Format ext. HD problem w/ Dell Inspiron 8000 w/ W2K USB 1.1

[Ducati]

I just put together a Western Digital 40GB 2.5" 5400rpm HD and a usb 2.0 no-frills external case. I couldn't format the drive as FAT32 in Computer Management in W2K while connected to my usb 1.1 port. It kept receiving an error message at the end of the formatting - "Volume size too big." Then I tried NTFS and it worked. I don't know if this matters but my archaic computer is only USB 1.1, and the formatting took about 30 minutes...

can anyone tell me why I couldn't format as FAT32??? Thanks!!!!

 

[LiLithTecH]

What Service pack are you running?

 

[Ducati]

I was running service pack 3

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Be aware some older USB ports are prone to data errors when used with an external hard drive.

Did you try ALL the USB ports? Some mobos had only 2 USB 2.0 ports and the rest were 1.1

 

[LiLithTecH]

Should have noticed it is a 40GB drive the first time.

FAT32 has a 32GB limitation.

You would have to split the partitions to use it.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

As LilithTech said, WinXP can read FAT32 files up to whatever the limit of a FAT32 partition is (somewhere around 200?). What WinXP can't do is FORMAT a FAT32 partition larger than 40Gb. You need to format it using Partition Magic, a 98 Boot disk, or from a 98 system, or split it into 40Gb partitions.

Or, better yet, format it as NTFS unless you need to read it from a Win98 system.

 

[Ducati]

Thank you LiLithTecH and Flying Penguin...

when i was reading about fat32 vs ntfs, it didn't mention the limit of formatting capabilities. It only said that i would have to use ntfs when dealing with HDs larger than 137GB. http://cquirke.mvps.org/ntfs.htm

thanks again guys...