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Thread ID: 93242 2008-09-09 02:03:00 Format large hard drive with fat32 turtle63 (9378) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
703749 2008-09-09 02:03:00 I purchased a new Wireless Storage Router (D-Link DI-624S) as needed a wireless router but didn't want to get rid of the old one also, anyway thought that the Storage thing sounded good as it had a Print Server and a file sharing thing.
The Printer is setup fine until I discovered that now I cant' scan with it anymore, that function is not available now unless it is plugged in locally

The other issue i have and have been trying to sort is the only way to use a large hard drive on it for Backups is to format 1 with Fat32.
I have tried various ways to format my 250Gb drive and it says it has done it and it shows as Fat32 and the size is correct when plugged into a PC but when plugged into the Router it only shows as really small and i cant put anything on it otherwise it is setup ok.

Have used a little program called fat32format, have used Partition Comander 10 and did try to format on my Vista PC from a command prompt which started but would not finish.

Any ideas would be apreciated.
turtle63 (9378)
703750 2008-09-09 02:44:00 AFAIK, you can't format drives as FAT32 in Windows that are larger than 32Gb - the easiest way to do this is to use a linux boot disk like Ubuntu that has gparted. You can download gparted separately, but the latest version of Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) is a great bit of kit to have.

HTH
nofam (9009)
703751 2008-09-09 02:53:00 you can't format drives as FAT32 in Windows that are larger than 32Gb



Wrong. XP or Vista has this limitation, older versions of WIndows do not.

Just download fat32format.exe
pctek (84)
703752 2008-09-09 03:30:00 Wrong. XP or Vista has this limitation, older versions of WIndows do not.

Just download fat32format.exe

err, i think the OP stated they were using Vista, in which case nofam's statement would be true!
SolMiester (139)
703753 2008-09-09 03:50:00 err, i think the OP stated they were using Vista, in which case nofam's statement would be true!

The OP also said that he's used fat32format.exe, a 3rd party app that bypasses XP or Vista limitations.

The problem doesn't appear to be formatting the drive but getting the D-Link device to see it at the proper size.

What size does the D-Link think the 250GB drive is?
PaulD (232)
703754 2008-09-09 04:19:00 It thinks it is 129 bytes, yet it shows it as being listed as a WD 2500BB external, that is what it says. turtle63 (9378)
703755 2008-09-09 04:30:00 That sounds suspiciously like a bios limitation on the d-link device itself. Have you tried upgrading its firmware? Erayd (23)
703756 2008-09-09 05:02:00 That sounds suspiciously like a bios limitation on the d-link device itself. Have you tried upgrading its firmware? Thats sounds more like the problem - its not Vista or the FAT32 format.

Vista is quite happy to see a FAT32 250GB drive as exactly that Here's Proof (www.imagef1.net.nz)
wainuitech (129)
703757 2008-09-09 05:20:00 Thats sounds more like the problem - its not Vista or the FAT32 format.

Vista is quite happy to see a FAT32 250GB drive as exactly that Here's Proof (www.imagef1.net.nz)

Agreed, nobody ever disputed that. The issue was formatting it - Windows won't let you format anything over 32GB as FAT32, I suspect because they are trying to push NTFS. It's a hardcoded limit that exists for no reason other than Microsoft's whims.

The formatting thing wasn't the problem, it was just supplimentary information. The problem was the device only showing up as 129GB... which to me reeks of a bios / firmware problem.
Erayd (23)
703758 2008-09-09 05:27:00 Why dont you use NTFS anyway, fat32 has a 4gb file limit.....no good for storing DVD's or VM's.... SolMiester (139)
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