APplication to reformat HD as FAT32

Shooter

Shooter

Veteran
Posted elsewhere but thistechnical thread may suit question better:

I am considering Formating an external drive as FAT32 instead of NTFS because part of its role will be "playing" with MACS

Anyone know of a reason I should not do this (or any limitations it will impose on me and my PCs ?

A member (Thoff) mentioned its a good idea if the files are mxf which mostly they will be. But also this device will be used as a delivery method to Post Houses and will involve large avis and QTs

Anyone know of an application, preferably freeware, that can reformat NTFS to FAT32? (Windows XP can not do it). I know Partition MAgic can but I dont want to purchase it for a one off task (and also I do not like Symantec S/Ware very much)
 
Windows XP can't convert a NTFS volume to FAT32 (it can do the reverse), but it can certainly destructively format a drive as FAT32.

Right-click on the drive in Windows Explorer, select Format, and in the Format dialog you will be able to select FAT32 as the file system.

Another option would be to partition the drive into two or more volumes. Keep one in FAT32 format for cross-platform access, and use another file system with support for >4GB files on the other volume for delivering content to the post house.
 
THoff said:
Windows XP can't convert a NTFS volume to FAT32 (it can do the reverse), but it can certainly destructively format a drive as FAT32.

Right-click on the drive in Windows Explorer, select Format, and in the Format dialog you will be able to select FAT32 as the file system.
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Click to expand...


I am unable to do this because there is no option for FAT32 in the procedure you described.
 
Shooter said:
I am unable to do this because there is no option for FAT32 in the procedure you described.
Click to expand...
That's bizarre. Is the drive in use for any operating system files (the OS itself, or the page file)?

Another procedure for partitioning and formatting a drive as FAT32 is on Microsoft's support site -- try that.
 
Windows XP can only format a FAT32 Partition to max. 32 GB. you need a thirdparty tool to format a larger partition.
 
Right -- if the drive size is larger than 32gB, Windows will remove the NTFS option.

Download Swiss Knife or get Partition Magic or something like that and you can format massive FAT32 partitions.
 
Anders Holck said:
Windows XP can only format a FAT32 Partition to max. 32 GB. you need a thirdparty tool to format a larger partition.
Click to expand...


I can not even do this because the drive came already formatted as NTFS. Research on the net shows it is not exactly a simple exercise to go back from NTFS to FAT32 and can be fraught with issues.

Anyway I t seems I must buy a third party application to achieve it.

You guys have not commented if it is a good idea ? I am only doing it to have some compatibilty with the MACs at my Post House and my editor.
 
I you don't intend to offload directly from the camera to the hard drive, I would just get MacDrive for the PC, and format the drive using the Mac's native file system. Using MacDrive, you'll be able to read and write the drive, and you won't have any issues with large files or exchanging data with the post facility.
 
If I use MacDrive - I lose PC compatibility (wont I ?)

I am trying to get maximum flexibility (which in my opinion is the only way to deal with anything originating as mxf files.) I do not want to spend my time converting files and transferring them across HDs and computers. Single step processes if possible.

I need this drive to capture to and also be able to transport media (whatever it is) cross platform. Eg the only way I can output DVCPRO50/100 to my Post house will be via a MAC and Decklink to DigiBeta or D5 . My editor is using FCP . I use PremPro (PC)

It seemed that the only way was to format the drive as FAT32 to make it cross platform compatible. Easy said and difficult to do.

BTW- Swiss Knife can not reformat the drive as FAT32. I tried it. The drive stubbornly remains NTFS.

I am adverse to spending money on Partiton Magic without guarantee it can be done.
 
Your internal drive should be NTFS.

External drives would be FAT32. Those can be read by both Windows and Mac systems.

I haven't found a case where Swiss Knife doesn't work; you could try to format the external drive on the Mac in FAT32 format as well.
 
Hey,

i am in quite the same situation (despite the fact that i luckily havent formated the drives yet..), i will have to take care of massive data rates every day(5 hours of interviews on hd for 2 weeks) understood that i will format fat32 with swiss knife (as they dont know if they will edit on pc or mac), but one question: i will use P2 genie to copy and want to use the "single folder"-option to copy ech interview(about 2 hours): is there anything i have to be aware of??(should all stay fat32 compatible, and hopefully no overwriting witht the "singlefolder" when i use p2 genie, right?)

Thanks a lot, i am just a little nervous as this is one of the bigger jobs, a project that i dont produce for myself, and i really wanna see it workfine and safe....dont we all want that..!?!
 
Shooter said:
If I use MacDrive - I lose PC compatibility (wont I ?).
Click to expand...
MacDrive lets you read and write a volume that uses the native Macintosh file system from Windows. Systems that don't have MacDrive installed would be unable to access the volume.
 
Barry_Green said:
Your internal drive should be NTFS.

External drives would be FAT32. Those can be read by both Windows and Mac systems.

I haven't found a case where Swiss Knife doesn't work; you could try to format the external drive on the Mac in FAT32 format as well.
Click to expand...

Hi Barry

I have Internal Drives as NTFS. THe problem is that the NEW external drive was preformatted NTFS and it refuses to be reformatted as FAT32. SwissKnife will not do it, nor will WIndows XP.

Maybe there is an option in Swiss Knife I am missing but I do not think so.

Formatting an unformatted drive or Changing from FAT32 to NTFS is easy. Its the other way thats difficult.

If anyone is able to actually test this (Reformat any NTFS formatted drive as FAT32) I would be interested in the results.
 
Try deleting the partition before using Swiss Knife:

Right-click on My Computer, select Manage, go to Disk Management, right-click on the partition(s) you want to remove, and select Delete.
 
I have done it...actually my computer techs did it.

They removed the drive from the external enclosure and connected via IDE and then ....it got real technical ....but it's done. (and thats all I care about at the moment)

Thoff- I did as you suggested previously and it would not work for me.

I am kind of figuring others may end up doing this for the same reason. Cross Platform compatibilty using an external HD with multiple fast connections. Good luck and hope this thread helps others.
 
I ran into this problem as well and discovered a great little utility caled fat32format.exe that you can download for free from here:

http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm


Don't let the long winded explaination on the page worry you. It is a very simple program to use (almost too simple if you aren't careful which drive letter you are working on! ) simply save it to the root of your c: drive. Open command prompt and type: fat32format.exe d: (or whatever drive you want to format). Confirm the format and your done.

And it's FREE!!!!

-filmstox
 
Hi guys,
Yes, I can second the above post.
Fat32format.exe works brilliantly.
I just formatted a number of drives with this utility when nothing else would work.
It's only 24KB in size.
Steve
 
steve997 said:
Hi guys,
Yes, I can second the above post.
Fat32format.exe works brilliantly.
I just formatted a number of drives with this utility when nothing else would work.
It's only 24KB in size.
Steve
Click to expand...

Good follow up info guys.

Does it work on pre formatted NTFS external drives via F/W, USB or other connection.
 
If you were to use a Windows ME startup floppy, you should be able to delete an NTFS partition using the FDISK command.

ME boot disk image download available Here
 
Last edited:
Use a Mac to format your drives as FAT32! I have been using a PC laptop in the field with two Maxtor 300 gig drives formatted as FAT32 via my Mac. All my post is done on FCP & Mac's but I use a PC in the field. Safe and works on both platforms!

Cheers :)
 
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