extracting files

Jana · Post by **Jana** » 26 Apr 2007, 07:49

is there a program that can extract files bigger than 4GB?

Post by **Bojan** » 26 Apr 2007, 09:13

Are you sure that the target hard drive you're extracting to is NTFS?
4GB is the filesize limit for FAT32.

Jana · Post by **Jana** » 26 Apr 2007, 09:57

that means im not able to extract that file at all!

Skyline_man · Post by **Skyline_man** » 26 Apr 2007, 14:26

Jana wrote:that means im not able to extract that file at all!

Yes you can, just convert the drive to NTFS.

Jana · Post by **Jana** » 26 Apr 2007, 19:37

is it posible to do that on virtual drive? it would be easier for me, cuz i can use it only for that job!

Tuners Rock · Post by **Tuners Rock** » 27 Apr 2007, 03:28

i dunno, sounds impossible

Post by **Pabl0z** » 27 Apr 2007, 03:28

If you don't know, why bother replying?

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 27 Apr 2007, 03:37

Depends on what you mean by virtual drive. The most common ones are just empty folders mounted as drives. If that's the case for you, you'll need to convert the main drive to NTFS. Don't worry, there's no loss of data, and quite a few gains from converting. Only known problem is that Windows 2000 might have trouble accessing that partition, and Windows 95, 98, and ME won't be able to access it at all.

Jana · Post by **Jana** » 27 Apr 2007, 09:46

so, if i switch drive E to NTFS i wouldnt lose anything and i dont need to switch it back to FAT32, right?

Post by **Pabl0z** » 27 Apr 2007, 11:20

I think you have to have a certain amount of free space to make the conversion.
Can't remember how much though...
Anybody else remember anything about this?

Skyline_man · Post by **Skyline_man** » 27 Apr 2007, 13:33

Just convert the drive that has the most free space to NTFS (at least 4 GB) with Partition Magic, and then extract the RAR file to it.

Jana · Post by **Jana** » 27 Apr 2007, 20:21

ok, but its not necessary to change it back to FAT32?

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 27 Apr 2007, 22:02

Not at all. You'd only need to do so if you plan on using Windows 95, 98, or ME to access that drive. NTFS is the file system you should be using with Windows anyways. It supports a very weak compression algorithm, so you'll actually be able to store more on the hard drive.

There's a command line utility that can convert the drive. It's built right into Windows, so you won't need some additional fancy utilities. You will need to defragment your hard drive afterwards, as a file system conversion will almost always leave the hard drive severely fragmented. Running a disk check wouldn't hurt either.

This should tell you all you need to know. I suggest that you run a disc check before and after the file system conversion.

EDIT:
The only danger is if the power supply cuts off before the conversion is completed, the drive will become unreadable by Windows (and most other programs).

Jana · Post by **Jana** » 28 Apr 2007, 09:15

tnx prince. what about running downloads to the drive i want to convert?

EDIT: NOT WAREZ!

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 28 Apr 2007, 15:11

Eh, what?

Once the file system is converted, as long as it's read in Windows XP, you should not encounter any problems.

Jana · Post by **Jana** » 28 Apr 2007, 18:01

i want to convert drive D, but my dad is downloading something to D drive (big files), so would i lose any progress?

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 28 Apr 2007, 18:09

He is downloading? Do you mean like a part-by-part download, or is he downloading everything at the same time, like a normal download using Internet Explorer? If it's an all-at-once download, you're best off waiting till the entire download is finished because you will need to restart the computer, and you will lose access to the drive while the file system conversion is occuring. If it's a part-by-part download, I don't see anything going wrong. Part-by-part downloads know the directory the file is going in, and write the file data into that directory. Just don't be downloading while the file system conversion is in progress.

I could go into more detail on how the file system conversion works. Basically in FAT, there's a File Access Table that keeps records of the locations of all files on the disc. In NTFS, this job is done by the Master File Table (MFT). Since it's basically the same conceptual system (in it's very simplicity), I can't see anything going wrong in the file system conversion process.

Jana · Post by **Jana** » 02 May 2007, 11:34

well my D drive is now NTFS and everything is fine. TNX PRINCE!