Which System File Format for External Hard Drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Enlighten
  • Start date Start date
E

Enlighten

New member
Hi there. I am considering getting one of the Lacie d2 Triple external drives. I currently only work on a Windows XP machine but I will possibly work with Mac machines in the future. I can choose between FAT32 and NTFS. Apparently, for FAT32, the partition volume is limited to only 32GB in Windows XP. So, what partitions do you suggest me make? Should I have both FAT32 and NTFS in my drive? Or should I go with all FAT32 partitions? If I go FAT32 and NTFS, will I be able to move my files between the two partitions of different system file formats?

Thanks a lot!
 
dont worry fat32 can handle more then 32gb, make the drive just one big fat32 partition, you wont have to worry about compatability problems with mac, ntfs may or may not work with mac
 
Enlighten said:
Hi there. I am considering getting one of the Lacie d2 Triple external drives. I currently only work on a Windows XP machine but I will possibly work with Mac machines in the future. I can choose between FAT32 and NTFS. Apparently, for FAT32, the partition volume is limited to only 32GB in Windows XP. So, what partitions do you suggest me make? Should I have both FAT32 and NTFS in my drive? Or should I go with all FAT32 partitions? If I go FAT32 and NTFS, will I be able to move my files between the two partitions of different system file formats?

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

Hi...just a couple of things, notwithstanding the good comments above...
for hard disk recording, NTFS will improve disk performance..which is a good thing, as you could imagine. Go for NTFS whenever you can. (I just recently converted everything to NTFS on my music computer, not the one pictured 'cause it's just a crappy internet machine.)
I understand that you mentioned 'MAC'....compatibility?..worry about that when /if you do get one, in the meantime, enjoy NTFS.
As for moving files between the "different system file formats" (as I understand it, between your hard drives(?))...no problem, as you can see in the screen shot I sent you (of my net computer!!, my music station is all NTFS now).
And, as stated earlier, don't worry about the 32G volume size, it does go higher (as long as the drives are formatted correctly).
Sorry for not going into detail, but i think you know what you're doing already!!
I hope that helps you in a practical sense.
Superspit.
 

Attachments

  • ntfs fat32 small.webp
    ntfs fat32 small.webp
    3 KB · Views: 65
Neither file system offers any significant performance increase over the other.
 
NTFS has better recoverabilty, better performance on larger volumes (vice-versa on small volumes), better disk space economy and better fault tolerance. For a large volume audio drive, I would go with NTFS - and I do. NTFS "takes care of itself better" for lack of a better phrase.

If you like to read, type in something like "NTFS vs. Fat32" in Google.

I believe OSX can read NTFS partitions, but not write to them. Maybe something has changed there, but I'm not sure. I really don't care about Macs.
 
Thanks for the answers guys. Very helpful indeed. So I see that NTFS is probably the better format under Windows. Is having 2 file system formats in one external drive a bad idea? What if I make a 32GB FAT32 partition and use the rest as NTFS? Would that create any complications?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top