Fat32 partition size limit (OT in uk.d-i-y)

Roger Mills · 2014-10-30T21:38:46+00:00

Just (today) bought a Verbatim 1TB USB-3[1] external drive for general backup purposes, plus transferring data between computers - all Windoze, but a mixture of XP, W7-32bit and W7-64bit. It came formatted as Fat32, and there appears to be a single partition occupying the whole of its 1TB capacity. However, the on-disk manual which came with it seems to suggest that Fat32 partitions are limited to a maximum of 32GB. I know that to be untrue because I've got a 64GB thumb drive which is formatted as Fat32 - and that's definitely got more than 32GB of data on it. Some sources seem to suggest that the default Windoze format command cannot format more than 32GB at a time in Fat32 but there are third-party alternatives which can. Can anyone shed any light on this please? The manual suggests that users may want to create multiple partitions on the disk - possibly a mixture of Fat32 (for maximum transportability) and NTFS (for fewer size - presumably both partition size *and* file size - limitations). If I understand it correctly, it's telling me to delete the existing partition - so the whole thing becomes unallocated space - and then create the required new partitions. Questions: a) is this necessary? b) if I delete the existing partition, presumably the documents and software which came on the disk will be lost unless I copy it all elsewhere first? c) If I create multiple partitions (say, 1 fat32 primary, 1 Extended - containing several NTFS logical partitions) and give each one a drive letter, will the drive letters change depending on which system it's connected to at any one time - or do I need to choose drive letters which won't conflict with those in use on *any* of the systems to which I will connect it? d) if I back up my operating systems, using something like Paragon Rescue & Backup software (which is stand-alone, and boots from a CD) will that software be able to see all the partitions? [My current thoughts are that I will use a separate...

Oct 30, 2014 44 Replies

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meow2222 11 years ago

That's what I assumed, but found it not so. File permissions can be a real pita, and arent always very useful. FAT32 really does wipe the problem out.

NTFS was promoted as being more reliable in the event of fs errors. The reasons why may have sounded convincing, but IME I've found FAT32 and NTFS have both had much the same tendency to failure, I dont see that supposed upside flying in practice.

FAT32 has limits on partition size, filesize and files per folder, but is still workable - but not always. Its close to EOL in those respects for large HDDs.

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Huge 11 years ago

pita, and arent always very useful. FAT32 really does wipe the problem out.

No it doesn't. It solves the problem in the same way that having a baulky front door lock is solved by removing your front door.

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Bob Martin 11 years ago

Android only recognises external SD cards formatted with FAT32, so more than a few people.

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meow2222 11 years ago

Removing a front door is a major security problem, open file permissions with a relatively secure OS is a minor one.

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Grimly Curmudgeon 11 years ago

It's Rod; he's never right.

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