linkinpark
I have an Iomega 500gb External Hard Drive. It's currently formatted as NTFS, and works fine, but I'm trying to hook it up to my Playstation 3 and it needs to be Fat32 format. Is it possible to do this without erasing everything on my hard drive, and still leaving it compatible with my PC as well? Not sure if it matters, but I'm running Windows Vista, and the most updated PS3 firmware.
Answer
You cannot change the format from NTFS to FAT32 without destroying the data on the hard drive. Microsoft provides a way to go the other way (FAT32 to NTFS) without destroying your data, but no way to go back.
Backup your data to another drive or computer before continuing.
Further, you cannot format your 500Gb hard drive as FAT32 anyway because FAT32 only supports partitions up to 32Gb in size. Instead, I suggest that you delete the partition on your external hard drive and recreate the partitions using Disk Management (right click on Computer and select Manage from the popup menu). Then in the left pane find Disk Management and left click on it. Create a 32 Gb partition and a 468Gb partition. Format the 32Gb partition as FAT32 and format the 468Gb partition as NTFS.
You will get two drive letters after formatting, one for each partition. Restore your data back to the external hard drive. Use the FAT32 partition for your Playstation 3, and the NTFS partition for everything you normally used it for.
Here's more information on Maximum partition sizes:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/core/fncc_fil_tvjq.mspx?mfr=true
[EDIT]
An interesting note on that Microsoft limits webpage. FAT32 supports up to 1 terrabyte, but Microsoft limits the maximum partition size to 32Gb for Windows 2000 and later, and to 127Gb for Windows 98. Obviously this is another attempt by Microsoft to control how we use our computers, and to force us into NTFS as volumes get larger and larger.
Well after writing the above answer, it occured to me that there might be a third party format program that would allow the entire 500Gb hard drive to be formatted as FAT32. Well, golly gee whiz, there seem to be a ton of them. Some free, some not so free. Perhaps you can format the whole 500Gb as FAT32.
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=h1&oq=maximum%20size%20fat32&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS315US315&q=format+FAT32+utility
If you try any of these, send me an email, tell me which one you tried, how well it worked, and whether you have any trouble accessing the drive once its done.
[end edit]
You cannot change the format from NTFS to FAT32 without destroying the data on the hard drive. Microsoft provides a way to go the other way (FAT32 to NTFS) without destroying your data, but no way to go back.
Backup your data to another drive or computer before continuing.
Further, you cannot format your 500Gb hard drive as FAT32 anyway because FAT32 only supports partitions up to 32Gb in size. Instead, I suggest that you delete the partition on your external hard drive and recreate the partitions using Disk Management (right click on Computer and select Manage from the popup menu). Then in the left pane find Disk Management and left click on it. Create a 32 Gb partition and a 468Gb partition. Format the 32Gb partition as FAT32 and format the 468Gb partition as NTFS.
You will get two drive letters after formatting, one for each partition. Restore your data back to the external hard drive. Use the FAT32 partition for your Playstation 3, and the NTFS partition for everything you normally used it for.
Here's more information on Maximum partition sizes:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/core/fncc_fil_tvjq.mspx?mfr=true
[EDIT]
An interesting note on that Microsoft limits webpage. FAT32 supports up to 1 terrabyte, but Microsoft limits the maximum partition size to 32Gb for Windows 2000 and later, and to 127Gb for Windows 98. Obviously this is another attempt by Microsoft to control how we use our computers, and to force us into NTFS as volumes get larger and larger.
Well after writing the above answer, it occured to me that there might be a third party format program that would allow the entire 500Gb hard drive to be formatted as FAT32. Well, golly gee whiz, there seem to be a ton of them. Some free, some not so free. Perhaps you can format the whole 500Gb as FAT32.
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=h1&oq=maximum%20size%20fat32&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS315US315&q=format+FAT32+utility
If you try any of these, send me an email, tell me which one you tried, how well it worked, and whether you have any trouble accessing the drive once its done.
[end edit]
Need external hard drive?
Pablo Wils
I need a reliable 500gb external hard drive that is compatible with both Mac and PC for under 120 bucks. I was looking at Seagate Freeagent, but to switch from Mac to PC you have to reformat, which is pointless for me.
I also looked at the g-drive which runs about 140, but heard bad bad things about hitatchi, the company that makes it, as well as the problem of it not liking Windows XP.
Now I'm looking at the Lacie 500gb rugged model, recommended by a friend. It's 145 bucks, more than I was hoping to spend, but it looks compatible on Mac and PC.
I know everyone has their favorite brands, but any recommendations besides the Lacie are welcome.
Answer
You are looking in the wrong place for prices.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822154400 is $100 for 500GB.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822154391 is $110 and 1 Terabyte.
Both prices include free shipping.
LaCie is the first choice because they are compatible with Macs. I own several.
IOmega makes good mac/pc drives
http://www.amazon.com/Iomega-Prestige-Desktop-External-34270/dp/B001D7REIK 500GB for $75, including shipping.
Both "mac and pc" is the problem. Macs use a different file system than Windows. Many drives come already formatted NTFS for the benefit of the majority of their users. Without extra software a Mac can't read or write to an NTFS volume and a PC can't read or write to HFS+ Extended volumes.
You are looking in the wrong place for prices.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822154400 is $100 for 500GB.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822154391 is $110 and 1 Terabyte.
Both prices include free shipping.
LaCie is the first choice because they are compatible with Macs. I own several.
IOmega makes good mac/pc drives
http://www.amazon.com/Iomega-Prestige-Desktop-External-34270/dp/B001D7REIK 500GB for $75, including shipping.
Both "mac and pc" is the problem. Macs use a different file system than Windows. Many drives come already formatted NTFS for the benefit of the majority of their users. Without extra software a Mac can't read or write to an NTFS volume and a PC can't read or write to HFS+ Extended volumes.
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