Norton PartitionMagic 71
Depending on the file system format of the partition you are converting, some options
may appear dimmed.
If you want to convert your partition to primary or logical, see “Converting Partitions
to Logical or Primary” on page 76.
4 Click OK.
Converting FAT Partitions to FAT32
FAT32 partitions have less wasted disk space than FAT partitions. (For more information,
see “Resizing Clusters” on page 66.) However, you should be aware of these issues:
• You must have Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2, Windows 98, Windows Me,
Windows 2000, or Windows XP to access files on a FAT32 partition. If you run an
operating system other than these, FAT32 partitions will be inaccessible when the
other operating system is running, even if one of these operating systems is installed
on your machine.
• Some computers have a sleep mode that saves all memory to disk. Because this
function sometimes requires a FAT partition, consult your computer manual or
contact the manufacturer before converting to FAT32.
• The minimum recommended size for a FAT32 partition is 256 MB.
The steps for this process are listed on page 70.
Converting FAT Partitions to NTFS
This conversion is only possible under Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.
The Convert FAT to NTFS operation launches the Microsoft Convert utility to convert a
FAT partition to NTFS. You must be running Windows NT/2000/XP to complete this
conversion. This cannot be performed from the rescue diskette.
If you boot multiple OSs, you must be careful converting FAT to NTFS. NTFS is only
accessible from Windows NT/2000/XP; therefore, the data in this partition will not be
accessible if you boot DOS, Windows 9x, or Windows Me.
After clicking OK, if you have no operations pending and if Windows NT can lock the
partition (no open files), the FAT file system is converted. If you have operations
pending, you must apply them first before converting from FAT to NTFS. If you do not