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Post by BuckSkin on Jan 2, 2017 1:24:29 GMT
Back before I knew there were such things, I bought two identical 1TB external hard-drives, plugged them in, and proceeded to start filling them with pictures.
As it turned out, both came formatted FAT32.
That didn't seem to matter until I decided to create some system images; then is when I learned that there was another format, NTSF, which is necessary for storing system images; FAT 32 will not do.
So, I bought a third identical 1TB drive with intentions of formatting it NTSF; however, when I plugged it in, I discovered that it was already formatted NTSF.
Then, I needed to get some 5- and 6-GB videos off of the internal drive of one of our machines and made another discovery, 4-GB is the maximum file size that will copy onto a FAT32 drive; NTSF doesn't care how many GBs, the more, the merrier.
All of this leads me to a question; considering it's limitations, why do they even have a FAT32 ? ; Why FAT32; is there a FAT33, or a FAT31 ?
Which is safer/more dependable for storing images, NTSF or FAT32 ?
Thanks for reading.
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Post by Tpgettys on Jan 2, 2017 1:54:57 GMT
Hi BuckSkin , Are your drives new? I don't doubt you that they are formatted as FAT32, but I am surprised. With FAT32 the maximum drive size is 2 terabytes, and the maximum file size is 4 gigabytes. Given the max. filesize limitation, you definitely want NTFS. I searched for "convert from FAT32 to NTFS" and found that there is a command line utility that will do that for you; here is one article about it: ConvertThe reason why there have been different file allocation table formats is historical, driven by the every increasing disc sizes. My first hard drive was a whooping 5 megabytes; I had no idea what I was going to do with all that space by I sure lusted for it! |
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Post by BuckSkin on Jan 2, 2017 3:11:46 GMT
Thanks, Tom; I bought the two FAT32 1TB Transcend "military drop-tested" drives brand-new from Amazon about two years ago.
If I had of known the difference at the time, I would have reformatted them prior to use.
I just recently added a third identical unit and it was formatted NTFS straight out of the box.
I will most definitely be checking such details out with any future hard-drive purchases.
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Post by Tpgettys on Jan 2, 2017 4:14:58 GMT
Just to be clear, the CONVERT program will change the drive to NTFS without reformatting; that is you should not lose the existing data by using it. If you decide to go for it, I would like to hear how it went.
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Post by BuckSkin on Jan 2, 2017 8:39:27 GMT
Just to be clear, the CONVERT program will change the drive to NTFS without reformatting; that is you should not lose the existing data by using it. If you decide to go for it, I would like to hear how it went. That is good to know; I was hoping there was a program that could do so. Still, I am a bit skittish of something going haywire, so I guess my next plan of action is to make certain the whole contents are safely backed up; they need to be anyway. It may not be in the next few days, but I will for sure let you know the outcome. I wish I could find a less valuable guinea pig to try it on first. Thanks for pointing it out. |
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Post by Peterj on Jan 2, 2017 15:33:09 GMT
There's another file system that probably belongs in the thread...exFAT "It’s a file system optimized for flash drives. It’s designed to be a lightweight file system like FAT32 without all NTFS’s extra features and overhead, but without FAT32’s limitations."
NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT comparison |
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Post by BuckSkin on Jan 2, 2017 15:47:37 GMT
There's another file system that probably belongs in the thread...exFAT "It’s a file system optimized for flash drives. It’s designed to be a >>> LIGHTWEIGHT<<< file system like FAT32 without all NTFS’s extra features and overhead, but without FAT32’s limitations."
NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT comparisonThanks; please explain "lightweight"; does it cram more info into less space or what ? |
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Post by Peterj on Jan 2, 2017 16:56:14 GMT
There's another file system that probably belongs in the thread...exFAT "It’s a file system optimized for flash drives. It’s designed to be a >>> LIGHTWEIGHT<<< file system like FAT32 without all NTFS’s extra features and overhead, but without FAT32’s limitations."
NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT comparisonThanks; please explain "lightweight"; does it cram more info into less space or what ? I copied this paragraph from the link "Like NTFS, exFAT has very large file size and partition size limits. This means you can store files that are larger than 4 GB apiece on a flash drive or SD card if it’s formatted with exFAT. exFAT is a strict upgrade over FAT32, and should be the best choice for external drives where you want a lightweight file system without FAT32’s file size."
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Post by BuckSkin on Jan 2, 2017 19:12:47 GMT
Thanks !
From what I gather, it would appear that for our purposes that exFAT business might be the way to go.
Due to system images requiring NTFS, I have to have at least one external drive formatted NTFS; but, if I understand correctly, any file-sharing limitations or whatever I may instigate when an NTFS drive is attached to one machine, may create headaches when I connect that drive to another machine.
Until just recently, I was blissfully ignorant of such things.
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Post by Tpgettys on Jan 2, 2017 19:22:37 GMT
From what I gather, it would appear that for our purposes that exFAT business might be the way to go. Perhaps. However, with NTFS you can use CONVERT to make the change without having to backup and restore. I simply don't know if there is an equivalent utility to change over to exFAT. It might be worth experimenting with a flash drive whose contents you don't really care about. |
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Post by Major Major on Jan 2, 2017 20:40:11 GMT
Personally, I have never heard of exFAT before reading this thread. I'm not sure I would be anxious to use something so relatively unknown.
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Post by Andy on Jan 2, 2017 21:03:41 GMT
As I understand it, exFAT is meant for SD card and USB flash-based memory. Large USB external drives would not be exFAT but probably are best formatted NTFS.
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Post by Tpgettys on Jan 2, 2017 22:02:27 GMT
Large USB external drives would not be exFAT but probably are best formatted NTFS. I concur. |
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Post by Peterj on Jan 3, 2017 18:53:41 GMT
@ Major Major, exFAT was introduced in 2006 as an improvement for FAT32. It overcomes, by today's standards, a small file size. Most USB flash drives are shipped with FAT32 - hence you're not having heard of it. exFAT is not intended for HDD or SDD drives.
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Post by BuckSkin on Jan 4, 2017 0:03:55 GMT
This file system business is an Operating System thing and not a hardware thing, right ?; any old computer can handle any old format so long as the OS recognizes that format, right ?
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