How do I convert a FAT32 to ext3 (keeping the data on it)
Is there a way to convert a FAT partition to ext3 (or other ext..) while keeping the data on it? I don't have access to a external USB hard disk to temporarily store the data, so I'd like to just convert it while the data sits on the partition. Is that possible?
ext3 fat32
edited Nov 20 '10 at 15:09
8128
24.9k21101137
asked Nov 20 '10 at 13:11
Alexander EngelhardtAlexander Engelhardt
2321211
add a comment |
Is there a way to convert a FAT partition to ext3 (or other ext..) while keeping the data on it? I don't have access to a external USB hard disk to temporarily store the data, so I'd like to just convert it while the data sits on the partition. Is that possible?
ext3 fat32
edited Nov 20 '10 at 15:09
8128
24.9k21101137
asked Nov 20 '10 at 13:11
Alexander EngelhardtAlexander Engelhardt
2321211
How big is your disk and how much data is there on it? I have an idea, but it requires you having enough space to store a copy of everything you wish to preserve.
– user2405
Nov 20 '10 at 13:20
It is possible if you have at least as much free space as your largest file + the minimum size used by ext3 for FS headers & metadata. But doing it like that is not really safe if you don't have backups (which you obviously don't have) and depending on the free space available it might take a lot of time and manual work.
– JanC
Nov 20 '10 at 13:36
Just assume my hard disk is 90% full. I can't copy the whole partition to a temporary filesystem. I think I will have to buy an extern hdd.
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:32
add a comment |
Is there a way to convert a FAT partition to ext3 (or other ext..) while keeping the data on it? I don't have access to a external USB hard disk to temporarily store the data, so I'd like to just convert it while the data sits on the partition. Is that possible?
ext3 fat32
edited Nov 20 '10 at 15:09
8128
24.9k21101137
asked Nov 20 '10 at 13:11
Alexander EngelhardtAlexander Engelhardt
2321211
Is there a way to convert a FAT partition to ext3 (or other ext..) while keeping the data on it? I don't have access to a external USB hard disk to temporarily store the data, so I'd like to just convert it while the data sits on the partition. Is that possible?
ext3 fat32
ext3 fat32
edited Nov 20 '10 at 15:09
8128
24.9k21101137
asked Nov 20 '10 at 13:11
Alexander EngelhardtAlexander Engelhardt
2321211
edited Nov 20 '10 at 15:09
8128
24.9k21101137
asked Nov 20 '10 at 13:11
Alexander EngelhardtAlexander Engelhardt
2321211
edited Nov 20 '10 at 15:09
8128
24.9k21101137
edited Nov 20 '10 at 15:09
8128
24.9k21101137
edited Nov 20 '10 at 15:09
8128
24.9k21101137
24.9k21101137
asked Nov 20 '10 at 13:11
Alexander EngelhardtAlexander Engelhardt
2321211
asked Nov 20 '10 at 13:11
Alexander EngelhardtAlexander Engelhardt
2321211
asked Nov 20 '10 at 13:11
Alexander EngelhardtAlexander Engelhardt
2321211
2321211
How big is your disk and how much data is there on it? I have an idea, but it requires you having enough space to store a copy of everything you wish to preserve.
– user2405
Nov 20 '10 at 13:20
It is possible if you have at least as much free space as your largest file + the minimum size used by ext3 for FS headers & metadata. But doing it like that is not really safe if you don't have backups (which you obviously don't have) and depending on the free space available it might take a lot of time and manual work.
– JanC
Nov 20 '10 at 13:36
Just assume my hard disk is 90% full. I can't copy the whole partition to a temporary filesystem. I think I will have to buy an extern hdd.
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:32
add a comment |
How big is your disk and how much data is there on it? I have an idea, but it requires you having enough space to store a copy of everything you wish to preserve.
– user2405
Nov 20 '10 at 13:20
It is possible if you have at least as much free space as your largest file + the minimum size used by ext3 for FS headers & metadata. But doing it like that is not really safe if you don't have backups (which you obviously don't have) and depending on the free space available it might take a lot of time and manual work.
– JanC
Nov 20 '10 at 13:36
Just assume my hard disk is 90% full. I can't copy the whole partition to a temporary filesystem. I think I will have to buy an extern hdd.
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:32
How big is your disk and how much data is there on it? I have an idea, but it requires you having enough space to store a copy of everything you wish to preserve.
– user2405
Nov 20 '10 at 13:20
How big is your disk and how much data is there on it? I have an idea, but it requires you having enough space to store a copy of everything you wish to preserve.
– user2405
Nov 20 '10 at 13:20
It is possible if you have at least as much free space as your largest file + the minimum size used by ext3 for FS headers & metadata. But doing it like that is not really safe if you don't have backups (which you obviously don't have) and depending on the free space available it might take a lot of time and manual work.
– JanC
Nov 20 '10 at 13:36
It is possible if you have at least as much free space as your largest file + the minimum size used by ext3 for FS headers & metadata. But doing it like that is not really safe if you don't have backups (which you obviously don't have) and depending on the free space available it might take a lot of time and manual work.
– JanC
Nov 20 '10 at 13:36
Just assume my hard disk is 90% full. I can't copy the whole partition to a temporary filesystem. I think I will have to buy an extern hdd.
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:32
Just assume my hard disk is 90% full. I can't copy the whole partition to a temporary filesystem. I think I will have to buy an extern hdd.
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:32
add a comment |
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
If you're not booting off the partition (is this even possible without using wubi?) and it's at least half free then just use gparted (paste apt:gparted in firefox).
- Run it from the menu.
- Find out the name of your partition
usingfdisk -lin a terminal. The
partition named something like
/dev/sda* where * is a number. Or look through the list in the upper right edge of gparted - Resize the fat32 partition to less then half of it's original size
- Create a new ext* partition
- Move all files over to the ext partition
- Delete the old one and resize the ext partition.
Note that I've done this several times and it always worked as intended HOWEVER there are many reports of people that lost data this way. Depending on the amount of data you can use Ubuntu One or Dropbox to backup your stuff. They both offer 2 GB which is most probably not enough.
answered Nov 20 '10 at 13:55
turboturbo
3,31732245
Hey, I used gparted to resize and move the partitions around. Now I just have to convert the filesystem. Apparently it's not possible to change a filesystem /with data on it/ without tricks?
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:29
You already split the partition have created ext and moved your files over? Then you can just delete the old fat one and resize ext. No converting needed here.
– turbo
Nov 20 '10 at 15:08
add a comment |
Direct conversion is not possible. You will need to copy the data to another drive/partition, change the filesystem, then copy the data back.
edited 1 hour ago
fosslinux
2,39521837
answered Nov 20 '10 at 20:09
Little JawaLittle Jawa
2,29321525
add a comment |
It is posible to convert.
- FAT32 --> NTFS: see "Convert FAT32 partition to NTFS without data loss?"
- NTFS --> ext: use
anyconvertfs, see this answer.
However, by definition, any conversion is risky, and the only way to guarantee you will "keep the data" is to do a back-up... but in that case it's simpler to delete partition -> create partition -> copy as per the other aanswers.
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
answered Mar 17 '14 at 8:44
ignisignis
3,2812024
it seemsanyconvertfscan also convert from FAT32 to ext3 directly
– phuclv
Jun 10 '17 at 17:16
The question asks for FAT32 to ext3, not to NTFS.
– fosslinux
1 hour ago
add a comment |
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
If you're not booting off the partition (is this even possible without using wubi?) and it's at least half free then just use gparted (paste apt:gparted in firefox).
- Run it from the menu.
- Find out the name of your partition
usingfdisk -lin a terminal. The
partition named something like
/dev/sda* where * is a number. Or look through the list in the upper right edge of gparted - Resize the fat32 partition to less then half of it's original size
- Create a new ext* partition
- Move all files over to the ext partition
- Delete the old one and resize the ext partition.
Note that I've done this several times and it always worked as intended HOWEVER there are many reports of people that lost data this way. Depending on the amount of data you can use Ubuntu One or Dropbox to backup your stuff. They both offer 2 GB which is most probably not enough.
answered Nov 20 '10 at 13:55
turboturbo
3,31732245
Hey, I used gparted to resize and move the partitions around. Now I just have to convert the filesystem. Apparently it's not possible to change a filesystem /with data on it/ without tricks?
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:29
You already split the partition have created ext and moved your files over? Then you can just delete the old fat one and resize ext. No converting needed here.
– turbo
Nov 20 '10 at 15:08
add a comment |
If you're not booting off the partition (is this even possible without using wubi?) and it's at least half free then just use gparted (paste apt:gparted in firefox).
- Run it from the menu.
- Find out the name of your partition
usingfdisk -lin a terminal. The
partition named something like
/dev/sda* where * is a number. Or look through the list in the upper right edge of gparted - Resize the fat32 partition to less then half of it's original size
- Create a new ext* partition
- Move all files over to the ext partition
- Delete the old one and resize the ext partition.
Note that I've done this several times and it always worked as intended HOWEVER there are many reports of people that lost data this way. Depending on the amount of data you can use Ubuntu One or Dropbox to backup your stuff. They both offer 2 GB which is most probably not enough.
answered Nov 20 '10 at 13:55
turboturbo
3,31732245
Hey, I used gparted to resize and move the partitions around. Now I just have to convert the filesystem. Apparently it's not possible to change a filesystem /with data on it/ without tricks?
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:29
You already split the partition have created ext and moved your files over? Then you can just delete the old fat one and resize ext. No converting needed here.
– turbo
Nov 20 '10 at 15:08
add a comment |
If you're not booting off the partition (is this even possible without using wubi?) and it's at least half free then just use gparted (paste apt:gparted in firefox).
- Run it from the menu.
- Find out the name of your partition
usingfdisk -lin a terminal. The
partition named something like
/dev/sda* where * is a number. Or look through the list in the upper right edge of gparted - Resize the fat32 partition to less then half of it's original size
- Create a new ext* partition
- Move all files over to the ext partition
- Delete the old one and resize the ext partition.
Note that I've done this several times and it always worked as intended HOWEVER there are many reports of people that lost data this way. Depending on the amount of data you can use Ubuntu One or Dropbox to backup your stuff. They both offer 2 GB which is most probably not enough.
answered Nov 20 '10 at 13:55
turboturbo
3,31732245
If you're not booting off the partition (is this even possible without using wubi?) and it's at least half free then just use gparted (paste apt:gparted in firefox).
- Run it from the menu.
- Find out the name of your partition
usingfdisk -lin a terminal. The
partition named something like
/dev/sda* where * is a number. Or look through the list in the upper right edge of gparted - Resize the fat32 partition to less then half of it's original size
- Create a new ext* partition
- Move all files over to the ext partition
- Delete the old one and resize the ext partition.
Note that I've done this several times and it always worked as intended HOWEVER there are many reports of people that lost data this way. Depending on the amount of data you can use Ubuntu One or Dropbox to backup your stuff. They both offer 2 GB which is most probably not enough.
answered Nov 20 '10 at 13:55
turboturbo
3,31732245
answered Nov 20 '10 at 13:55
turboturbo
3,31732245
answered Nov 20 '10 at 13:55
turboturbo
3,31732245
answered Nov 20 '10 at 13:55
turboturbo
3,31732245
3,31732245
Hey, I used gparted to resize and move the partitions around. Now I just have to convert the filesystem. Apparently it's not possible to change a filesystem /with data on it/ without tricks?
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:29
You already split the partition have created ext and moved your files over? Then you can just delete the old fat one and resize ext. No converting needed here.
– turbo
Nov 20 '10 at 15:08
add a comment |
Hey, I used gparted to resize and move the partitions around. Now I just have to convert the filesystem. Apparently it's not possible to change a filesystem /with data on it/ without tricks?
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:29
You already split the partition have created ext and moved your files over? Then you can just delete the old fat one and resize ext. No converting needed here.
– turbo
Nov 20 '10 at 15:08
Hey, I used gparted to resize and move the partitions around. Now I just have to convert the filesystem. Apparently it's not possible to change a filesystem /with data on it/ without tricks?
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:29
Hey, I used gparted to resize and move the partitions around. Now I just have to convert the filesystem. Apparently it's not possible to change a filesystem /with data on it/ without tricks?
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:29
You already split the partition have created ext and moved your files over? Then you can just delete the old fat one and resize ext. No converting needed here.
– turbo
Nov 20 '10 at 15:08
You already split the partition have created ext and moved your files over? Then you can just delete the old fat one and resize ext. No converting needed here.
– turbo
Nov 20 '10 at 15:08
add a comment |
Direct conversion is not possible. You will need to copy the data to another drive/partition, change the filesystem, then copy the data back.
edited 1 hour ago
fosslinux
2,39521837
answered Nov 20 '10 at 20:09
Little JawaLittle Jawa
2,29321525
add a comment |
Direct conversion is not possible. You will need to copy the data to another drive/partition, change the filesystem, then copy the data back.
edited 1 hour ago
fosslinux
2,39521837
answered Nov 20 '10 at 20:09
Little JawaLittle Jawa
2,29321525
add a comment |
Direct conversion is not possible. You will need to copy the data to another drive/partition, change the filesystem, then copy the data back.
edited 1 hour ago
fosslinux
2,39521837
answered Nov 20 '10 at 20:09
Little JawaLittle Jawa
2,29321525
Direct conversion is not possible. You will need to copy the data to another drive/partition, change the filesystem, then copy the data back.
edited 1 hour ago
fosslinux
2,39521837
answered Nov 20 '10 at 20:09
Little JawaLittle Jawa
2,29321525
edited 1 hour ago
fosslinux
2,39521837
edited 1 hour ago
fosslinux
2,39521837
edited 1 hour ago
fosslinux
2,39521837
2,39521837
answered Nov 20 '10 at 20:09
Little JawaLittle Jawa
2,29321525
answered Nov 20 '10 at 20:09
Little JawaLittle Jawa
2,29321525
answered Nov 20 '10 at 20:09
Little JawaLittle Jawa
2,29321525
2,29321525
add a comment |
add a comment |
It is posible to convert.
- FAT32 --> NTFS: see "Convert FAT32 partition to NTFS without data loss?"
- NTFS --> ext: use
anyconvertfs, see this answer.
However, by definition, any conversion is risky, and the only way to guarantee you will "keep the data" is to do a back-up... but in that case it's simpler to delete partition -> create partition -> copy as per the other aanswers.
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
answered Mar 17 '14 at 8:44
ignisignis
3,2812024
it seemsanyconvertfscan also convert from FAT32 to ext3 directly
– phuclv
Jun 10 '17 at 17:16
The question asks for FAT32 to ext3, not to NTFS.
– fosslinux
1 hour ago
add a comment |
It is posible to convert.
- FAT32 --> NTFS: see "Convert FAT32 partition to NTFS without data loss?"
- NTFS --> ext: use
anyconvertfs, see this answer.
However, by definition, any conversion is risky, and the only way to guarantee you will "keep the data" is to do a back-up... but in that case it's simpler to delete partition -> create partition -> copy as per the other aanswers.
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
answered Mar 17 '14 at 8:44
ignisignis
3,2812024
it seemsanyconvertfscan also convert from FAT32 to ext3 directly
– phuclv
Jun 10 '17 at 17:16
The question asks for FAT32 to ext3, not to NTFS.
– fosslinux
1 hour ago
add a comment |
It is posible to convert.
- FAT32 --> NTFS: see "Convert FAT32 partition to NTFS without data loss?"
- NTFS --> ext: use
anyconvertfs, see this answer.
However, by definition, any conversion is risky, and the only way to guarantee you will "keep the data" is to do a back-up... but in that case it's simpler to delete partition -> create partition -> copy as per the other aanswers.
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
answered Mar 17 '14 at 8:44
ignisignis
3,2812024
It is posible to convert.
- FAT32 --> NTFS: see "Convert FAT32 partition to NTFS without data loss?"
- NTFS --> ext: use
anyconvertfs, see this answer.
However, by definition, any conversion is risky, and the only way to guarantee you will "keep the data" is to do a back-up... but in that case it's simpler to delete partition -> create partition -> copy as per the other aanswers.
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
answered Mar 17 '14 at 8:44
ignisignis
3,2812024
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
1
answered Mar 17 '14 at 8:44
ignisignis
3,2812024
answered Mar 17 '14 at 8:44
ignisignis
3,2812024
answered Mar 17 '14 at 8:44
ignisignis
3,2812024
3,2812024
it seemsanyconvertfscan also convert from FAT32 to ext3 directly
– phuclv
Jun 10 '17 at 17:16
The question asks for FAT32 to ext3, not to NTFS.
– fosslinux
1 hour ago
add a comment |
it seemsanyconvertfscan also convert from FAT32 to ext3 directly
– phuclv
Jun 10 '17 at 17:16
The question asks for FAT32 to ext3, not to NTFS.
– fosslinux
1 hour ago
it seems
anyconvertfs can also convert from FAT32 to ext3 directly– phuclv
Jun 10 '17 at 17:16
it seems
anyconvertfs can also convert from FAT32 to ext3 directly– phuclv
Jun 10 '17 at 17:16
The question asks for FAT32 to ext3, not to NTFS.
– fosslinux
1 hour ago
The question asks for FAT32 to ext3, not to NTFS.
– fosslinux
1 hour ago
add a comment |
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How big is your disk and how much data is there on it? I have an idea, but it requires you having enough space to store a copy of everything you wish to preserve.
– user2405
Nov 20 '10 at 13:20
It is possible if you have at least as much free space as your largest file + the minimum size used by ext3 for FS headers & metadata. But doing it like that is not really safe if you don't have backups (which you obviously don't have) and depending on the free space available it might take a lot of time and manual work.
– JanC
Nov 20 '10 at 13:36
Just assume my hard disk is 90% full. I can't copy the whole partition to a temporary filesystem. I think I will have to buy an extern hdd.
– Alexander Engelhardt
Nov 20 '10 at 14:32