How to format 320GB drive to FAT32

Dave B. ¼g¹D¡G

You are incorrect in your thinking. If a drive with a FAT32 partition is
installed in an XP system with NTFS drives, there are no issues at all
copying the data from the FAT32 drive to the NTFS drive.

Oops , probably my previous step missed disk format. When I double
clicked the newly created partition, XP asked if I wanted to format & I
said yes. After formatting, copying from FAT32 to NTFS under the same
PC went smooth.

How about starting from the beginning with your problem rather than
guessing at a solution.

--
__________________________________________________ _________
Crosspost, do not multipost http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
How to ask a question http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
How to Post http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

Shenan Stanley ¼g¹D¡G


NTFS and FAT32 don't really have incompatibilities - it's just that FAT32
has no security and NTFS does - not to mention the other limitations on
FAT32 that NTFS does not have.

You would need to use a third party tool if you want to stick with the older
FAT32 file system.

I don't mind it's NTFS or FAT32 if this new SATA drive could be
accessed locally from other XP partitions locally or from other PCs
also formatted in FAT32 via LAN.
BTW, if I need to fully utilize the speed of this faster SATA drive, do
I need to move my original XP & applications to this SATA drive ? Or I
just need to move the data e.g. video files, data files to this SATA
drive & keep applications at original slower UDMA drives ?


Also - if one of those partitions you are copying is your boot - you should
just consider an imaging application and let it handle everything for you.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Gordon wrote:

emil_lam wrote:

Windows XP only gave NTFS as partition type option.

Because FAT32 will only recognise partitions up to 32 GB in
size...


Nope, not at all true.


hence FAT "32".....


Nope, the 32 refers to the number of bits used in the addressing scheme.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

emil_lam wrote:
I don't mind it's NTFS or FAT32 if this new SATA drive could be
accessed locally from other XP partitions locally or from other PCs
also formatted in FAT32 via LAN.
BTW, if I need to fully utilize the speed of this faster SATA
drive, do I need to move my original XP & applications to this SATA
drive ? Or I just need to move the data e.g. video files, data
files to this SATA drive & keep applications at original slower
UDMA drives ?

If you plan on gaining something out of it beyond saving your files
(documents, etc) you create faster than maybe your IDE drives would (go go
gadget milliseconds!).. then yes - in order to see the full benefit of the
possibly faster SATA drive you would have to make it the primary drive in
the system and have Windows XP running off of it.

After all - loading your applications is probably the longest thing you do.
Unless - you record a lot of video and mess with a lot of large (1+GB)
files.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

"emil_lam" wrote in message
ups.com...
I just bought the mentioned 320GB HDD and intended to copy over 60GB
files from old UDMA 33 HDDs which were all formatted in FAT32. I
followed KB link
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....i=&p_topview=1
to format the new SATAII HDD.

Windows XP only gave NTFS as partition type option. Since NTFS & FAT32
partitions were incompatible, I couldn't copy the files to this new
drive unless I changed all my old drive partitions to NTFS. I think
it's too tedious and risky to change my old HDD partition format. Could
someone suggest methods for me to copy data safely from my FAT32
formatted HDD to this SATA HDD ?

Tks


Don't know where you got the information that FAT32 and NTFS are
incompatible...they are *NOT* incompatible and can coexist quite happily in
a single computer.

Honu

emil_lam wrote:
I just bought the mentioned 320GB HDD and intended to copy over 60GB
files from old UDMA 33 HDDs which were all formatted in FAT32. I
followed KB link
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....i=&p_topview=1
to format the new SATAII HDD.

Windows XP only gave NTFS as partition type option.


By design, WinXP cannot create and format a new partition greater than
32 Gb. This is because NTFS is the superior file system, and not nearly
as wasteful of drive space. (If you make a FAT32 partition larger than
8 Gb, you're "throwing away" significant amounts of storage capacity.


Since NTFS & FAT32
partitions were incompatible, I couldn't copy the files to this new
drive unless I changed all my old drive partitions to NTFS.


That's completely untrue. WinXP can read FAT12 (the file system used
on 3.5" diskettes), FAT16, FAT32, CDFS (the file system used on most
CDs), and NTFS with equal facility. Further, the file system on any one
disk/partition or diskette has absolutely no affect upon the operating
system's ability to read other compatible file systems on other
disks/partitions, or to transfer files between the partitions.


I think
it's too tedious and risky to change my old HDD partition format.


At any rate, it's completely unnecessary.

Could
someone suggest methods for me to copy data safely from my FAT32
formatted HDD to this SATA HDD ?


Click and Drag, or High-light the desired files and Copy/Paste, etc.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

"John John" wrote in message
...
| Windows XP cannot format FAT32 drives (partitions) larger than 32 GB but
| it can mount larger FAT32 drives formated by other operating systems or
| disk/partitioning/formating utilities. Formating such large drive FAT32
| would be a waste of disk space anyway, there is nothing stopping you
| from copying the data from FAT32 drives to NTFS so I would suggest that
| you use the NTFS file system.
|

My Windows Me drive (FAT 32) won't see the NTFS drives. OP probably has a
similar problem where FAT 32 system drive cannot see NTFS drives. You could
either burn stuff to DVD and copy stuff over that way, or use a FAT 32 120GB USB
2.0 external drive with 4 partitions to copy stuff over.

"Cymbal Man Freq." Don't g wrote in message
...
|
| "John John" wrote in message
| ...
| | Windows XP cannot format FAT32 drives (partitions) larger than 32 GB but
| | it can mount larger FAT32 drives formated by other operating systems or
| | disk/partitioning/formating utilities. Formating such large drive FAT32
| | would be a waste of disk space anyway, there is nothing stopping you
| | from copying the data from FAT32 drives to NTFS so I would suggest that
| | you use the NTFS file system.
| |
|
| My Windows Me drive (FAT 32) won't see the NTFS drives. OP probably has a
| similar problem where FAT 32 system drive cannot see NTFS drives. You could
| either burn stuff to DVD and copy stuff over that way, or use a FAT 32 120GB
USB
| 2.0 external drive with 4 partitions to copy stuff over.
|

Probably can't copy from the external HDD to the SATA II drive unless you have
an operating system on the SATA II drive and it is formatted NTFS. NTFS can see
FAT 32, but not the other way around.

Break out the DVD burning project.

"Cymbal Man Freq." Don't g wrote in
message ...
:
: "John John" wrote in message
: ...
: | Windows XP cannot format FAT32 drives (partitions) larger than 32 GB but
: | it can mount larger FAT32 drives formated by other operating systems or
: | disk/partitioning/formating utilities. Formating such large drive FAT32
: | would be a waste of disk space anyway, there is nothing stopping you
: | from copying the data from FAT32 drives to NTFS so I would suggest that
: | you use the NTFS file system.
: |
:
: My Windows Me drive (FAT 32) won't see the NTFS drives. OP probably has a
: similar problem where FAT 32 system drive cannot see NTFS drives. You
could
: either burn stuff to DVD and copy stuff over that way, or use a FAT 32
120GB USB
: 2.0 external drive with 4 partitions to copy stuff over.
:
:
'My Windows Me won't see the NTFS drives.'
Drives don't see drives. Operating systems see drives.
--
Ronald Sommer

"Cymbal Man Freq." Don't g wrote in
message ...
:
: "Cymbal Man Freq." Don't g wrote in
message
: ...
: |
: | "John John" wrote in message
: | ...
: | | Windows XP cannot format FAT32 drives (partitions) larger than 32 GB
but
: | | it can mount larger FAT32 drives formated by other operating systems
or
: | | disk/partitioning/formating utilities. Formating such large drive
FAT32
: | | would be a waste of disk space anyway, there is nothing stopping you
: | | from copying the data from FAT32 drives to NTFS so I would suggest
that
: | | you use the NTFS file system.
: | |
: |
: | My Windows Me drive (FAT 32) won't see the NTFS drives. OP probably has
a
: | similar problem where FAT 32 system drive cannot see NTFS drives. You
could
: | either burn stuff to DVD and copy stuff over that way, or use a FAT 32
120GB
: USB
: | 2.0 external drive with 4 partitions to copy stuff over.
: |
:
: Probably can't copy from the external HDD to the SATA II drive unless you
have
: an operating system on the SATA II drive and it is formatted NTFS. NTFS
can see
: FAT 32, but not the other way around.
:
: Break out the DVD burning project.
:
:
It doesn't matter if the drive has an operating system.
A file system does not see another file system.
The operating system sees the file systems.
--
Ronald Sommer

Cymbal Man Freq. wrote:
"John John" wrote in message
...
| Windows XP cannot format FAT32 drives (partitions) larger than 32 GB but
| it can mount larger FAT32 drives formated by other operating systems or
| disk/partitioning/formating utilities. Formating such large drive FAT32
| would be a waste of disk space anyway, there is nothing stopping you
| from copying the data from FAT32 drives to NTFS so I would suggest that
| you use the NTFS file system.
|

My Windows Me drive (FAT 32) won't see the NTFS drives. OP probably has a
similar problem where FAT 32 system drive cannot see NTFS drives. You could
either burn stuff to DVD and copy stuff over that way, or use a FAT 32 120GB USB
2.0 external drive with 4 partitions to copy stuff over.

Who said anything about Windows Me accessing NTFS drives? It can't
without third party NTFS drivers.

John

I was just thinking how wonderful life was, when "Cymbal Man Freq."
Don't g opened his gob and said:

My Windows Me drive (FAT 32) won't see the NTFS drives.

It is nothing to do with the format of the drives.

Win ME does not work with NTFS, period. You will need an OS that does,
that's basically Win XP for you.

--
Cheers,

Guy

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

Cymbal Man Freq. wrote:

"Cymbal Man Freq." Don't g wrote in message
...
|
| "John John" wrote in message
| ...
| | Windows XP cannot format FAT32 drives (partitions) larger than 32 GB but
| | it can mount larger FAT32 drives formated by other operating systems or
| | disk/partitioning/formating utilities. Formating such large drive FAT32
| | would be a waste of disk space anyway, there is nothing stopping you
| | from copying the data from FAT32 drives to NTFS so I would suggest that
| | you use the NTFS file system.
| |
|
| My Windows Me drive (FAT 32) won't see the NTFS drives. OP probably has a
| similar problem where FAT 32 system drive cannot see NTFS drives. You could
| either burn stuff to DVD and copy stuff over that way, or use a FAT 32 120GB
USB
| 2.0 external drive with 4 partitions to copy stuff over.
|

Probably can't copy from the external HDD to the SATA II drive unless you have
an operating system on the SATA II drive and it is formatted NTFS. NTFS can see
FAT 32, but not the other way around.

Break out the DVD burning project.

Every point made in your post is false.

John

"emil_lam" wrote in
ups.com:

I just bought the mentioned 320GB HDD and intended to copy over 60GB
files from old UDMA 33 HDDs which were all formatted in FAT32. I
followed KB link
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....dp.php?p_faqid
=330&p_created=1025121240&p_sid=RYTbYZni&p_lva=&p_ sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3
J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9NjMmcF9wcm9k cz0yMDMmcF9jYXRzPTEyM
yZwX3B2PTEuMjAzOzIudTAmcF9jdj0xLjEyMzsyLnUwJnBfc2V hcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vy
cy5zZWFyY2hfZm5sJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=&p_topview=1 to format the new
SATAII HDD.

Windows XP only gave NTFS as partition type option. Since NTFS & FAT32
partitions were incompatible, I couldn't copy the files to this new
drive unless I changed all my old drive partitions to NTFS. I think
it's too tedious and risky to change my old HDD partition format.
Could someone suggest methods for me to copy data safely from my FAT32
formatted HDD to this SATA HDD ?

Tks



If you are running Windows XP or later, just format the new drive as NTFS
- you will be able to copy the files from FAT32 to NTFS, as WinXP+ can
read/write both. WinXP will only let you format a partition up to 32GB
as FAT32, but can read/write larger FAT32 partitions than that (created
by another operating system).

If you are running Windows 98/ME, you will only be able to format as
FAT32, but you can do larger partitions than 32GB (and you would be
posting to the wrong newsgroup in this case).

The above is assuming that you are installing the new big drive in the
same machine as the older drives. If they are in separate machines, you
can send files from one to the other over a network connection - the disk
filesystems would be read by one machine and written by the other, and
they won't know or care what the filesystem on the other machine is.

If you want to use the drive where it will be accessed by two operating
systems such as Win98 and WinXP (example: either on a dual-boot machine
or in an external enclosure) you can format it as FAT32 using Win98 and
then XP will be able to use the drive as well.

"Cymbal Man Freq." Don't g wrote:


"John John" wrote in message
...
| Windows XP cannot format FAT32 drives (partitions) larger than 32 GB but
| it can mount larger FAT32 drives formated by other operating systems or
| disk/partitioning/formating utilities. Formating such large drive FAT32
| would be a waste of disk space anyway, there is nothing stopping you
| from copying the data from FAT32 drives to NTFS so I would suggest that
| you use the NTFS file system.
|

My Windows Me drive (FAT 32) won't see the NTFS drives. OP probably has a
similar problem where FAT 32 system drive cannot see NTFS drives.

Not exactly. The Win9x operating systems (Win95, Win98, Win98SE,
WinME) cannot use or even see an NTFS partition. They can use such a
partition via a network connection to a machine that supports NTFS,
that's a very different thing. But if you install a drive with an NTFS
partition into your WinME machine, the WinME machine won't see the
partition.

But in systems that support both NTFS and FAT32 (NT, Win2000, WinXP),
there would be no problem copying files back and forth between NTFS
and FAT32 partitions.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(DTS)