External Harddrive - Reformatting?

[miroku2192]

Hey this is the one i bought -> 96$ + shipping and taxes, so i thought it was a decent deal. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152178

I was wondering though, when I do get this in the mail sometime this week/next week, what is this whole reformatting thing I'm supposed to do? I see people commenting about fat32 or something or NTSC or w/e it was...What's that all about? And what's the best one to "reformat" it to?

Thanks!!
p.s. - i don't have eSATA or w/e, so that's why i went with the USB 2.0...does anyone know how fast of a transfer speed/rate it will be?

[chikorita157]

The data rate varies with USB. With big transfers, USB 2.0 is slower than Firewire and eSATA since it's transfer rate, 480 mbps is not sustained or constant. This is because of differences with interfaces.

Also, FAT32 is a outdated file system and cannot support big files over 4 GB. It's recommended to use NTFS instead which supports files over 4 GB. The drive should come formatted in NTFS, so I see no reason to reformat, unless you using Windows 9x.

[miroku2192]

Originally Posted by chikorita157

The data rate varies with USB. With big transfers, USB 2.0 is slower than Firewire and eSATA since it's transfer rate, 480 mbps is not sustained or constant. This is because of differences with interfaces.

Also, FAT32 is a outdated file system and cannot support big files over 4 GB. It's recommended to use NTFS instead which supports files over 4 GB. The drive should come formatted in NTFS, so I see no reason to reformat, unless you using Windows 9x.

Thank you! So how do i check to make sure it's still NTFS format? And if it isn't, is there some easy manual that will tell me how to format it?

I'm using a windows vista computer. When you say it won't support files over 4gb, u mean per transfer? Or just each individual file can not exceed 4gb? Like say i have a folder, each 1 gb individually (files within folder), but together, the folder is say 10gbs...Would that not work then? Would i have to split it up into 3 transfers?

[chikorita157]

Originally Posted by miroku2192

Thank you! So how do i check to make sure it's still NTFS format? And if it isn't, is there some easy manual that will tell me how to format it?

I'm using a windows vista computer. When you say it won't support files over 4gb, u mean per transfer? Or just each individual file can not exceed 4gb? Like say i have a folder, each 1 gb individually (files within folder), but together, the folder is say 10gbs...Would that not work then? Would i have to split it up into 3 transfers?

Each file... NTFS supports files over 4GB, FAT32 doesn't.

To check the HD format, go to My Computer and right click on the drive and click properties. It will show you the file system format

[miroku2192]

^Got it thank you so much!!!!

cookies for you

[Nochgo]

Yea... The WD 1TB I bought about a year ago was FAT32. Back then, I didn't know anything about harddrives or the need to reformat, so I just used it. After the HD was about 50% full, I found out that it couldn't hold a file that was bigger than 4GB... I had a real fun time splitting those files in archives. T-T

So, for future reference, how do you reformat your HD so its NTFS? And I'm guessing this will format all data in your HD?

[chikorita157]

You don't need to reformat with Fat32... just use the NTFS Conversion program.

Go to command prompt and type:
CONVERT <Drive Letter to Convert>: /FS:NTFS

This won't destroy any data and convert your file system to NTFS. Remember, once you convert, you cannot convert back to FAT32...but why would you anyways?

[Urzu 7]

Noob question, but I'm getting a new computer soon (shall come to my house in a couple of weeks)...the internal hard drive in it...I know it will be formatted...but what do you suppose it'll be? NTFS? I don't know if internal HDs come in FAT32 and NTFS.

[SeijiSensei]

Many manufacturers choose FAT32 for the default filesystem on external drives to ensure the broadest compatibility with other devices. Most USB keys I've bought have been formatted in FAT32 as was the drive on our portable media player. PS3's also require FAT32 on external drives. Until people started ripping entire movies into high-definition formats, the 4GB limitation on file sizes wasn't a big deal. ISO images of single-layer data DVDs come in at 4.7 GB, so they break the limit as well.

Originally Posted by Urzu 7

Noob question, but I'm getting a new computer soon (shall come to my house in a couple of weeks)...the internal hard drive in it...I know it will be formatted...but what do you suppose it'll be? NTFS? I don't know if internal HDs come in FAT32 and NTFS.

Internal hard drives on machines using NT or NT-derivatives like XP, Vista, or Win7 are all formatted using NTFS.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Internal hard drives on machines using NT or NT-derivatives like XP, Vista, or Win7 are all formatted using NTFS.

I think XP actually still offers FAT32 as an option for formatting internal drives, it's just that pretty much nobody uses it for reasons such as the 4GB file size limit.

@Urzu7: I'm not actually sure that most internal drives even shipped formatted. Windows will allow you to format the disc during installation though. I also usually take an opportunity to partition my data during the install process.

[miroku2192]

okay my external harddrive arrived, there are 930 gb of free space...and it's in FAT32. Should I convert to NTFS? (DIdn't soemone say that with FAT32 you also lose some "space" on the harddrive?)

Thanks! (are there any benefits switching to NTFS? I'm still not sure how you convert to NTFS from FAT32 -> It appears as the ( L: ) drive...)

[chikorita157]

Originally Posted by miroku2192

okay my external harddrive arrived, there are 930 gb of free space...and it's in FAT32. Should I convert to NTFS? (DIdn't soemone say that with FAT32 you also lose some "space" on the harddrive?)

Thanks! (are there any benefits switching to NTFS? I'm still not sure how you convert to NTFS from FAT32 -> It appears as the ( L: ) drive...)

Type Convert L: /FS:NTFS and it will convert the FAT32 drive to NTFS.

The benefits from NTFS is that it will support files that are bigger than 4GB and also allow for compression (useful for sparse files, but not already compressed files). Space shouldn't be issue when switching since the HD is big anyways.

[miroku2192]

Originally Posted by chikorita157

Type Convert L: /FS:NTFS and it will convert the FAT32 drive to NTFS.

The benefits from NTFS is that it will support files that are bigger than 4GB and also allow for compression (useful for sparse files, but not already compressed files). Space shouldn't be issue when switching since the HD is big anyways.

Hey, thank you for helping me thus far, i really appreciate it. One last question though, i read from a site that:

"Some older programs that were not written for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 may exhibit slow performance after you convert the FAT32 file system to NTFS. This behavior does not occur on a clean partition of NTFS.

English Interpretation: It is best to format your hard drive and choose the NTFS file system, instead of converting an existing drive from NTFS without a format."

^So would doing this command prompt convert mean the same thing? It'll exhibit the slower performance since i'm "converting it?" From samsung's user manual, it says their way of reformatting the drive would be to "delete partition" of the drive you wish to format and then right click the drive you wish to format and then select "new partition", and from create partition wizard, select "primary partition" and then enter the desired size of the partition (desired size of the partition !?!??! What!?!?) -> From the "file system" menu, select "NTFS" and format...

Okay what the hell does it mean by desired size of the partition? If my samsung drive pops up on the L drive right now, i just delete the R drive and make a new one? What? Is it safer to go with the converting via command prompt?

Thanks so much!! And happy holidays!

[chikorita157]

Originally Posted by miroku2192

Hey, thank you for helping me thus far, i really appreciate it. One last question though, i read from a site that:

"Some older programs that were not written for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 may exhibit slow performance after you convert the FAT32 file system to NTFS. This behavior does not occur on a clean partition of NTFS.

English Interpretation: It is best to format your hard drive and choose the NTFS file system, instead of converting an existing drive from NTFS without a format."

^So would doing this command prompt convert mean the same thing? It'll exhibit the slower performance since i'm "converting it?" From samsung's user manual, it says their way of reformatting the drive would be to "delete partition" of the drive you wish to format and then right click the drive you wish to format and then select "new partition", and from create partition wizard, select "primary partition" and then enter the desired size of the partition (desired size of the partition !?!??! What!?!?) -> From the "file system" menu, select "NTFS" and format...

Okay what the hell does it mean by desired size of the partition? If my samsung drive pops up on the L drive right now, i just delete the R drive and make a new one? What? Is it safer to go with the converting via command prompt?

Thanks so much!! And happy holidays!

I don't think this is a issue since you are not running a operating system on that drive to notice a difference in performance... so you should be alright.

[Tiberium Wolf]

Actually if you use fat32 in a disk and if you suddenly shut down the pc using reset or whatever other means then you will be prompted in windows restart to scan the disk. If the disk was writing something you will get corrupted data for sure. I have always hated that in fat32. With NTFS there is almost no data corruption and no scandisks.

[miroku2192]

Okay I formatted it...but how do i access the programs that were on the harddrive originally >.>!!?? There was some "protection" and "Backup" program that was already on the drive, but it's not there anymore after i formatted it *sigh*

[chikorita157]

Originally Posted by miroku2192

Okay I formatted it...but how do i access the programs that were on the harddrive originally >.>!!?? There was some "protection" and "Backup" program that was already on the drive, but it's not there anymore after i formatted it *sigh*

Once they are erased, it's not possible to get them back. They aren't needed for normal operation of the drive, but you can probably reobtain them on the manufactuer's website.

[miroku2192]

Originally Posted by chikorita157

Once they are erased, it's not possible to get them back. They aren't needed for normal operation of the drive, but you can probably reobtain them on the manufactuer's website.

I see, that's fine. Thank you so much for all your help though, everything is NTFS now and I just copied over 200 gb worth of stuff...it's a bit slow though, was only going at 15 mb/sec? I thought USB could let it go faster...is there anything wrong I'm doing?

[chikorita157]

Originally Posted by miroku2192

I see, that's fine. Thank you so much for all your help though, everything is NTFS now and I just copied over 200 gb worth of stuff...it's a bit slow though, was only going at 15 mb/sec? I thought USB could let it go faster...is there anything wrong I'm doing?

Not really. The transfer rate of USB is only slower because it's does not produce a sustained transfer since USB uses a Master-Slave architecture. Firewire and eSATA can produce a sustained transfer. 480mbps is a theoretical transfer rate, not actual.

[0utf0xZer0]

There's a lot of USB 2.0 devices out there that can do 30MB/s+, so 15 seems a little low. Not sure what's holding the drive back though.