How to Convert File System without Formatting
About 3 File Systems
NTFS file system
NTFS (New Technology File System) is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.
FAT file system
FAT (File Allocation Table) is used by MS-DOS and other Windows-based operating systems to organize and manage files. It is a data structure that Windows creates when you format a volume by using the FAT or FAT32 file systems. Windows stores information about each file in the FAT so that it can retrieve the file later.
FAT32 file system
FAT32 is a derivative of FAT file system. It supports smaller cluster sizes and larger volumes than FAT, which results in more efficient space allocation on FAT32 volumes.
How to convert files system without formatting?
There are many partition software that supports to covert file systems in Windows 7, XP or Vista. When it comes to change file system without formatting, there are few. Most of the software requires you to backup your partition, and then format it to convert the file system. If you don’t want to format your partition and no data loss, either, you can try Spotmau PowerSuite Golden, which can only convert your file system with no formatting.
Step1. Select the partition for conversion
Launch PowerSuite, go to “Disk Management” and enter “Partition Genius”. Select the partition that you want to convert its file system, and right click it to choose “Convert”, or hit on “Partition Management > Convert”. A message pop-up recommends you to check the partition before you convert partition. You can hit “Yes” to complete it in a few seconds, or just skip it by giving it a “No”.
Step2. Begin to convert file system
On the convert partition windows, there are file systems for your choice. If the file system is NTFS originally, you can choose FAT32 to convert it. If FAT32, you can choose NTFS. Then hit “OK”, and the conversion will be completed in a few minutes.
When the conversion finished, you can check your file system on the program panel. There is no formatting process and will be no data loss occurring. If you have very important data, you can back it up before your operation. This Spotmau PowerSuite Golden can let you clone your partition or whole disk with one click. For better protection, you can do this by going to “Disk Management > Clone Genius > Clone A Partition”.