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| Thread ID: 70507 | 2006-07-05 19:16:00 | Formatting a 250GB external usb 2 hard drive to FAT32 | egg (10669) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 468860 | 2006-07-05 19:16:00 | Hi Just bought a 250GB Toshiba external USB2 hard drive to store files from my linux and windows machines. Can anyone tell me how to convert from NTFS to FAT32 in windows (I cannot link the linux laptop to the internet, and I have no idea about anything in linux!) and also if I will need to partition the hard drive into partitions of a smaller size. I have read things saying various things about the size of a partition that is stable in the FAT32 format. - can I have one 250GB partition that will be stable when I use it, defrag it etc. cheers Egg |
egg (10669) | ||
| 468861 | 2006-07-05 21:06:00 | Welcome to PF1 you cant convert ntfs to fat32. if you want fat32 youll have to reformat Yes there are partition size limits in fat32 (32 gig if I remember correctly). You can however get round this by using Partition Magic or hard drive overlay software. Check the manufacturer site of your hard drive see if they have overlay software for your drive. |
beama (111) | ||
| 468862 | 2006-07-05 21:25:00 | Yes there are partition size limits in fat32 (32 gig if I remember correctly). You can however get round this by using Partition Magic or hard drive overlay software. Win XP won't allow more than 32Gb, but Fdisk will. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 468863 | 2006-07-05 23:11:00 | Win XP won't allow more than 32Gb, but Fdisk will. Just to clarify, it is the updated FDISK that will allow more than 32GB but you will need to keep them less than 137GB or Scandisk and Defrag will corrupt the data on partitions greater than 137GB. The updated FDISK will be available on Microsoft's website. |
FoxyMX (5) | ||
| 468864 | 2006-07-06 00:00:00 | wow! thanks for the speedy reply, Im still struggling to work out how to use Fdisk, the microsoft site seems to have an awful lot of stuff on its limitations etc, but very little on how to use it (I have Windows XP), or even where to get it! Any suggestions Cheers |
egg (10669) | ||
| 468865 | 2006-07-06 00:21:00 | be carefull with FDISK it is destructive partioning tool that means if you use it on a drive with data on it once you committ the changes it wipes the disk. There are non destructive partition tools out there One I metioned in my earlier post. BEST ADVICE BACKUP Before using any partitioning tool, even if its supposed to be non destructive. |
beama (111) | ||
| 468866 | 2006-07-06 00:59:00 | Just make sure that you know which disk you are working on . :D We often hear complaints like "<name of programme or OS> deleted my data partition with 97 GB of MP3s" . Someone who "was sure" did the damage . Partitioning utilitie do what they are told to do . |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 468867 | 2006-07-06 02:12:00 | Be careful with FAT32 as the format!, it has a 4gb file size limitation therefore no good for DVD movies! :thumbs: | SolMiester (139) | ||
| 468868 | 2006-07-06 02:51:00 | Im still struggling to work out how to use Fdisk, the microsoft site seems to have an awful lot of stuff on its limitations etc, but very little on how to use it (I have Windows XP), or even where to get it! You can download it from any of these sites: www.bootdisk.com www.hexff.com (good info on this site) www.webtechgeek.com (no download but info on how to use) www.tacktech.com Take your pick. ;) |
FoxyMX (5) | ||
| 468869 | 2006-07-07 11:20:00 | these appear to be pre windows xp specific, are there any for windows xp? thanks |
egg (10669) | ||
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