4Gb file limit on external Hard Drive

Daniel N · 11-05-2009, 08:56 PM

Hi there,

I have a quick question that most of you will probably be able to answer? I have a new western digital hard drive (1 Tb) and is there no file system that allow more than 4 GB of transfer for one file at a time. It is such a pain to deal with all of the file splitting whilst downloading and other such uses.
Any suggestions?

Thanks

**grimx133** · 11-05-2009, 09:06 PM

External hard drives normally come formatted to fat32 so that they can be used by mac's as well as pc's. Unfortunately, fat32 has a single file size limit of 4GB, as you have noticed. The only way to work with files larger is to convert the file system to ntfs. Not a hard thing to do, you can convert fat32 to ntfs without data loss, but it is a one way trip, the only way to ever go back to fat32 would require formatting and the loss of all data. As long as you aren't going to be using the external with a mac, then converting is a good thing.
And here's how to do it. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881

Daniel N · 11-05-2009, 09:10 PM

I have two hard drives, one is ntfs and the other is fat32, neither one of them allow more than 4 GB file transfer. Any other suggestions? I thought that same that ntfs should allow more than 4GB, but apparently not for my hard drive. Do you think I have to reformat it again?

Thanks

**raptor_pa** · 11-05-2009, 09:19 PM

How about a screencap from disk management. NTFS should never have an issue with files over 4 GB- what message do you get when 4GB is reached?

Daniel N · 11-05-2009, 09:24 PM

When I try to transfer more than 4 GB it tells me that the file I am trying to transfer is too big for the location. It simply asks me to skip the transfer in the first place without even transferring anything.

Daniel N · 11-05-2009, 10:46 PM

This is when there is plenty of disk space left. I've only used 100GB of the 1TB drive and it still won't let me transfer a 6GB file.

**grimx133** · 11-06-2009, 01:13 AM

Are you trying to transfer the 6GB file from the ntfs drive to the fat32 drive? If so,
the 4GB limit is still there.

Daniel N · 11-09-2009, 11:09 AM

No I am trying to transfer a file on my internal hard drive of my computer to an external hard drive that is ntfs format. I do not think my internal hard drive is fat32 but I can check. I doubt it would be.

Thanks

**grimx133** · 11-09-2009, 02:36 PM

Post the screenshot from disk management.

11-05-2009, 08:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
Daniel N Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 63 OS: XP Service Pack 2	4Gb file limit on external Hard Drive Hi there, I have a quick question that most of you will probably be able to answer? I have a new western digital hard drive (1 Tb) and is there no file system that allow more than 4 GB of transfer for one file at a time. It is such a pain to deal with all of the file splitting whilst downloading and other such uses. Any suggestions? Thanks

11-05-2009, 09:06 PM	#2 (permalink)
grimx133 Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada eh Posts: 3,130 OS: xp mce sp2, xp pro sp2, windows 7 beta My System	Re: 4Gb file limit on external Hard Drive External hard drives normally come formatted to fat32 so that they can be used by mac's as well as pc's. Unfortunately, fat32 has a single file size limit of 4GB, as you have noticed. The only way to work with files larger is to convert the file system to ntfs. Not a hard thing to do, you can convert fat32 to ntfs without data loss, but it is a one way trip, the only way to ever go back to fat32 would require formatting and the loss of all data. As long as you aren't going to be using the external with a mac, then converting is a good thing. And here's how to do it. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881 __________________

11-05-2009, 09:10 PM	#3 (permalink)
Daniel N Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 63 OS: XP Service Pack 2	Re: 4Gb file limit on external Hard Drive I have two hard drives, one is ntfs and the other is fat32, neither one of them allow more than 4 GB file transfer. Any other suggestions? I thought that same that ntfs should allow more than 4GB, but apparently not for my hard drive. Do you think I have to reformat it again? Thanks

11-05-2009, 09:19 PM	#4 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,758 OS: XP	Re: 4Gb file limit on external Hard Drive How about a screencap from disk management. NTFS should never have an issue with files over 4 GB- what message do you get when 4GB is reached? __________________

11-05-2009, 09:24 PM	#5 (permalink)
Daniel N Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 63 OS: XP Service Pack 2	Re: 4Gb file limit on external Hard Drive When I try to transfer more than 4 GB it tells me that the file I am trying to transfer is too big for the location. It simply asks me to skip the transfer in the first place without even transferring anything.

11-05-2009, 10:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
Daniel N Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 63 OS: XP Service Pack 2	Re: 4Gb file limit on external Hard Drive This is when there is plenty of disk space left. I've only used 100GB of the 1TB drive and it still won't let me transfer a 6GB file.

11-06-2009, 01:13 AM	#7 (permalink)
grimx133 Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada eh Posts: 3,130 OS: xp mce sp2, xp pro sp2, windows 7 beta My System	Re: 4Gb file limit on external Hard Drive Are you trying to transfer the 6GB file from the ntfs drive to the fat32 drive? If so, the 4GB limit is still there. __________________

11-09-2009, 11:09 AM	#8 (permalink)
Daniel N Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 63 OS: XP Service Pack 2	Re: 4Gb file limit on external Hard Drive No I am trying to transfer a file on my internal hard drive of my computer to an external hard drive that is ntfs format. I do not think my internal hard drive is fat32 but I can check. I doubt it would be. Thanks

11-09-2009, 02:36 PM	#9 (permalink)
grimx133 Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada eh Posts: 3,130 OS: xp mce sp2, xp pro sp2, windows 7 beta My System	Re: 4Gb file limit on external Hard Drive Post the screenshot from disk management. __________________