Reformat my EXT3 data partitions to NTFS--Best way?

[gumby]

Okay, forget about doing it in Windows Computer Management. My two data partitions are the same size and Windows Computer Management doesn't know their names and reports that both have 100% free space, which isn't true. So I wouldn't know which one I was formatting and could format the wrong one.

So I guess I'll use Gparted if I can figure out how exactly to do this.

[gumby]

Dave or anybody,

I successfully reformatted my Data1 partition as NTFS with Gparted. Then when I restarted I got lots of error messages about the partition not being ext3. I was able to start Mint and it's running OK but I can't access the reformatted partition. Can you tell me how I must edit fstab and any other files?

Here is my current Fstab: The reformatted partition is /dev/sda8

I haven't reinstalled Mint yet. Will do that later.

Thanks.

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/sda6
UUID=c0f43a4f-6fca-48b8-89bf-b2296f4332d4 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /dev/sda5
UUID=52e7132f-6553-46b7-a9ff-b8b760a19a49 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/sda1 /home/gumby/WinXP ntfs defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 0
/dev/sda8 /home/gumby/Data1 ext3 defaults,noatime 0 2
/dev/sda9 /home/gumby/Data2 ext3 defaults,noatime 0 2
# Transcend JetFlash1
# UUID=09EA-3A0B /media/trjf1 vfat rw,noauto,nosuid,nodev,users,shortname=mixed,utf8,umask=077,flush 0 0

[pluraldave]

You need to fix the Data1 line. We can pretty much copy the relevant part of the ntfs mount you already have, eg

Code: Select all

/dev/sda8 /home/gumby/Data1 ntfs defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 2

Permissions for ntfs are set at boot (with umask and gid or uid). I assume you are (have to be?) in group 46 so will get the appropriate permissions but if not open a terminal and type

Code: Select all

id gumby

This will give you a list of your uid (user id) number (probably 1000) and your gid (group id) numbers. You should then replace gid=46 with uid=<uid number> or gid=<gid number>. I think you can also use uid=gumby instead of the user id number.

[gumby]

Thanks so much, Dave. It worked. I did have to add the UID number though.

Should I reformat the other data partition now or after I reinstall Gloria? Now that I know how it should be easy.

Thanks again for all your help.

[pluraldave]

Might as well do it now, that way the installer can take care of your new fstab for you when you assign the partition mounts.

Make sure you copy your data across to the partition you just formatted first though.