FAT32 Formatting, does it make a difference to PC users

EddieHowell · 03-10-2005, 03:26 AM

Hi Peeps,
Regarding Fat32 hard drive formatting, used for Macs: does anyone know if it affects PCs NTFS drives at all?

I have an external HD that was done in Fat32. Normally music is just played back from it, but ocasionally, files are copied from this drive & onto my XP/NTFS system drive. Can this cause errors somehow, specifically with booting up from the NTFS drive?

All the best
Eddie Howell

PS: if the external FAT32 music drive is on while booting up XP, the message 'ntldr is missing, Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart' appears?

crazijoe · 03-10-2005, 05:13 AM

It shouldn't matter. I usually format all my external drives to FAT32. that way it can be share with other computers that do not support NTFS partitions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EddieHowell

PS: if the external FAT32 music drive is on while booting up XP, the message 'ntldr is missing, Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart' appears?

This is probably because of the boot sequence in the BIOS. The BIOS probably has a USB device booting before the HDD.

**johnwill** · 03-10-2005, 05:05 PM

It makes no difference to the PC, it should behave the same.

Personally, I've converted all my external drives to NTFS, it really is a more robust file system, and handles crashes better than FAT32 volumes. However, if you require FAT32 compatibility with older Windows machines or Macs, that's obviously the proper choice.

03-10-2005, 03:26 AM	#1 (permalink)
EddieHowell Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 3 OS: Win XP SP2	FAT32 Formatting, does it make a difference to PC users Hi Peeps, Regarding Fat32 hard drive formatting, used for Macs: does anyone know if it affects PCs NTFS drives at all? I have an external HD that was done in Fat32. Normally music is just played back from it, but ocasionally, files are copied from this drive & onto my XP/NTFS system drive. Can this cause errors somehow, specifically with booting up from the NTFS drive? All the best Eddie Howell PS: if the external FAT32 music drive is on while booting up XP, the message 'ntldr is missing, Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart' appears?

03-10-2005, 05:05 PM	#3 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,748 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	It makes no difference to the PC, it should behave the same. Personally, I've converted all my external drives to NTFS, it really is a more robust file system, and handles crashes better than FAT32 volumes. However, if you require FAT32 compatibility with older Windows machines or Macs, that's obviously the proper choice. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience