Shoutbox

Hi guys, I got myself an external harddrive from Packard Bell of 250Gb.

I uploaded all my stuff to it and now I see it's formatted in FAT32. Is this a disadvantage? I know NTFS works faster for the OS but is this the case for an external harddrive too? Because a Flash-usb stick can only be formatted in FAT32 in example.... also external

Anyway, my second question: can I run a OS from it?


Tnx

You're best to keep it in FAT32 (in my opinion).  That guarantees it'll be readable on linux, macs, older versions of windows, etc.  And since it's external / portable, that is a particularly valid point.

The performance will be slightly lower, but if you aren't noticing the difference... why worry?

Running an OS... I have no idea if external hard drives are bootable... try and see?

btw.. Umm.. How do I convert to FAT32?

[offtopic]

quote:

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Originally posted by Exca
Because a Flash-usb stick can only be formatted in FAT32

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Flashdisks can (atleast I think) be formated with the NTFS File System, but with a diffrent tool.
This tool seems to be able to do it, although I have never tried to do it on my Flash Disk.

[/offtopic]

quote:

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Originally posted by Nitro
btw.. Umm.. How do I convert to FAT32?

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WARNING: You will lose all data on the disk if you follow these instructions!
To convert a disk from any file system to a FAT32 file system, you must first be logged in as an administrator on your computer. In the control Panel, locate Administrative Tools, then Computer Management. This will open a MS Management Console. On the left side, there is a Disk Management option.

This will bring up a graphic on the right side displaying all disk drives on your computer. For any disk, there may or may not be more than one partition or volume on each physical disk. You will need to delete all of them before putting on a FAT32 file system. Do this by right-clicking each volume and select Delete Partition or Delete Volume. THIS WILL DELETE AND/OR MAKE ALL DATA INACCESSIBLE

When this is done, the whole disk will be marked as unallocated. Right-click this space and select New Partition. Click next, Primary Partition, Next, enter the amount of space you wish the partition to take on the disk (default is the whole disk), and Next. Choose a drive letter to mount the disk as, default should be fine, Next.

You want to 'Format with following settings': change File System to FAT32 (if the size is less than 2GB there will also be an option for FAT), leave allocation unit size as default, and then enter a label for the disk (e.g. USB Drive, External Disk, etc.). Do not select 'quick format' or 'enable compression'. The last page will confirm everything, and will then preform the action.

To convert a FAT to an NTFS, the process is easier, and will not result in data loss.
Before doing this, close any open programs, files and windows that are open that are running off this drive.
Start > Run > cmd to open the command prompt. type in

code:

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convert X: /FS:NTFS /NoSecurity

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where X: is the drive letter you wish to convert, /FS:NTFS specifies the new file system, and /NoSecurity sets full control to the Everyone user group (instead of just the current user).

quote:

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Originally posted by MeEtc

You want to 'Format with following settings': change File System to FAT32 (if the size is less than 2GB there will also be an option for FAT), leave allocation unit size as default, and then enter a label for the disk (e.g. USB Drive, External Disk, etc.). Do not select 'quick format' or 'enable compression'. The last page will confirm everything, and will then preform the action.

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Thanks for the reply

[offtopic]

USB Flash sticks have a limited number of READ/WRITE cycles and thus would not be suitable for running an OS off it.

Unless you want a temporary computer

This does not, however, include external hard drives, which probably all use USB, but since they have moving parts instead of the IC surface mount on USB flash drives/pen drives/whatever, they would (somehow) be more durable if an OS was run off it.
[/offtopic]

Some computers can boot from USB devices.  It all depends it the BIOS allows it.  Just go into the bios when you boot, go to your boot devices, and is USB device is listed, select it.  I wouldn't suggest running your OS off of any USB device though, since USB is alot slower than IDE, SATA, or any other internal connection.

I asked Adeptus about this just a couple weeks ago.
To me, I think he offered the best explanation I've ever heard.

The one of advantages of a removable disk in FAT32 is the aforementioned portability.

If you're to store hundreds or thousands of small-sized files, or perhaps some files that are more than 4 GB in size each (like a DVD image), then NTFS is your choice.

Moreover, you can always convert it from FAT32 to NTFS anytime, but you will have to lose all your data if you want it to be converted to FAT32.

I believe my explanation was a bit incomplete but that's what I remember, therefore I invite anyone to add or to fix my comment.