Accidently converted Fat32 External media drive to NTFS

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From what i know Partition Magic doesnt offer the same option to convert a FAT32 partition to NTFS like Windows does. From what i know it did a quick format to NTFS, which would have lost his information.

There is no way to just convert it back and get your data back.

How to convert a FAT16 volume or a FAT32 volume to an NTFS file system in Windows XP

As stated by Microsoft themselves in this Knowledge base article:

The conversion to NTFS is a one-way process. After you convert a drive or a partition to NTFS, you cannot convert it back to FAT or to FAT32. To restore the volume to the previous file system, you must reformat it as FAT or as FAT32. This action erases all existing data including your programs and personal files. In this case, you must either restore your data from a backup, or reinstall your operating system and programs.

So your only option will be to either format it back and use recovery software or to leave it NTFS and use Recovery Software.
 
So your only option will be to either format it back and use recovery software or to leave it NTFS and use Recovery Software.

^ ^ ^ I agree with the second option, Mak, but can he actually use the first option ? Because in the first option he would have to format first, thus losing the data ?
 
Since it sounds like it was already formatted it wont do any harm in formatting it back to FAT32 if they choose. They will have the same chance of recovery. Depending on the recovery software used.

So it is a option, just not as good as trying to recover the data now as it would require a 2nd format which could potentially corrupt or lose the data for good.
 
Kk let's get this straight. Sorry lex, but you definitly don't know how a harddrive works.

When you delete a file, you don't actually "delete" the 1's and 0's, just just "set it for being overwritten" by removing it's index from the tables, so that it can't be seen anymore in the file browser, but the file is still there, hence why you can "recover" it.

Also, the drive CAME with fat32, i did not want fat32, but externals always come with fat32 since it works on any os and there's caching problem and stuff. I wanted to go ntfs, but i did a mistake there and did the wrong thing in partitionmagic.

Oh and finally, all these people giving me recovary programs... You guys dont get it, its 900gb of data, I do NOT have another 1tb hdd to put it in, and ofcourse you can't rewrite it to the same drive..
 
You should apologize to Lex, he knows a **** of a lot more than you think.

Follow what Mak said and you should do fine. And a word to the wise, you might want to adjust your attitude (for the better).
 
I fully get it. You asked a question on how to revert it back to FAT32 and reset the header. I gave that information. You said you did not want to go the recovery route but that is the only option available.

You never said that you did not have the space required to accomplish this task. We can not provide answers when we are missing information.

There is no way to revert a drive back to a different file system and just get your data back. That is all there is to it. You only option is to find another way to get your data back which will be through recovery software.

We did answer your question with the information you provided.
 
Sorry, i really didn't mean to sound rude, it's just that im just under chock for losing 1tb of backup :\
It's just that, people keep giving me the same answers over and over, even though i specified that recovering to another harddrive was not really an option for me.

But yea, just a simple "it's not possible" will do, even though I still beleive there has to be a way, since the data is there, i don't see why there isn't a way just to reconstruct the header (since the tables are available with a simple scan).

Also, my bad, i did not go to page two when i posted. Thanks. I guess I'll just have to buy another harddrive if no supercomputer genius finds a way to do this.

EDIT: Wait a minute, how come the windows way of converting keeps the data?
Grr, PartitionMagic FTL.

Anyways, if there's any other information that would help you solve this another way... just ask?

EDIT2: my scan with TestDisk shows the full file/folder list, and even old deleted files btw.
 
The reason why it cant be done is you would need the previous header exactly as it was. Plus to edit a hard drive header is a tricky task and as such there is no guarantee that modifying the header would give you the desired results.

The reason the Windows way would have done it is because it would have converted the drive. From the sounds of it Partition Magic did a quick format and did not convert it. As i previously said i do not think that PM has the ability to convert but instead its method of conversion is a quick format.

The only option you have is to check the Disk Management screen within Windows and see what it says. If it says RAW or unpartitioned space, then recovery is the only option. If it shows that there is disk space being used just not assigned a drive letter you are in business as you just assign a drive letter. But it all depends on how Windows recognizes the drive that will depend on what actions, if any, can be taken.

When you say that the tables are there with a simple scan you mean with recovery software right?
 
Yes in the recovary program, i did set it to fat32 and it searched for fat32 tables and clusters and it found all the files, but there's an option to "write new extrapolated header" which doesn't really work (i think i need to convert to fat32 first not sure) and in the file list i can copy any file to another drive. There's also another option that says "recover FAT" but it says expert only and i dont wanna mess with my hdd right now.

This is what it shows in disk management
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/5069/07152009010624.png

And PM totally tricked me, since the button definitly DID say "Convert..." but somewhere in small text it said "all the data will be gone from the conversion"...

EDIT: wow now in PM it shows as unallocated but diskmanagement is still the same :X what have i done D:

EDIT2: here
Advanced FAT Repair - CGSecurity
it says that fat32 has a backup boot sector? fat12 and 16 dont but 32 does? but it might of been overwritten? :\

Also do you think this could help?
TestDisk Step By Step - CGSecurity

EDIT3: from that fisrt link
"If the boot sector is overwritten, it's also often the case for its backup as they are very near"
But then the next step is what i did, I scanned and it did find the files, but I didn't do Write yet, i don't wanna **** up anyone aproves this?
 
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