I am trying to backup My Documents and Settings usings XP's backup utility.
The total estimated size of the backup is ~4.5GB. I am doing this to my 8GB
USB drive. When the backup gets ~90% done I am prompted to provide a new
media because the current media is full (there is nothings else currently on
the USB drive).

Any help or ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Joel <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I am trying to backup My Documents and Settings usings XP's backup utility.
>The total estimated size of the backup is ~4.5GB. I am doing this to my 8GB
>USB drive. When the backup gets ~90% done I am prompted to provide a new
>media because the current media is full (there is nothings else currently on
>the USB drive).
>
>Any help or ideas would be much appreciated.
>
>Thanks.

Is the drive formatted FAT32?

If so, reformat to NTFS.

"Joel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:B10101BE-6141-49B7-A2A0-(E-Mail Removed)...
>I am trying to backup My Documents and Settings usings XP's backup utility.
> The total estimated size of the backup is ~4.5GB. I am doing this to my
> 8GB
> USB drive. When the backup gets ~90% done I am prompted to provide a new
> media because the current media is full (there is nothings else currently
> on
> the USB drive).
>
> Any help or ideas would be much appreciated.
>
> Thanks.

Your USB drive might use the FAT file system. It has a limit of 4 GBytes per
file. To overcome this limit, reformat it to NTFS.

This is helpful. Thank you.

When I right click on the drive and try to format, the only option from the
drop down menu is FAT. How do I reformat for NTFS? Also, is there any
downside to using NTFS?

Thanks again.

"Mike Torello" wrote:

> Joel <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >I am trying to backup My Documents and Settings usings XP's backup utility.
> >The total estimated size of the backup is ~4.5GB. I am doing this to my 8GB
> >USB drive. When the backup gets ~90% done I am prompted to provide a new
> >media because the current media is full (there is nothings else currently on
> >the USB drive).
> >
> >Any help or ideas would be much appreciated.
> >
> >Thanks.
>
> Is the drive formatted FAT32?
>
> If so, reformat to NTFS.
>

This is helpful. Thank you.

When I right click on the drive and try to format, the only option from the
drop down menu is FAT. How do I reformat for NTFS? Also, is there any
downside to using NTFS?

Thanks again.

"Pegasus [MVP]" wrote:

>
> "Joel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:B10101BE-6141-49B7-A2A0-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >I am trying to backup My Documents and Settings usings XP's backup utility.
> > The total estimated size of the backup is ~4.5GB. I am doing this to my
> > 8GB
> > USB drive. When the backup gets ~90% done I am prompted to provide a new
> > media because the current media is full (there is nothings else currently
> > on
> > the USB drive).
> >
> > Any help or ideas would be much appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks.
>
> Your USB drive might use the FAT file system. It has a limit of 4 GBytes per
> file. To overcome this limit, reformat it to NTFS.
>
>
>

"Joel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:6D91C3D1-FDDF-43E3-B1AC-(E-Mail Removed)...
> This is helpful. Thank you.
>
> When I right click on the drive and try to format, the only option from
> the
> drop down menu is FAT. How do I reformat for NTFS? Also, is there any
> downside to using NTFS?
>
> Thanks again.

1. Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
2. Type this command:
format X: /fs:ntfs{Enter}
(Replace X: with the correct USB drive letter)
Post again if Windows refuses your request.

Joel <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>This is helpful. Thank you.
>
>When I right click on the drive and try to format, the only option from the
>drop down menu is FAT.

HOO-boy.

That is the default setting... you have to change it to NTFS by
clicking on the little down arrow to the right.

>How do I reformat for NTFS? Also, is there any
>downside to using NTFS?
>
>Thanks again.
>
>"Mike Torello" wrote:
>
>> Joel <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>> >I am trying to backup My Documents and Settings usings XP's backup utility.
>> >The total estimated size of the backup is ~4.5GB. I am doing this to my 8GB
>> >USB drive. When the backup gets ~90% done I am prompted to provide a new
>> >media because the current media is full (there is nothings else currently on
>> >the USB drive).
>> >
>> >Any help or ideas would be much appreciated.
>> >
>> >Thanks.
>>
>> Is the drive formatted FAT32?
>>
>> If so, reformat to NTFS.
>>

The downside is you may lack user rights to that NTFS partition for one
reason or another in the future. This will prevent access to that
partition. This cannot occur in a FAT/FAT32 partition.

True formatting does not create a new type of file system. Despite XP's
insinuations otherwise. It's what that don't tell is what's important in
regard to this per XP's term "format". The file system is integral at time
of partition creation. Kinda like politics nowadays redefining many terms
to suit their needs and leave the general public ignorant of reality.

If you intend to go NTFS, wipe the current partition, recreate another with
NTFS file system.

--
Dave
"Joel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:6D91C3D1-FDDF-43E3-B1AC-(E-Mail Removed)...
> This is helpful. Thank you.
>
> When I right click on the drive and try to format, the only option from
> the
> drop down menu is FAT. How do I reformat for NTFS? Also, is there any
> downside to using NTFS?
>
> Thanks again.
>
> "Pegasus [MVP]" wrote:
>
>>
>> "Joel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:B10101BE-6141-49B7-A2A0-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> >I am trying to backup My Documents and Settings usings XP's backup
>> >utility.
>> > The total estimated size of the backup is ~4.5GB. I am doing this to
>> > my
>> > 8GB
>> > USB drive. When the backup gets ~90% done I am prompted to provide a
>> > new
>> > media because the current media is full (there is nothings else
>> > currently
>> > on
>> > the USB drive).
>> >
>> > Any help or ideas would be much appreciated.
>> >
>> > Thanks.
>>
>> Your USB drive might use the FAT file system. It has a limit of 4 GBytes
>> per
>> file. To overcome this limit, reformat it to NTFS.
>>
>>
>>

After entering the command, the DOS window opens with the text:

Insert new disk for drive E:
Press enter when ready...

When I do, the drive flashes mometarily but under properties it is still
listed as FAT32.

Thanks for the follow-up,

-Joel

"Pegasus [MVP]" wrote:

>
> "Joel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:6D91C3D1-FDDF-43E3-B1AC-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > This is helpful. Thank you.
> >
> > When I right click on the drive and try to format, the only option from
> > the
> > drop down menu is FAT. How do I reformat for NTFS? Also, is there any
> > downside to using NTFS?
> >
> > Thanks again.
>
> 1. Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
> 2. Type this command:
> format X: /fs:ntfs{Enter}
> (Replace X: with the correct USB drive letter)
> Post again if Windows refuses your request.
>
>
>

I will repeat my instructions, this time in even greater detail:
1. Click the big Start button in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.
2. Click the Run menu item.
3. Type the three letters cmd
4. Click the OK button. This gives you a black screen.
5. Type this command on the keyboard:
format X: /fs:ntfs
(Replace X: with the correct USB drive letter)
6. Press the Enter key.


"Joel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:A6365E8F-07C2-4E46-9E61-(E-Mail Removed)...
> After entering the command, the DOS window opens with the text:
>
> Insert new disk for drive E:
> Press enter when ready...
>
> When I do, the drive flashes mometarily but under properties it is still
> listed as FAT32.
>
> Thanks for the follow-up,
>
> -Joel
>
> "Pegasus [MVP]" wrote:
>
>>
>> "Joel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:6D91C3D1-FDDF-43E3-B1AC-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > This is helpful. Thank you.
>> >
>> > When I right click on the drive and try to format, the only option from
>> > the
>> > drop down menu is FAT. How do I reformat for NTFS? Also, is there
>> > any
>> > downside to using NTFS?
>> >
>> > Thanks again.
>>
>> 1. Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
>> 2. Type this command:
>> format X: /fs:ntfs{Enter}
>> (Replace X: with the correct USB drive letter)
>> Post again if Windows refuses your request.
>>
>>
>>