Free to Convert Ext3 to NTFS without Losing Data in Windows 10, 8, 7

Need to convert Ext3 to NTFS without losing data in Windows

One of my partitions is ext3 which was from a Linux system that contains some media files, I can't even see it in my Windows 10 computer, I want to convert it to NTFS so I can access and use it. How can I convert this partition from Ext3 to NTFS in Windows 10 without destroying the data stored in this partition?

As we all known, Ext3 is the default file system for Linux system while NTFS is the default file system for Windows system. In Windows, the Ext3 partition cannot be recognized and accessed. So many users have to convert Ext3 to NTFS to make it usable in Windows computer.

Choose a professional Ext3 to NTFS converter

To change file system from Ext3 to NTFS, you will need to reformat the target Ext3 hard drive, and choose the NTFS file system. Therefore, to convert Ext3 to NTFS without losing data in Windows computer, you will have to back up data on the Ext3 partition to another location before formatting it.

But the problem is that Windows cannot recognize Ext3 partition, so you cannot access it, not to mention moving files from it to another drive for backup. In this case, you need to apply third-party data backup tool, which can recognize Ext3 partition and allow you to back up important files in advance.

After that, you can use a professional Ext3 to NTFS converter like FREE AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard to convert Ext3 to NTFS conversion without data loss. Below is how to do it step by step.

Steps to convert Ext3 to NTFS without data loss

Step 1. Back up data on the Ext3 partition

In order to avoid data loss during the following formatting process, please first back up files on the Ext3 partition to another safe location. For this task, you can use AOMEI Backupper (Free).

Step 2. Format Ext3 to NTFS via AOMEI Partition Assistant

1. Click the button to download the freeware. It supports changing file systems among Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, exFAT, NTFS, FAT32 on Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista (32-bit and 64-bit)

2. Install and launch it to get its main interface. Right click the Ext3 partition and choose "Format Partition" from the pop-up menu as shown below. 

3. Choose "NTFS" file system for this partition and click "OK".

4. Click "Apply" to finish this file system conversion.

Step 3. Restore the data to the new NTFS partition

After you finish converting the Ext3 file system into NTFS, now you can restore the files you have backed up to the NTFS partition. The same steps can also be applied to convert Ext4 to NTFS without losing data in Windows.

Other methods to convert Ext3 to NTFS in Windows

Of course, you can also back up everything through professional data backup software, and then you use Windows built-in tools to format the Ext3 partition to NTFS without data loss.

Method 1. Run Windows Explorer to format Ext3 to NTFS

Since Windows OS cannot recognize Ext3 drives, when you insert such a drive to any Windows computer, you will get a mini window saying "You need to format the disk in Drive X before you can use it" as the picture below. Then you can follow its prompts to format this drive to NTFS.

1. Click "Format disk".

2. Select "NTFS" under File system in the pop-out window and click "OK" to wait until done.

Method 2. Use Disk anagement to change Ext3 to NTFS partition

In the Windows10/8/7 Disk Management, you are not allowed to format Ext3 partition to NTFS directly since the "Format…" option is unclickable. You can only delete the Ext3 partition first of all and then create a new NTFS partition. The detailed instruction is:

1. Open the Disk Management: Right click "My Computer/This PC"> "Manage" >"Storage"> "Disk Management".

2. Right-click the Ext 3 partition and choose "Delete Volume" in the given list to make it an unallocated space.

3. Right-click the "unallocated" space, choose "New Simple Volume" and follow the New Simple Volume Wizard to create a new volume.

4. During the process of creating new volume, you can choose NTFS as its file system.

Then you will convert Ext3 to NTFS successfully.

Summary

As for how to convert Ext3 to NTFS without losing data in Windows 10/8/7, AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard provides the best solution. Besides, it can also format 2TB hard drive to FAT32, which cannot be done via Windows native formatting tools like Disk Management, File Explorer or Diskpart. If you upgrade to AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, you can unlock more advanced functions such as clone Windows partition to another MBR/GPT disk, extending system drive partition and securely erasing SSD drives.