If you upgrade your laptop from an earlier version of Windows to run
Windows XP, you’ll be given the opportunity to convert the disk from FAT32
to NTFS; the process does not delete data or applications on the disk. (Even
so, I would recommend you make backups of irreplaceable data before making
the update. Actually, you’re already performing regular updates every few
days anyway, right?)It is somewhere between difficult and impossible to convert a later file system
to an earlier one — for example to go from NTFS to FAT32, or from FAT16 to
FAT — and no good reasons to do so except for an unusual incompatibility.
You cannot directly convert to an earlier indexing system; the only way to do
this is to copy all programs and data from the drive to another media — a
properly formatted hard drive, a CD-R, a recordable DVD, or across a network
to another machine — and then to reformat the drive under the FAT or FAT32
system. Reformatting will erase all data on the drive; if you manage to copy
data to another media, you can later restore it to the re-indexed drive.Driving Toward Installation ........................................................................
Any number of scenarios involve installing a hard drive. Follow the steps for
those that pertain to your situation.Putting a new hard drive in an old laptop.......................................
Putting a new hard drive in a modern laptop generally falls into one of three
categories:So darn easyit should be required.
A small amount of hasslebut not so hard it’s not worth doing.Painful and worthy of question, so maybe you should try a workaround.I break each of these categories down, because I know you’re really, really
needing to know. That’s probably the reason you’ve read this far into this
chapter where you’ve just about learned everything you need to know to
build your own hard drive from tin foil and paper clips.The reason for the detail is to help you understand how a hard drive is built
and organized. For one thing, you’ll have a better understanding of error
messages and utility programs. And then if necessary, you’ll become a more
educated consumer in buying a replacement or upgrade.Chapter 7: Easing In to Hard Disks 127