Re: External HDD FAT32 to NTFS with no data loss
No one can guarantee against data loss any time you're messing with partitioning. Something can always go wrong.
But since you have no access to MS Windows, I would recommend the following:
1) Attach the drive as an external to your Ubuntu PC
2) Open Partition Editor and select that drive
3) Shrink the FAT32 drive to half its size -- be warned -- GParted is very S...L...O...W. This could take HOURS.
4) Create a new NTFS partition on that same drive using Partition Editor
5) Copy the files from the FAT32 partition to the NTFS partition
6) When done, safely remove the drive
7) Plugin the drive again and confirm that the files in the NTFS partition are OK
8) Using Partition Editor, remove the FAT32 partition.
9) Then, expand the NTFS partition to fill the drive. Once again, be warned that GParted is S...L...O...W
10) Check the files again to be sure they are OK
11) Safely remove the drive
Using this approach, you don't mess with the original files until after you've confirmed that the copies are OK.
Ubuntu 20.04, Mint 19.10; MS Win10 Pro.
Will not respond to PM requests for support -- use the forums.
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