Posts Tagged ‘norton’

How to convert NTFS to FAT32

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How do you revert an NTFS partition to a FAT32 partition in windows XP (SP2)… Can you only use WinXP or do you need an external software?

Yes you can convert NTFS to FAT32. But before I tell you how I need to ask: Why?

NTFS is the much better file system. Here are some superior features it has over FAT32:

  • FAT32 can only support file sizes up to 4GB while NTFS can go above and beyond.
  • NTFS drives are far less likely to develop errors then FAT32 drives.
  • NTFS supports cluster remapping for bad sectors allowing the Operating System to “mark” bad sectors off limits. This increases the usable lifespan of a Hard Drive.

But if you’re sure you want to convert back to FAT32 read on.

Unfortunately there are really only two ways. You cannot just use Windows XP to convert back to FAT32 like you could to convert to NTFS. Here’s how:

  1. Reformat your computer (saving your data) and reinstall Windows XP using a FAT32 file system.
  2. Or use a product such as Partition Magic from Symantec to convert your existing NTFS installation to FAT32.

Whichever option you choose you’ll want to backup your data. Option 1 will erase your data for sure while Option 2 is a dangerous process so backing everything up is a wise move.

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Internet Fix: Faulty Norton Dependancies

red smilie icon , , , Red folder iconPosted in Fixes

Note: This is a part of a collection of posts that deal with fixing internet problems. Each post will address a different problem and provide a fix.

One reason you might find that your internet does not work is because of a faulty uninstall of Norton (sigh -that software never seems to catch a break.) What seems to happen is this:

  1. You uninstall Norton.
  2. Norton leaves parts of itself in the registry.
  3. ???
  4. Your Internet breaks.
The problem here is that Norton leaves keys in the registry that try to load the Norton program before they load internet services. Many firewall programs do this to make sure that protection is loaded before internet connection is established. The problem here is that the Norton uninstaller does not remove these keys. Windows will just freeze the internet connection process after it fails to load Norton.
There are two ways to fix this:
  1. Run the Norton Removal Tool. It’s much more thorough then the included uninstaller and should delete the keys that were left behind.
  2. Manually edit the registry. 
The following steps will allow you to fix the problem through the registry:
  1. Open up the Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to  the following key: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\DHCP”.
  3. Open the value “DependOnService”.
  4. Delete any references to “SYMTDI” or “NISDRV”.
  5. Navigate to the following key: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetBT”.
  6. Open the value “DependOnService”.
  7. Delete any references to ”SYMTDI” or “NISDRV”.
And that’s it!

 

NOTE: Thanks goes to the author of this site for providing a fix to this problem.

 

How to explain this problem to the client: The uninstall of NAV did not finish completely and left parts of itself in your computer. These parts broke the internet connection process. I simply removed those faulty parts.

Good luck and tell me how it goes on the forums. 

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