NTFS>FAT 32 ?

You could run the installation CD for several of the Microsoft operating sytems. Once the installation asks you where to install the OS and what type of file system to use it will format the partition. You could stop the installation at that point.

You don't really have any reason to use FAT 32 on a Linux box unless the same box will also run a Microsoft OS or if you want to move the disk to a machine running a Microsoft OS.

The Unix file systems availble under Linux are very good. I've always used the ext2 file system on my Linux boxes. If the computer is not going to run a Microsoft OS then don't bother with a Microsoft file system.

You can use FDISK to remove the partition, then use your Linux to create partitions and format them.

BAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) is another way to wipe the disk and permanently overwrite any previous data that was on it. It is available as a disk image (floppy or CD) on dban.sourceforge.net

A converstion from NTFS to fat32 isn't possible without reformatting the drive.
Naturally you can always convert a drive from Fat32 to NTFS usning the convert command line tool in WinNT/2000/XP, but not the other way around. My only suggestion would be to copy any data to another drive - reformat to fat32 and copy the data you want back to that drive.

Now owned by Symantec and called something else but does this little task on the fly. No sweat.

NTFS is a little more complicated to get rid of than the old FAT 32 partitions. But, it isn't impossible. Partition Magic will overwrite it, but it costs $$. My favorite utility is a little piece of genius that was buried in one of the expansion packs years ago. The name of the utility is DELPART.EXE. It is now posted in a number of places on the web. Make a bootable diskette (I use ME to make the diskette) and include DELPART.EXE on the diskette. Be sure the CMOS is modified to boot first from the A: Drive. After it boots, simply type DELPART and hit enter. One caveat; this was not written with tons of controls and safety backups. You get one chance to be CERTAIN that you want to lose that partition; then it is gone. This works on NT, 2000 Professional, and XP drives. I like being able to start totally FRESH. If you have any trouble finding the utility, e-mail me and I will send you a URL for it's location.

Boot system with a DOS disk.

At the command prompt, type fdisk c:. remove all partitions.

Then reboot and run a Format C:

Enjoy!

Paul,
First off you need to open my computer and locate which drive that the hard drive is in. For example we are going to pretend that is in drive "C". Open up the command prompt that is located under system tools. Once you have it up and running type this in. MAKE SURE that you use the correct letter for that drive cause I am just using "c" as an example. So here is what you will type in excluding the quotation marks.. "format c: /fs:fat32". After you type the command in press enter. You will see the progress at the bottom of the command window. Depending on the size of the hard drive the amount of time it will take varies. As soon as it says 100 percent completed your new file system will be fat32. OOHRAH