How to convert FAT16 to FAT32 with Windows Millennium Edition

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article describes how to convert a drive that uses the FAT16 file system to the FAT32 file system in Windows Millennium Edition (Me).

WARNING: After you convert your drive to the FAT32 file system, you cannot convert it back to the original FAT file system. Also, this procedure does not work if your drive has bad sectors.


MORE INFORMATION

To convert your drive to the FAT32 file system, follow the steps in this section. NOTE: Before you convert your drive to the FAT32 file system, uninstall any utilities or tools that protect or encrypt the Master Boot Record (MBR) or partition table (for example, uninstall the Bootlock utility that is included with Symantec Norton Your Eyes Only).

  1. Create a Windows Me Startup disk.

    For additional information about how to create a Startup disk, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
    Q267287 How to Create a Startup Disk in Windows Me
  2. Restart your computer with the Windows Me Startup disk in the floppy disk drive.

  3. On the Startup menu, choose option 3 to start your computer without CD-ROM support.

    If your computer does not boot from the floppy disk and does not display the four Startup disk menu options, the boot sequence on the computer may not be configured properly. Refer to the documentation for your computer or contact your hardware manufacturer to determine if the boot sequence is set to boot from the floppy disk drive.

  4. At a command prompt, type cvt drive:, where drive is the drive that you want to convert to the FAT32 file system.

    NOTE: The Cvt.exe file is not on the floppy disk, it is in the Windows\Command folder. The Startup disk automatically sets the path for the Cvt.exe file to the C:\Windows\Command folder. If Windows is not installed in this folder and you receive a bad command or file name error message, type drive:\windows_folder\command\cvt.exe drive2 at a command prompt, where drive is the drive in which Windows is installed, windows_folder is the Windows folder, and drive2 is the drive that you want to convert.

  5. Press ENTER so that ScanDisk can check the drive for errors before the file system is converted.

  6. After the drive is converted, the amount of free space that you gained by converting to FAT32 is displayed.

  7. Remove the Startup disk from your floppy disk drive, and then press ENTER when you are prompted to restart your computer.

NOTE: If you attempt to run the Cvt.exe file in Windows Me, you may receive the following error message:
The Converter was unable to get a lock on the drive.

The conversion was canceled.
You receive this error message if you first use the lock command to lock the drive that you are trying to convert.

NOTE: The file system does not convert correctly if you have both the FAT16 and FAT32 file systems on your drive. For example, if you have a computer with the following configuration
C < 512 meg FAT 16
D FAT32
E FAT32
F FAT32
G FAT16
and you try to convert drive G to FAT32, the conversion process starts, and then you receive the following error message:
The Converter was unable to find the drive partition.
The conversion was canceled.
Click OK to quit the converter tool.

Return to Questions