Fat32

[Copper]

Hi folks.

I have at current one hard drive no partitions formatted as NTFS with XP Pro.

I have just put in another hard drive which I would like to install 98se, but I cannot format this drive as FAT32, the computer management will only let me format it as NTFS.

Can anyone help ?

Thanks
Copper.

 

[Inaris]

the drive is larger then 32gb no Doubt... That is the limitation of Fat32 from within windows. You will have to get something like partition magic to do it. The other problem with fat32 is that it doesn't handle files larger then 2GB.

 

[Bleep]

Yep, Partition Magic as Inaris mentioned, or I beleive you can also accomplish this with a Win 98 bootdisk.

 

[Apokalipse]

I have a 40GB hard drive and I used to have FAT32 on it, I converted to NTFS to save space (used space reduced by a whopping 8GB when I converted)
I think you can convert to FAT32 fron an older file system with the 98 disk, but 98 cannot read NTFS so will not be able to read or convert it
I would suggest Partition Magic aswell

 

[mikesgroovin]

I agree.....I know for a fact that FAT32 has more of a capacity than 32GB. I have an 80GB drive that I started out formatting with FAT32 and it read everything. I would also suggest Partition Magic.

-Mike

 

[ekÆsine]

i see a few obvious errors from both of you guys:

I have at current one hard drive no partitions formatted as NTFS with XP Pro

you obviously have at least 1 partition and that volume is formatted with an NTFS filing system.

the drive is larger then 32gb no Doubt... That is the limitation of Fat32........ it doesn't handle files larger then 2GB

somewhat correct, with FAT32 you can have Volumes from 512 MB to 2 TB. In Windows XP, you can format a FAT32 volume up to 32 GB only. File size limited only by size of volume. Maximum file size is 4 GB.

......................................................................................
why do you guys always recommend partitionmagic? that program is not free and you are cheating yourself out of the learning experience. it is the same difference between buying a prebuilt computer & building a computer yourself.

if you do not have a win98 startup diskette you can create one without having win98 installed. through your winXP start button> command> accessories> command prompt change directory and execute the program of F:\tools\mtsutil\fat32ebd\fat32ebd.exe where F: is your CD-rom drive letter.

Copper go to computerhope.com and use their fdisk simulator to practice. use a windows millenium or win98 startup diskette and boot up from it. you can access fdisk with that diskette. delete all partitions and create at least one primary partition. i suggest using up to 15GB only for the operating system volume and create an extended partition with logical drives to hold data for the remaining space

reboot with the floppy so DOS can recognise the newly created partition. format your computer using the DOS command format. all this is explained on that website. if you try to format using fat32 with winXP you may have to create a primary partition under 32GB. this is a limitation of winXP not FAT32 itself.

i would not recommend formatting with fat32 using winXP disk management if you want to create a volume greater than 32GB.

 

[RoyalW]

Why not just use the 98 bootdisk... Fdisk etc??

 

[RoyalW]

Oh sorry... Didnt refresh Ek/Esine

 

[Copper]

Thanks for the replies.

I do have a start up floppy for Windows ME.

When I load it in it goes through the motions then just leaves me with the A:\ prompt.

Then whatever I type in it just says something like

Abort, Retry, Fail?

I am unfamiliar with MS-DOS.

Any pointers would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Copper.

 

[Inaris]

Thanks for the correction Ek...
Reason I said something like Partition Magic is because it worked for me. I spent 6 hours trying to get a 120Gb drive formated with Fat32 and had no luck (using XP, 2k, win98). Finally gave in and tried Partition Magic but then was hit with the File size Limitation. (6.4 GB files) So then had to go back to NTFS and then create a 32Gb (stupid XP) partition for DOS access. Thought I read 2 Gb. My mistake for missinformation.
Copper,
what are you typing at the A: prompt. If you are running vaild commands, and recieving the error above, you may need to get another disk(floppy), as it would appear that yours is having trouble.

Good Luck