NTFS USB drive - can I reformat?

I have a usb drive formatted NTFS attached to pc using Vista HP. Can
usb drive this be reformatted and still work afterward? I know the
files will be lost. I know there used to be a problem about
reformatting NTFS drives.

Thanks

"Wolverine in Michigan" <> wrote in message
news:#...
> I have a usb drive formatted NTFS attached to pc using Vista HP. Can usb
> drive this be reformatted and still work afterward?

Yes.

> I know the files will be lost. I know there used to be a problem about
> reformatting NTFS drives.

Not that I've ever heard of.

> Thanks

Anytime.
--


"Don't pick a fight with an old man.
If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you."

Wolverine in Michigan wrote:
> I have a usb drive formatted NTFS attached to pc using Vista HP. Can
> usb drive this be reformatted and still work afterward? I know the
> files will be lost.


Yes.


> I know there used to be a problem about
> reformatting NTFS drives.
>


Really? This is the first time I've ever heard any such claim, in 14
years of supporting computers using the NTFS file system. Where'd you
get your information?


--

Bruce Chambers

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smlunatick wrote:

> The only problems formatting hard drives (any) is the fact that
> starting with XP we can not create FAT32 hard drive "partitions" in
> excess of 32 GB natively with Windows Disk Management.

Actually FAT32 support came to be with Windows 2000 (NT could only
handle FAT16 & NTFS) and Windows 2000 too was limited to formating FAT32
volumes to a maximum size of 32GB. This was not a technical inability
of Windows 2000, it's was a limit imposed to reduce or curb the use of
inefficient FAT32 volumes on enterprise class workstations.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/m...fidential.aspx
Windows Confidential A Brief and Incomplete History of FAT32

Note that although Windows 2000/XP are limited in the size of the FAT32
volume that they can format they can mount any size FAT32 disks prepared
by other operating systems.

John