Skip navigation

JSI Tip 4279. You cannot convert FAT16 to FAT32 in Windows 2000 and Windows XP?


When you attempt to convert at File Allocation Table (FAT or FAT16) partition to FAT32 (convert <DriveLetter:> /fs:FAT32), where <DriveLetter:> is the Boot drive, you receive:

The type of the file system is FAT.
Convert cannot gain exclusive access to the drive drive, so it cannot convert it now. 
Would you like to schedule it to be converted the next time the system restarts. (Y/N)
During the restart, you receive:
FAT32 is not supported
NOTE: if Windows is installed on a different <DriveLetter:>, you receive:

FAT32 is not a valid file system

Windows 2000 and Windows XP do NOT support the conversion of FAT to FAT32. They only support conversion to NTFS.

If you must convert to FAT32, you can do it if you dual boot with W98, by using cvt <DriveLetter:> /cvt32.



Hide comments

Comments

  • Allowed HTML tags: <em> <strong> <blockquote> <br> <p>

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Publish