External HDD - Backup Errors

[trilks]

I am trying to backup a data partition from our company file server to an external HDD. The server is a Dell PowerEdge 1600 running Win 2000 Server. I tried using the Windows Backup application, but when the backup gets to about 4GB in size, an error message comes up saying:

"The fixed media is full. You cannot backup all of the specified data to this disk drive. The backup operation will stop."

This happened twice, both at the 4GB mark.

I also tried a copy/paste of the most important data folders, but I also received an error saying that the disk is full. This happened after about 10GB had been transferred (of about 26GB total).

The media cannot be full, as it is a new WD 120GB HDD in an external enclosure (using FAT32). Windows reports it as having 104GB free. The size of the backup is only around 28GB. Any ideas on why I would be getting these errors?

**Update**
Converted the drive to NTFS. I could copy/paste a large file that I was not able to before under FAT32. But I am still getting the drive space error when trying to run Windows Backup.

 

[tcsenter]

There is a 4GB file size limitation with FAT32. For NTFS, I forget the file size limitation.

You could configure MS Backup to divide your backup into multiple backup jobs or use a third-party backup application such as Veritas Backup Exec or Stomp Backup MyPC.

Some of the following tips may prevent problems with backup jobs:

- Turn off screen savers
- Disable Power Management
- Exit other programs such as antivirus scanners
- Delete your browser cache and temporary files

You could also try partitioning your backup drive into a dedicated ~40GB backup partition and selecting your external HDD under 'Where to Backup To' instead of 'File', if MS Backup 'sees' the drive as a backup device. If it doesn't see the drive as a backup device, it probably isn't supported by MS Backup.

 

[trilks]

Good call on the FAT32 file size limit. That must have been exactly what was causing the problem. But the file size limit under NTFS is 16 exabytes (as per this KB article), which I'm obviously not running into. I will try breaking up the data into separate backup jobs. Thanks for your help.