John H. wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:13:58 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:07:52 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
Don't fool around. Just buy a bigger HD, and format it in NTFS.
Then reformat the other one, and use it too.
Better to have at least 2 backup drives for Murphy Law insurance.

--Vic

Damn, that's easy. Will any external hard drive be formatable in NTFS?

Normally they are, in fact, today most computers purchased with WinXP
are formated in NTFS.

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:22:28 -0500, HK wrote:

HK wrote:
Vic Smith wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:07:52 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my
documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough
room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is
FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).

Don't fool around. Just buy a bigger HD, and format it in NTFS.
Then reformat the other one, and use it too.
Better to have at least 2 backup drives for Murphy Law insurance.

--Vic


I don't usually help idiots because it only encourages them,
but you can easily convert a FAT32 drive to NTFS without a great risk of
losing data.

First, stop the backup. Then:

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click
Command Prompt.

At the command prompt, type the following, where drive letter is the
drive that you want to convert:
convert drive letter: /fs:ntfs
(As an example, type the following command to convert drive E to NTFS:
convert e: /fs:ntfs)

(Note If the operating system is on the drive that you are converting,
you will be prompted to schedule the task when you restart the computer
because the conversion cannot be completed while the operating system is
running. When you are prompted, click YES.)

When you receive the following message at the command prompt, type the
volume label of the drive that you are converting, and then press ENTER:

The type of the file system is FAT.
Enter the current volume label for drive drive letter

When the conversion to NTFS is complete, you receive the following
message at the command prompt:
Conversion complete

Quit the command prompt.



These are Mickeysoft's directions, not mine. I've done this a few times
without complications and without losing data.



Whoops...forgot the URL

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881

Thanks!! That'll be cheaper than a new computer or a new hard drive!

Isn't Microsoft great?
--
John H

On Jan 10, 8:07*am, John H. wrote:
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT 32..

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

Don't make it any more complicated than it needs to be. Just by a new
big external HD, they are cheap.

"John H." wrote in message
...
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room
for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT
32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

There are some utilities like "Partition Magic" that will allow you to
resize/create partitions without losing data, of course no guarantees. If
the backed up data is just that, a backup then the data you're concerned
about is still on your main HDD(s).

With on the partition utilities you could create a new partition on your
160GB HDD, format this new partition as NTFS, move the data from the FAT32
partition, reformat the FAT32 partition to NTFS.

wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:07:52 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).

You have a couple of options.

If there is enough room on your computer's harddrive, copy the
archives there temporarily while you work on the external drive. Then
you can use a program called "Partition Magic" to do the
reconfiguration without risk to your archives. Partition Magic "could"
do the conversion with the files in place, BUT: No matter what method
you use to convert the disk to NTFS, the only way to guarantee your
files will be safe is to back them up somewhere else.


The other option is to buy another external hard drive. They are dirt
cheap these days. Newegg is very reliable to deal with and has a ton
of external drives to chose from. They even have a no name 160gb drive
for less than $70 including shipping. I've got several Maxtor's and
they have been great. Still relatively cheap.


I also HIGHLY recommend that you do NOT use Windows Backup for
anything you care about. The reason is simple: When you want to
recover those backups a couple of years from now, you will find that
every new version of Windows has a new version of windows backup, and
they are NOT compatible! Use a separate backup program.




Jesus. This is overkill. It is a relatively trivial task to convert a
drive from FAT32 to the New Technology File System, aka NTFS. There's a
simple procedure to accomplish it, which I posted here. You can do it
without losing the data on the hard drive. I've done it a few times
without any problems.

John H. wrote:
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).

Forget about windows backup utilities and get Retrospect.

wrote:
On Jan 10, 8:07 am, John H. wrote:
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

Don't make it any more complicated than it needs to be. Just by a new
big external HD, they are cheap.


What's next? A treatise on computer science from the ReggieJerk that
summarizes something he read somewhere?

All Herring has to do is CONVERT the drive from FAT32 to NTFS. It is a
simple, straightforward procedure and the data on the drive will still
be there.

BAR wrote:
John H. wrote:
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my
documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough
room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is
FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).

Forget about windows backup utilities and get Retrospect.




And Bertie claims to be a computer expert.

John H. wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:10:30 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:07:52 -0500, John H.
wrote:

Now what?
Buy a new computer.

Yeah but..yeah, but... oh ****.

Rather than using backup, can you just copy the files manually using
windows explorer. Or perhaps different backup software?

JimH wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Jan 10, 8:07 am, John H. wrote:
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my
documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room
for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT
32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."
Don't make it any more complicated than it needs to be. Just by a new
big external HD, they are cheap.

What's next? A treatise on computer science from the ReggieJerk that
summarizes something he read somewhere?

All Herring has to do is CONVERT the drive from FAT32 to NTFS. It is a
simple, straightforward procedure and the data on the drive will still be
there.


This is turning out to be just as funny as the battery charger thread he
started.

BTW: You were spot on regarding conversion of FAT32 to NTFS. Even a 10
year old kid can do it w/o a problem.




It obviously is too complicated a procedure for many of the "computer
experts" here, who suggested he needed a new hard drive, a new computer,
a new operating system, a new hairpiece, new teeth, whatever. Some of
these "computer experts" probably have the same level of "boating
expertise."





--
George W. Bush - the 43rd Best President Ever!