John wrote:
On Fri, 12 Sep 2014 16:36:57 -0700, "Gene E. Bloch"
wrote:

On Fri, 12 Sep 2014 18:26:36 -0400, . . .winston wrote:

John wrote:
On Fri, 12 Sep 2014 13:55:30 -0400, ". . .winston"
wrote:

lid wrote:
I'm trying to convert an EXFAT drive to NTFS. The Windows program
CONVERT.EXE can't do it.

C:\Users\Tadeuszconvert e: /fs:ntfs /nosecurity /x
CONVERT is not available for EXFAT drives.

C:\Users\Tadeusz

Is it possible to convert the drive using some other program, or must
I reformat the drive with NTFS?


Afiak, not possible.

Backup, format the exFAT drive as NTFS, copy from the backup to the
newly formatted NTFS drive.

Why?
Why not just copy the data to an NTFS drive and use it as the primary
while keeping the exfat as a backup? Far less work.
Drives are cheap.
J.

Copying is much different than converting an existing file system on a
given drive to another file system on the same drive (the op's question)
without moving/copying data. (i.e. convert one file system to another
with data intact).

I think John knows that, but recall that everyone who seems to know has
said that conversion is not possible in this instance.

Not only does John know that but John also can't understand why
Winston brought it up as it is irrelevant. I know what the OP asked, I
was only offering him an alternative route to NTFS which involved less
work than the routes many others have suggested and would have given
him a backup of his exfat volume.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convert_%28command%29
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb490885.aspx
Neither of those mention exfat.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/214579 has this little warning:

quote
NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the
conversion from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full
backup of the data on the drive that it is to be converted prior to
executing the convert command. It is also recommended to verify the
integrity of the backup before proceeding, as well as to run RDISK and
update the emergency repair disk (ERD).
/quote

If you are going to do a recommended back up anyway ...


Just to ram home the point, here's a message from someone who is not
me:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answer...sing-data.html
he seems to think "convert exfat ntfs" isn't possible. He's in good
company. No one things it can be done. Format, yes, convert, no.
Of course, I knew all of this.

I knew trying to be helpful was a mistake.

J.



Since were in the third person response - I don't think ...winston
specifically said it was irrelevant. Giving the op of the benefit of
the doubt (since it was not mentioned) that no other drive was available
thus the only immediate route without more hardware would be to backup,
format exFAT media as NTFS, then copy from backup.

The op received a lot of helpful advice on what could be done from a
variety of respondents including John and ...winston - though in 3 of
the op's follow up replies not a single mention of the availability of
another drive or consideration of purchasing another drive.


--
...winston
msft mvp consumer apps