NTFS or Fat32 which is right?

Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says "File
System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and click
"Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti

Neither is right, there are pros and cons to each. With NTFS you can have
file sizes larger than 4GB but the drive is not useable on a MAC and other
operating systems, FAT32 is supported on many different operating systems
but doesn't support file sizes greater than 4GB, the choice is yours.

--


--
"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says "File
System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti

Thanks David. What I am asking is which is giving me the right info - My
Computer under Details - it says "file system Fat32" or the Drive letter
assigned to the external hard disk which says it says "format system NTFS."

To me it is giving two different bits of info not asking me which one is
better.
I am a complete dunce on these things.
Patti


"David B." wrote in message
...
Neither is right, there are pros and cons to each. With NTFS you can have
file sizes larger than 4GB but the drive is not useable on a MAC and other
operating systems, FAT32 is supported on many different operating systems
but doesn't support file sizes greater than 4GB, the choice is yours.

--


--
"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says "File
System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti

Thanks David. What I am asking is which is giving me the right info - My
Computer under Details - it says "file system Fat32" or the Drive letter
assigned to the external hard disk which says it says "format system NTFS."

To me it is giving two different bits of info not asking me which one is
better.
I am a complete dunce on these things.
Patti


"David B." wrote in message
...
Neither is right, there are pros and cons to each. With NTFS you can have
file sizes larger than 4GB but the drive is not useable on a MAC and other
operating systems, FAT32 is supported on many different operating systems
but doesn't support file sizes greater than 4GB, the choice is yours.

--


--
"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says "File
System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti

On Tue, 8 Dec 2009 14:01:06 -0000, "Patti Barden"
wrote:

Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.


That depends entirely on how you are going to use it. If it will only
be used in Windows XP, yes, NTFS is best. But if you might want to use
it on a computer running an operating system that is not NTFS-aware,
then FAT32 is necessary.


When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says "File
System: FAT32"


That's what it currently is.


yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and click
"Format" it says "File System NTFS".


That's what it will format it as, unless you change it there.


Which is right?


Both.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

In "Patti Barden"
wrote:

Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB
in size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says
"File System: FAT32"

If I understand what you're saying here, that's telling you that the
drive is currently formatted as FAT32.

yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

If that's the same display that I think it is, you're being told that if
you choose to format that drive right now, it will be formatted as NTFS.

If you haven't started using the drive yet and there's no data on it,
formatting it as NTFS would be a good idea.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says "File
System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti


Most external USB drives come pre-formatted as exFAT
which is a newer version of FAT32.

FAT32 is limited in two ways:
1) Max Partition size is 32GB.
2) Max size of a single file is 4GB.

exFAT allows for the creations partitions larger that 32GB,
1TB in your case.

You can test if your drive is already formatted from the vendor
by simply copying a file from your internal to external drive. If you
have a file larger than 4GB your can try copying that also and see
if you receive any error/warning messages.

Now as to which is better (NTFS of FAT32) for your external
drive (assuming you do not have data already stored on the drive).
I would do the following:

1) Delete the existing factory formatted partition.
2) Create a 32GB FAT32 partition/logical drive and assign it a
volume name of: 'SHARED'. Anything you want to move from one
computer to the next can be stored on this partition/logical drive.
3) With the remaining free space, format as a single NTFS partition.
Now you have the best of both worlds.

--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com

JS wrote:
"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says "File
System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti


Most external USB drives come pre-formatted as exFAT
which is a newer version of FAT32.

FAT32 is limited in two ways:
1) Max Partition size is 32GB.


Not true. WinXP, by design, cannot create/format a FAT32 partition
greater than 32GB, but that's a deliberate limitation of the OS, not the
file system.



--

Bruce Chambers

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

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

Note in my reply: "2) Create a 32GB FAT32 partition/logical drive and assign
it a
volume name of: 'SHARED'. Anything you want to move from one
computer to the next can be stored on this partition/logical drive.
3) With the remaining free space, format as a single NTFS partition.
Now you have the best of both worlds."

Last time I checked XP could still create a 32GB FAT32 partition!

--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com



"Bruce Chambers" wrote in message
...
JS wrote:
"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says
"File System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti


Most external USB drives come pre-formatted as exFAT
which is a newer version of FAT32.

FAT32 is limited in two ways:
1) Max Partition size is 32GB.


Not true. WinXP, by design, cannot create/format a FAT32 partition
greater than 32GB, but that's a deliberate limitation of the OS, not the
file system.



--

Bruce Chambers

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

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

Note in my reply: "2) Create a 32GB FAT32 partition/logical drive and assign
it a
volume name of: 'SHARED'. Anything you want to move from one
computer to the next can be stored on this partition/logical drive.
3) With the remaining free space, format as a single NTFS partition.
Now you have the best of both worlds."

Last time I checked XP could still create a 32GB FAT32 partition!

--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com



"Bruce Chambers" wrote in message
...
JS wrote:
"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says
"File System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti


Most external USB drives come pre-formatted as exFAT
which is a newer version of FAT32.

FAT32 is limited in two ways:
1) Max Partition size is 32GB.


Not true. WinXP, by design, cannot create/format a FAT32 partition
greater than 32GB, but that's a deliberate limitation of the OS, not the
file system.



--

Bruce Chambers

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

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

On Tue, 8 Dec 2009 11:12:33 -0500, "JS" @ wrote:


FAT32 is limited in two ways:
1) Max Partition size is 32GB.


Sorry, that's not correct. It's true that Windows XP can not create a
FAT32 partition greater than 32GB, but external utilities can, and
Windows XP can use such partitions just fine.


2) Max size of a single file is 4GB.


Correct.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

"JS" @ wrote in message ...

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says "File
System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti


Most external USB drives come pre-formatted as exFAT
which is a newer version of FAT32.

Not true, I have recently purchase both a 1TB & a 1.5TB drive (both Seagate)
and they both came formatted in NTFS.
Regards Mike.

"Mike" wrote in message
...
"JS" @ wrote in message ...

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says
"File System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti


Most external USB drives come pre-formatted as exFAT
which is a newer version of FAT32.

Not true, I have recently purchase both a 1TB & a 1.5TB drive (both
Seagate) and they both came formatted in NTFS.
Regards Mike.



Mike, I said "Most" and not "All".

My 1TB external drive was original formatted FAT32.
I changed it to a combination of several NTFS partitions and one 32GB FAT32
partition.

Why multiple NTFS partition:
Well I use it to Image backup multiple computers,
so each PC has it's own dedicated partition to store the image files.

--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com

"Mike" wrote in message
...
"JS" @ wrote in message ...

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says
"File System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti


Most external USB drives come pre-formatted as exFAT
which is a newer version of FAT32.

Not true, I have recently purchase both a 1TB & a 1.5TB drive (both
Seagate) and they both came formatted in NTFS.
Regards Mike.



Mike, I said "Most" and not "All".

My 1TB external drive was original formatted FAT32.
I changed it to a combination of several NTFS partitions and one 32GB FAT32
partition.

Why multiple NTFS partition:
Well I use it to Image backup multiple computers,
so each PC has it's own dedicated partition to store the image files.

--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com

JS wrote:
"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have purchased an External Hard Disk Drive, usb2 & main power, 1TB in
size.
The very limited instruction manual says it is best to run it in NTFS.

When I go to MyComputer, on the left column under "Details" it says "File
System: FAT32"
yet when I right click on the external hard disk drive letter (F) and
click "Format" it says "File System NTFS".

Which is right?
Patti


Most external USB drives come pre-formatted as exFAT
which is a newer version of FAT32.

FAT32 is limited in two ways:
1) Max Partition size is 32GB.


Not true. WinXP, by design, cannot create/format a FAT32 partition
greater than 32GB, but that's a deliberate limitation of the OS, not the
file system.



--

Bruce Chambers

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

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot