd party tools.

 

--

Terry R.

 

***Reply Note***

Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.

Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

[Guest John John]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

Bill in Co. wrote:

> Anna wrote:

>

>>>PD43 wrote:

>>>

>>>>Nope. When you boot to DOS, it can't see an NTFS partition.

>>

>>

>>"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message

>>news:OYxCtykeIHA.536@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>

>>>Except with third party tools.

>>

>>

>>Well, PD43 (& Bill), not exactly...

>>

>>A DOS boot disk, e.g., a Win9x/Me "Startup Disk", will "see" NTFS

>>partitions

>>very well. At least for the most part. The *only* NTFS partitions it will

>>not recognize are those logical drives created in an extended partition.

>>Anna

>

>

> Not on my system it doesn't.

> Not unless I have NTFSDOS (or whatever) loaded. We must have different

> systems. :-)

>

> Besides which, AFAIK, it is impossible for DOS-based enviroment to see NTFS

> partitions *unless* some NTFS driver has been loaded for it on that disk.

> And it's not on a standard Win9x/DOS startup disk.

 

It's a "trick" question on the test, Bill ;-)

 

Use fdisk and you will see that DOS does "see" NTFS drives. Seeing the

drive doesn't mean that it can use the drive or even explore it, if you

try to use the CD command to the drive you won't be able to access it.

But DOS fdisk can see and even deleted NTFS drives... unless it gets

caught up in the logical drive loop, then it cannot delete the drive

without the use of other tools.

 

John

[Guest PD43]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>You still didn't answer my question, though. See above.

 

Don't see any questions. In my world a question ends with "?".

[Guest Colin Barnhorst]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

I don't need to. What issue do you think I'm having? I only made a

comment.

 

"Terry R." <F1ComNOSPAM@pobox.com> wrote in message

news:urrIWaneIHA.4696@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> The date and time was 2/28/2008 5:23 PM, and on a whim, Colin Barnhorst

> pounded out on the keyboard:

>

>> I'm not the one with the issues. It is the OP.

>>

>> "Terry R." <F1ComNOSPAM@pobox.com> wrote in message

>> news:uHcOd9leIHA.4144@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>>> The date and time was 2/28/2008 2:08 PM, and on a whim, Colin Barnhorst

>>> pounded out on the keyboard:

>>>

>>>> If you want to share files on a system running both OS/X and Windows

>>>> (for example on a MacBook Pro like I have) you need to format the

>>>> Windows drive with FAT32. NTFS is read-only for OS/X.

>>>>

>>>> "Terry R." <F1ComNOSPAM@pobox.com> wrote in message

>>>> news:uejcmdkeIHA.4312@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>>>>> The date and time was 2/28/2008 10:56 AM, and on a whim, Colin

>>>>> Barnhorst pounded out on the keyboard:

>>>>>

>>>>>> Or with a Mac.

>>>>> ???

>>>>>

>>>>>> "Ian D" <taurus@nowhere.com> wrote in message

>>>>>> news:O4XwXbieIHA.6136@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>>>>>>> "Edwin vMierlo [MVP]" <EdwinvMierlo@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote

>>>>>>> in message news:O$4XPrgeIHA.5348@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>>>>>>>>>>> I have unused partition on my drive C: and I need to format it

>>>>>>>>>>> in

>>>>>>>> FAT32.

>>>>>>>>>> May I ask why FAT32, what prevents you to format in NTFS ?

>>>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>> This is a decision that Microsoft have taken to limit FAT32

>>>>>>>>> partition

>>>>>>>> sizes

>>>>>>>>> to 32 Gb, and written the tool accordingly. Why they have taken

>>>>>>>>> this

>>>>>>>>> decision is a good question.

>>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>> I know that

>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>> My question (to: Jack):

>>>>>>>> you want to format FAT32... why not NTFS ?

>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>> Maybe he wants a partition for files to share with Win98 or ME.

>>>>>>>

>>> I've read Tiger has limited write capabilities (never tested it

>>> personally) but users on a mixed network I admin don't seem to have

>>> issues writing to the shared drives.

>>>

>>> Have you tried any 3rd party solutions with any success?

>>> http://www.ntfs-3g.org/

>>> http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/

>>>

>>>

>>

>

> No, you are the one stating your Macbook and NTFS, not the OP. I was

> wondering if you had tried any 3rd party tools.

>

> --

> Terry R.

>

> ***Reply Note***

> Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.

> Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

John John wrote:

> Bill in Co. wrote:

>

>> Anna wrote:

>>

>>>> PD43 wrote:

>>>>

>>>>> Nope. When you boot to DOS, it can't see an NTFS partition.

>>>

>>>

>>> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message

>>> news:OYxCtykeIHA.536@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>>

>>>> Except with third party tools.

>>>

>>>

>>> Well, PD43 (& Bill), not exactly...

>>>

>>> A DOS boot disk, e.g., a Win9x/Me "Startup Disk", will "see" NTFS

>>> partitions

>>> very well. At least for the most part. The *only* NTFS partitions it

>>> will

>>> not recognize are those logical drives created in an extended partition.

>>> Anna

>>

>>

>> Not on my system it doesn't.

>> Not unless I have NTFSDOS (or whatever) loaded. We must have different

>> systems. :-)

>>

>> Besides which, AFAIK, it is impossible for DOS-based enviroment to see

>> NTFS

>> partitions *unless* some NTFS driver has been loaded for it on that disk.

>> And it's not on a standard Win9x/DOS startup disk.

>

> It's a "trick" question on the test, Bill ;-)

>

> Use fdisk and you will see that DOS does "see" NTFS drives. Seeing the

> drive doesn't mean that it can use the drive or even explore it, if you

> try to use the CD command to the drive you won't be able to access it.

> But DOS fdisk can see and even deleted NTFS drives... unless it gets

> caught up in the logical drive loop, then it cannot delete the drive

> without the use of other tools.

>

> John

 

OK, I wasn't even thinking about fdisk! Well, big deal, fdisk is (just a

bit) limited in what it can actually do, to put it mildly. :-)

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

Anthony W wrote:

> Bill in Co. wrote:

>

>>> A DOS boot disk, e.g., a Win9x/Me "Startup Disk", will "see" NTFS

>>> partitions

>>> very well. At least for the most part. The *only* NTFS partitions it

>>> will

>>> not recognize are those logical drives created in an extended partition.

>>> Anna

>>

>> Not on my system it doesn't.

>> Not unless I have NTFSDOS (or whatever) loaded. We must have different

>> systems. :-)

>>

>> Besides which, AFAIK, it is impossible for DOS-based enviroment to see

>> NTFS

>> partitions *unless* some NTFS driver has been loaded for it on that disk.

>> And it's not on a standard Win9x/DOS startup disk.

>

> Dos Fdisk will see NTFS partitions but it cannot read them and I think

> that's what Anna was taking about.

 

OK, I missed that. (But as I said in the other post, that sure ain't much

of anything).

> A windows ME boot disk can be used to partition and format FAT32. From

> there you can install WinXP.

>

> Tony

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

PD43 wrote:

> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>

>> You still didn't answer my question, though. See above.

>

> Don't see any questions. In my world a question ends with "?".

 

I thought I had asked you what YOU used in its place (i.e., to be able to

access NTFS partitions without windows). And you didn't have an answer.

[Guest PD43]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>> Don't see any questions. In my world a question ends with "?".

>

>I thought I had asked you what YOU used in its place (i.e., to be able to

>access NTFS partitions without windows). And you didn't have an answer.

 

Nope... you didn't ask. Go to Google Groups and find this thread for

confirmation.

 

I access my disks from within Windows entirely.

 

If I wanna play with partitioning, I use Partition Magic 8.

[Guest Anna]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

 

"Jack" <replyto@it> wrote in message

news:uma5L6ceIHA.5560@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> Hello,

> I have unused partition on my drive C: and I need to format it in FAT32.

> XP Disk Management offers only NTSF format.

> I know I can do that when booting to A:\ command prompt but I really would

> like to do that from within Windows XP.

> Is that possible?

> Jack

 

 

Jack:

Now, back to your problem re creating a FAT32-formatted partition from

within the XP OS...

 

The following does *not* concern itself as to *why* you want or need to

create FAT32 formatted partition(s) from within the XP OS. We'll assume you

have good & sufficient reasons for doing so.

 

 

 

As most of us know, the XP operating system cannot partition/format a hard

drive in FAT32 greater than 32 GB. One *can*, however, use the FDISK/FORMAT

commands on a DOS bootable floppy disk (such as a Win9x/Me Startup Disk) to

partition/format an internal hard drive of virtually any size in FAT32.

 

 

 

One way to overcome this XP barrier is to use a Linux-developed program

called mkdosfs.exe developed by Jens-Uwe Mager

http://www1.mager.org/mkdosfs/

 

 

 

(Refer to that site for complete details on the background of this program

and its utilization.)

 

 

 

You can download the mkdosfs.zip file from Mr. Mager’s website and extract

the mkdosfs.exe program file. The great advantage of this program is that it

works from *within* the XP environment. NOTE THIS PROGRAM IS *NOT* A

CONVERSION PROGRAM IN THE SENSE THAT IT WILL CONVERT A NTFS PARTITION TO A

FAT32 PARTITION WHILE RETAINING ALL THE DATA. RATHER IT IS DESIGNED TO

FORMAT THE PARTITION, SO ALL DATA WILL BE LOST FOLLOWING THE FORMATTING.

 

 

 

The program is very easy to use…

 

1.. Install the mkdosfs.exe file (it’s only 68 KB) in your C:\ root

directory.

2.. Ensure that the drive to be formatted FAT32 is not presently being

accessed at this point.

3.. Using Start > Run > cmd, and get to a C:\ prompt.

4.. Invoke the command “mkdosfs –F 32 x:” (no quotes) where x: is the

drive to be formatted.

(note the spacing within the command (mkdosfs(SPACE)–F(SPACE)32(SPACE)x: and

capitalize the “F”, as shown).

 

MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN YOUR DRIVE LETTER REFLECTS THE DRIVE TO BE

FORMATTED! YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY CONFIRMATION PROMPT AFTER INVOKING THE

COMMAND! ALL DATA ON THE FORMATTED PARTITION WILL BE LOST!

 

5.. Press Enter after typing the command.

6.. The formatting of your designated drive in FAT32 will take place. Two

lines of text will be displayed:

“mkdosfs 2.8 (28 Feb 2001)

 

Win32 port by Jens-Uwe Mager <jum@anubis.han.de>"

 

followed by the C:\ prompt after the drive has been formatted.

 

 

 

In addition to the program’s usefulness in overcoming the FAT32 > 32 GB

limitation imposed by the XP OS as it affects your internal hard drives,

another significant advantage of this program is that you can now format a

USB external HDD in FAT32 in any capacity. And do so within the XP OS

environment.

 

Anna

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

PD43 wrote:

> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>

>>> Don't see any questions. In my world a question ends with "?".

>>

>> I thought I had asked you what YOU used in its place (i.e., to be able to

>> access NTFS partitions without windows). And you didn't have an

>> answer.

>

> Nope... you didn't ask. Go to Google Groups and find this thread for

> confirmation.

>

> I access my disks from within Windows entirely.

 

Really? Well then, you haven't experienced a full life just yet.

(Maybe you should be so lucky. :-)

[Guest PD43]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>> I access my disks from within Windows entirely.

>

>Really? Well then, you haven't experienced a full life just yet.

>(Maybe you should be so lucky. :-)

 

You've been using XP for HOW long now?

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

PD43 wrote:

> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>

>>> I access my disks from within Windows entirely.

>>

>> Really? Well then, you haven't experienced a full life just yet.

>> (Maybe you should be so lucky. :-)

>

> You've been using XP for HOW long now?

 

LOL. Not very! But I also like to (how should I put this) tinker

around with it a bit, inevitably "going under the covers" to see what is

going on, and being in control of it. Now that probably stems from my

(EE) and electronics background, some programming, and my growing up with

DOS (or before DOS, I should say), and often customizing things to my liking

(like on my Win98SE computer by making the "appropriate adjustments" to the

registry, and some system files).

 

But the end result was that I got a nice, lean and mean, truly customized

machine - one that I was pretty much in control of - and not Big Bill.

 

I can't tell you how many times I spent installing some different customized

apps, and then say restoring the registry to fix some occasional snags that

I missed in the SFC log, OR due to some errors in the installed shareware

program.

 

Suffice it to say, it's a LONG story, and I spent a bit of time down at the

command prompt too. It's fascinating. And I also did some programming,

too. :-)

[Guest M.I.5¾]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

 

"Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message

news:%23xx%23VPleIHA.5984@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>

>> PD43 wrote:

>>> Nope. When you boot to DOS, it can't see an NTFS partition.

>

>

> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message

> news:OYxCtykeIHA.536@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>> Except with third party tools.

>

>

> Well, PD43 (& Bill), not exactly...

>

> A DOS boot disk, e.g., a Win9x/Me "Startup Disk", will "see" NTFS

> partitions very well. At least for the most part. The *only* NTFS

> partitions it will not recognize are those logical drives created in an

> extended partition.

>

 

They most certainly don't. Why would a Win9x Startup disk be able to see a

NTFS partitions when the operating system they support doesn't?

 

Unless you have loaded some third party driver on yours.

[Guest M.I.5¾]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

 

"Anthony W" <technojock@yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:gwJxj.13402$o23.8015@trndny09...

> Bill in Co. wrote:

>

>>> A DOS boot disk, e.g., a Win9x/Me "Startup Disk", will "see" NTFS

>>> partitions

>>> very well. At least for the most part. The *only* NTFS partitions it

>>> will

>>> not recognize are those logical drives created in an extended partition.

>>> Anna

>>

>> Not on my system it doesn't.

>> Not unless I have NTFSDOS (or whatever) loaded. We must have different

>> systems. :-)

>>

>> Besides which, AFAIK, it is impossible for DOS-based enviroment to see

>> NTFS partitions *unless* some NTFS driver has been loaded for it on that

>> disk. And it's not on a standard Win9x/DOS startup disk.

>

> Dos Fdisk will see NTFS partitions but it cannot read them and I think

> that's what Anna was taking about.

>

 

To clarify: what I think you are saying is that the Win9x version of FDISK

will recognise and allow you to delete NTFS partitions. What it can't do is

create new NTFS partitions.

[Guest M.I.5¾]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

 

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message

news:%23t%23lbyneIHA.3724@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> John John wrote:

>> Bill in Co. wrote:

>>

>>> Anna wrote:

>>>

>>>>> PD43 wrote:

>>>>>

>>>>>> Nope. When you boot to DOS, it can't see an NTFS partition.

>>>>

>>>>

>>>> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message

>>>> news:OYxCtykeIHA.536@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>>>

>>>>> Except with third party tools.

>>>>

>>>>

>>>> Well, PD43 (& Bill), not exactly...

>>>>

>>>> A DOS boot disk, e.g., a Win9x/Me "Startup Disk", will "see" NTFS

>>>> partitions

>>>> very well. At least for the most part. The *only* NTFS partitions it

>>>> will

>>>> not recognize are those logical drives created in an extended

>>>> partition.

>>>> Anna

>>>

>>>

>>> Not on my system it doesn't.

>>> Not unless I have NTFSDOS (or whatever) loaded. We must have different

>>> systems. :-)

>>>

>>> Besides which, AFAIK, it is impossible for DOS-based enviroment to see

>>> NTFS

>>> partitions *unless* some NTFS driver has been loaded for it on that

>>> disk.

>>> And it's not on a standard Win9x/DOS startup disk.

>>

>> It's a "trick" question on the test, Bill ;-)

>>

>> Use fdisk and you will see that DOS does "see" NTFS drives. Seeing the

>> drive doesn't mean that it can use the drive or even explore it, if you

>> try to use the CD command to the drive you won't be able to access it.

>> But DOS fdisk can see and even deleted NTFS drives... unless it gets

>> caught up in the logical drive loop, then it cannot delete the drive

>> without the use of other tools.

>>

>> John

>

> OK, I wasn't even thinking about fdisk! Well, big deal, fdisk is (just

> a bit) limited in what it can actually do, to put it mildly. :-)

 

I think it's fair to say that the Win9x FDISK is incredibly crippled

compared with other FDISK utilities. ISTR a Linux (there's that word

again -Ed) distro that had an FDISK command that handled just about every

disk format going, most of which were unreadable by the operating system

itself.

[Guest PD43]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>> You've been using XP for HOW long now?

>

>LOL. Not very! But I also like to (how should I put this) tinker

>around with it a bit, inevitably "going under the covers" to see what is

>going on, and being in control of it. Now that probably stems from my

>(EE) and electronics background, some programming, and my growing up with

>DOS (or before DOS, I should say), and often customizing things to my liking

>(like on my Win98SE computer by making the "appropriate adjustments" to the

>registry, and some system files).

 

Can still do that with XP, but not if you're disk is NTFS. You'll

have to use Windows, Windows utilities, or just stop.

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: How to format FAT32 in Windows XP?

 

PD43 wrote:

> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>

>>> You've been using XP for HOW long now?

>>

>> LOL. Not very! But I also like to (how should I put this) tinker

>> around with it a bit, inevitably "going under the covers" to see what is

>> going on, and being in control of it. Now that probably stems from my

>> (EE) and electronics background, some programming, and my growing up with

>> DOS (or before DOS, I should say), and often customizing things to my

>> liking

>> (like on my Win98SE computer by making the "appropriate adjustments" to

>> the

>> registry, and some system files).

>

> Can still do that with XP, but not if you're disk is NTFS.

 

Which of course it is.

> You'll have to use Windows, Windows utilities, or just stop.

 

Nope. Not true. You need to get out a bit more, too. :-)