DaFunkyUnit

So I have my external HD hooked up and ready to format. I go into Control Panel -> Administrative Services -> Computer Management -> Disk Management. when I try to format the disk, it only gives NTFS as the only file system option (in the drop down box). I have an internal 80GB HD that has an NTFS and a FAT32 partition, so why in gods name is it not letting me format the new disk in FAT32?!?!??!?!?

kimchicowboy

why would you want FAT32? isn't NTFS more stable or something?

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g222leav

if i remember correctly, once you start getting into the larger hard drives...NTFS is your only option. FAT32 doesn't handle the larger hard drives as well. any ways, i think the filing system is "supposed" to be better with NTFS. if you're using winXP your system shouldn't have a problem with either or..

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DaFunkyUnit

well, this is an external drive thats used primarily for backups and storage (its a 200GB Seagate drive, taken from the Deals page coupla days ago). i'd figure FAT32 would be better so that if I take the drive to different computers it would provide the most compatibility. but if NTFS is the only option, then so be it....

verve247

FAT32 is limited by how large you can make the partition. Win XP only lets you go to 32GB max. That's Microsoft for you because theoretically, you can create FAT32 drives up to 8 terabytes.

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DaFunkyUnit

so why is it possible to be able to format a floppy disk in FAT32, hmmm?

bachviet

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Jeffbx

You can't - very small FAT partitions (like floppy disks) are actually 12-bit (FAT12) with a 512 byte cluster size. This is the default FAT for a floppy disk, and you don't get a choice about it.

Larger partitions (up to 512MB) use FAT16. Over 512MB you can use FAT32.

DaFunkyUnit

you guys are right, absolutely right. I admit. I was own3d.

attgig

ntfs is more stable, but in terms of performance, fat32 beats ntfs.


performance vs stability....

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verve247

I found a way to make a large fat32 drive. You need a mac with os X though. In disk utility prog, format according to their ms-dos mode. I just made a 115GB hard drive that's fat32.


Do you mean stability as in less data corruption? I'm just going to use the drive for storage and scratch.

Nija

I've made all my 120GB drives are fat32

start | run | cmd | cd % | format %

% = drive letter..

Of course this probably won't work with an external drive (i don't know, I've never used one) but that what I did for my internal drives..

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sho.gun

ntfs is also more secure