Should I switch to FAT32

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Mark - 26 Sep 2003 18:58 GMT

Hi,

Use computer for eBay, email, surfing, storing music, and
tons of word documents and photos. Will it be to my
advantage to switch to FAT 32 from Fat 16 and will
everything work properly? Have read info about FAT 32 and
don't know if possible "side effects" will harm my use of
my computer, too much technical stuff for my head! Please
write me at legendm4@yahoo.com

TIA,

Mark

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Jeff Richards - 27 Sep 2003 05:16 GMT

Problems are restricted to low-level disk utilities, which very few people
would use, and a small number of old DOS applications. I would be very
surprised if you noticed any side effects.

FAT32 will give you more usable disk space - up to 20% in some cases. It
also improves performance in most cases, although the effect is small.

Although the conversion is reliable, it is always advisable to back up
important files before making any changes. The converter will not run if
your disk has bad sectors. The first defrag you run after the conversion
will take a _long_ time (and you should run it, because the disk will be
badly fragmented).
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP W95/W98

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Mark

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Dianne - 27 Sep 2003 07:44 GMT

>-----Original Message-----
>Hi,
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>.
>Dear Mark,

I recently switched from FAT 16 to FAT 32. I am now trying
desperately to switch it back. Of 5 drives, only 3 are
working. My A drive(floppy) & E-CD rom are not even
accessible anymore. Certain programs have shut down: the
printer is out and I can only hope this message will send.

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