Why won't my hard drive transfer more than 3gbs?

[MainFramed]

I keep tryring to transfer a few files and some video files from my mac to my WD:My Book and it seems like anything 3gb or larger just wont transfer, i get an error everytime. But if i select multipile files 6gb or more all together (as long as each file is 2gb or less) it transfers np. Anyone know why this might be? 😕 :|

</MainFramed>

 

[jkresh]

fat32 has a file size limitation (I thought it was 4gb but it might be 2) you will need to reformat the wd using ntfs or another file system that doesnt have the same file size limations (make sure whatever you use can be read by whatever machines you need (ie osx and windows or ...))

 

[ForumMaster]

yup. what jkresh says is correct. external drives are formatted as fat32 for compatibility. this, however gives a couple of disadvantages such as a low file size limit. if you're only using it with a windows machine, just reformat as NTFS and problem solved.

 

[imported_Baloo]

Originally posted by: jkresh
fat32 has a file size limitation (I thought it was 4gb but it might be 2) you will need to reformat the wd using ntfs or another file system that doesnt have the same file size limations (make sure whatever you use can be read by whatever machines you need (ie osx and windows or ...))

It's is 4, so you thought right.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

Why would he reformat to NTFS if he's using a Mac?

 

[Zepper]

For compatibility with Widows systems. The Mac OS can (well, should be able to, as most Linux type OSes can) deal with NTFS, but not vice versa without a special utility.

.bh.

 

[ForumMaster]

Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender
Why would he reformat to NTFS if he's using a Mac?

whoops. didn't catch that. then, assuming you're using a mac only, make two partitions. a small fat32 one with a macdrive installer assuming you need it and the rest as HFS+. should solve your problem as well as allowing you the occasional use on a windows if neccesary.

 

[ForumMaster]

Originally posted by: Zepper
For compatibility with Widows systems. The Mac OS can (well, should be able to, as most Linux type OSes can) deal with NTFS, but not vice versa without a special utility.

.bh.

all OS'es can read NTFS but only windows can write to it. this is because MS never released the info on how to do it. if all you're doing is reading off the drive and you do need to use a windows pc, ntfs can work.

 

[0roo0roo]

yup use hfs+