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by mhertlein May 7, 2002 last reply Aug 6, 2002

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I have Windows Xp and I have my hard drive partitioned into 3 partitions. I cannot figure out how to format the hard drive. Each time I try it says it is a FAT 32. Can you tell me how to format a Fat 32? I want to format the whole hard drive and go back to a hard drive whithout a partition. Thank you.

15 replies

by vinnyd May 7, 2002

You must remove the partitions that you have.

Then partition the hard drive as one partition.

Then you can format it as Fat32.

You could also use a program like Partition Magic to reconfigure the hard drive.

by mhertlein Aug 6, 2002

The question was auto-closed by TechRepublic

by hinrgman May 7, 2002

you have to run fdisk first. delete the existing partitions and then create a new partition for the whole hard drive. Then you have to format the newly partitioned disk. This process will delete all files you have on the drive now so don't forget tobackup any files you need.

by mhertlein Aug 6, 2002

The question was auto-closed by TechRepublic

by timwalsh May 8, 2002

If the the disk is larger than 32 GB, that is your problem. Although Windows XP can mount and support volumes larger than 32GB, the Format tool included with XP will not format a FAT32 volume larger than 32GB (by design).

Check out the followingMS Knowledgebase article:

Limitations of the FAT32 File System in Windows XP (Q314463)

Your options are:
1. Change to NTFS; or
2. Boot from a Win9x or WinME bootdisk and use the fdisk and format utilities.

by mhertlein Aug 6, 2002

The question was auto-closed by TechRepublic

by timthetoolman May 8, 2002

Hi,

The following procedure should do it for you.

Backup any data you feel you need to keep.
Boot from your XP CD and begin an installation.
When it gets to the question about the kind of installation, dont choose "Upgrade Recommended" rather, choose the fresh installation option.
You will be led through a series of screens where you can select and delete all the partitions on your disk
Create one big partition and format it with either NTFS (best) or FAT32 (if you want to be able to read it from a bootable floppy or Win9x if you decide to have a dual boot later on)

That should do it...

Cheers,
Tim.

by mhertlein Aug 6, 2002

The question was auto-closed by TechRepublic

by rgrowcock May 8, 2002

If you have the XP disk and plan on installing from it, you can let XP make those changes for you. Just put the CD in and boot you system with the CD-Rom as the first boot drive.

During the install, XP will look for previous version of NT. Whenit finds your current install, hit "ESC" to continue with a "Fresh" install. You will be asked which partition you wish to install XP on. Delete all of your current partitions by following the directions. Once all of the partitions are gone and you have an "unpartitioned" space, choose this to install XP on. Setup will ask you if you want to use the entire space, just select yes. Format using NTFS or Fat32, I believe you are given the choice, and sit back and enjoy while XP does all of thehard work.

by mhertlein Aug 6, 2002

The question was auto-closed by TechRepublic

by machinetype May 8, 2002

If you have the XP CD you can boot from that (assuming you have it set up to boot from cd in the BIOS) you can do all the partinitioning and formating you want from within the setup program.