How to convert FAT32 to NTFS

by Kate / Tue Aug 07 2018 / PUBLISHED in Partition Magic Guide

Sometimes we need to use FAT32 on game consoles like PS3, but most of the time, NTFS is a better file system for most of the cases. Windows built-in a tool to do the conversion, convert.exe, we’ll show the detail steps

Convert.exe command to convert

Here’re the steps of converting FAT32 to NTFS in convert.exe command

Step 1. Press Windows + R and type cmd to open the command prompt

Step 2. type convert /? to list the commands this tool supports, which will be like this:

C:\Users\macrorit>convert /?
Converts a FAT volume to NTFS.

CONVERT volume /FS:NTFS [/V] [/CvtArea:filename] [/NoSecurity] [/X]


  volume      Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
              mount point, or volume name.
  /FS:NTFS    Specifies that the volume will be converted to NTFS.
  /V          Specifies that Convert will be run in verbose mode.
  /CvtArea:filename
              Specifies a contiguous file in the root directory
              that will be the place holder for NTFS system files.
  /NoSecurity Specifies that the security settings on the converted
              files and directories allow access by all users.
  /X          Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.
              All open handles to the volume will not be valid.

Step 3. type convert F:/FS:NTFS

C:\Users\macrorit>convert F:/FS:NTFS
The type of the file system is FAT32.
Volume Serial Number is 1078-15E2
Windows is verifying files and folders...
File and folder verification is complete.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.
   17,670,768 KB total disk space.
           16 KB in 1 hidden files.
           32 KB in 2 files.
   17,670,704 KB are available.

       16,384 bytes in each allocation unit.
    1,104,423 total allocation units on disk.
    1,104,419 allocation units available on disk.

Determining disk space required for file system conversion...
Total disk space:              17679413 KB
Free space on volume:          17670704 KB
Space required for conversion:    47854 KB
Converting file system
Data error (cyclic redundancy check).

or you may get another error message

C:\Users\macrorit>convert F:/FS:NTFS
The type of the file system is FAT32.
The volume is in use by another process. Chkdsk
might report errors when no corruption is present.
Volume Serial Number is 1084-14E2
Windows is verifying files and folders...
Windows found errors on the disk, but will not fix them
because disk checking was run without the /F (fix) parameter.
\System Volume Information\WPSettings.dat  first allocation unit is not valid. The entry will be truncated.
File and folder verification is complete.

Windows has checked the file system and found problems.
Run CHKDSK with the /F (fix) option to correct these.
   17,670,768 KB total disk space.
           16 KB in 1 hidden files.
           16 KB in 1 files.
   17,670,720 KB are available.

       16,384 bytes in each allocation unit.
    1,104,423 total allocation units on disk.
    1,104,420 allocation units available on disk.
The volume may have inconsistencies. Run Chkdsk, the disk checking utility.
The conversion failed.
F: was not converted to NTFS

I then type the command chkdsk /f, try to fix the found errors, but no luck

C:\Users\macrorit>chkdsk /F
Access Denied as you do not have sufficient privileges or
the disk may be locked by another process.
You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode
and make sure the disk is unlocked.
Like the message indicates, I have to unlock the partition before proceed, and I type the command chkdsk F: /f /x /r instead, and get no problem

C:\Users\macrorit>chkdsk F: /f /x /r
The type of the file system is FAT32.
Volume Serial Number is 1087-0DE2
Windows is verifying files and folders...
File and folder verification is complete.
Windows is verifying free space...
Free space verification is complete.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.
    9,983,368 KB total disk space.
            8 KB in 1 hidden files.
           16 KB in 2 files.
    9,983,336 KB are available.

        8,192 bytes in each allocation unit.
    1,247,921 total allocation units on disk.
    1,247,917 allocation units available on disk.

Then, restart the computer, run the convert command again, you’ll have the partition converted to NTFS

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