>
>
>> Carey:
>> Setting aside the desirability of converting an XP NTFS file system to a
>> FAT32 file system based on the OP's need, let me just relate our
>> (limited) experience with this conversion process.
>>
>> Using Partition Magic 8, we've performed about a half-dozen of these
>> conversions, one or two of which was for our own experimentation
>> purposes. All the systems that were converted (going on about two years
>> or so now) are, to the best of our knowledge, functioning without
>> problems.
>>
>> In those "substantive" conversion cases, the need for conversion arose in
>> a strange way. The customers' (about three as I recall) systems were
>> using a custom-made program specifically designed for their businesses.
>> The program had been designed in pre-XP days and had (has) never been
>> upgraded, the developer having been long gone. When they upgraded their
>> systems from Win98 to XP, all sorts of problems arose in a way that made
>> their program dysfunctional. Since the program in question basically met
>> their needs, they desired to retain the program if at all possible.
>>
>> Through sheer accident, we traced the problems to the NTFS file system.
>> Following the conversion process to FAT32, the problems disappeared. To
>> this day (AFAIK) we're unable to determine the precise cause of the
>> problems relating to this or that aspect of the NTFS file system.
>>
>> This is not to say, of course, that a user should, for trivial purposes,
>> convert his or her NTFS file system to FAT32. But if the user has good &
>> sufficient reasons for wanting to do so, based on our (admittedly,
>> limited) experience, it's worth a try. With the understanding, of course,
>> that this is not a trivial process by any means and there is a real
>> possibility for data corruption with the user winding up with a
>> dysfunctional system. So it's vital that the user make a backup of his or
>> her important/critical files before undertaking this process, or better
>> still, create a cloned copy of the drive for safety's sake.
>> Anna


"Charlie Tame" <charlie@tames.net> wrote in message
news:OzjqfTPDGHA.1384@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Anna, I am not 100% sure but I think I recall reading of at least one DOS
> Database program that used it's own file locking system because DOS
> couldn't do it with the FAT format. IIRC they experienced problems when
> running with NTFS volumes for this reason. Perhaps you were seeing
> something like that? From what I recall it sounded like their locking
> system prevented NTFS locks and or vice versa resulting in files that
> couldn't later be unlocked.
>
> Again I am not sure I read this right, it was quite some time ago, but it
> does sound feasible.
>
> Charlie


Charlie:
You may very well be right and that might have been the root cause of their
problems. I really don't know. I only know that when we converted the OS
back to FAT32 the programs immediately became functional without any of
their former problems.
Anna