Most Windows XP systems that begin as Windows XP systems (they've never had an older version of Windows on them) are formatted using the NTFS file system. If your system was upgraded a couple of times over the years and finally matured to a Windows XP system, it may use the FAT or FAT 32 file system.

If that's what your system uses and you don't have a specific need for it, you could benefit by converting to NTFS. The benefit is realized through better disk performance and better data security.

It's a good idea (actually, an excellent idea) to back up your data before you do any file system conversion.

To figure out what file system you have, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button.

2. Right-click My Computer and choose Manage. If your system is configured to have a My Computer icon on the desktop, you could right-click it. Either way, Windows opens the Computer Management window. The window shows a hierarchical display of tools and features on the left of the screen.

3. If a plus sign is next to Storage (in the hierarchy), click it. The tree is expanded and you see a few items under the Storage item.

4. Click the Disk Management option in the hierarchy. A list of your disk drives appears at the right side of the Computer Management window. At the top-right you see a list of all your system's drives. The File System column indicates the file system used for the drive. (Different drives can use different file systems.)

To convert an existing FAT drive to the NTFS file system, you use a program called (appropriately enough) convert.exe. You run this program from the command prompt. As an example, the following steps show you how to convert your D: drive to NTFS:

1. Open a command prompt window by choosing Start, All Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt.

2. In the command prompt window, type convert d: /fs:ntfs. If you want to convert a different drive, replace d: with the drive letter desired, followed by a colon.

That's it: two steps. Conversion can take a while, so you may want to take a break, go watch a show, or go home for the evening. When the conversion is done, you should reboot your system.