Cannot format HDD with FAT32 under WinXP, only NTFS?

[Chris]

I am trying to format a partition (90GB) of my harddrive (160GB total, 3
partitions). The partition currently is formated in NTFS. I want to
reformat it to FAT32, but WinXP does not give me that option. The
"Format"-dialog only displays NTFS as filesystem option.

On my second HDD (20GB) I had no problem formating it to FAT32.

Anybody knows why WinXP would not let me format the partition to FAT32?
Thanks for the help!

 

[Rich]

Don't quote me on this, but I believe it has to do with the size of the
drive or partition. I don't know the size 'breaking point'.
I have a 30GB partition which it gives the option of Fat32, but not on an
80GB.
I tried the other day to format a 60GB drive in an external enclosure and it
would only allow NTFS. I had to jump through hoops with a boot cd I created
that has USB support to format it Fat32 in Dos mode. This drive is to use
making image backups of hard drives in Dos mode. I just figured I'd save
some time formatting it while in Windows. But no! Not this time big boy!
This is a problem that annoys the crap out of me! Can you tell?
Still searching for a fix. It may lie in a registry tweak-a-fication.

 

[Rich]

Followup:

Here's an excerpt from this little nugget:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkc_fil_tdrn.asp



Check out the third dot.

Size Limitations in NTFS and FAT File Systems
Each file system supports a maximum volume size, file size, and number of
files per volume. Because FAT16 and FAT32 volumes are limited to 4 GB and 32
GB respectively, you must use NTFS to create volumes larger than 32 GB. If
you use FAT16 or FAT32 in computers that start multiple operating systems,
you must note the following size limitations:

a.. FAT volumes smaller than 16 MB are formatted as FAT12.
b.. FAT16 volumes larger than 2 GB are not accessible from computers
running MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, and many other operating
systems. This limitation occurs because these operating systems do not
support cluster sizes larger than 32 KB, which results in the 2 GB limit.
c.. In theory, FAT32 volumes can be about 8 terabytes; however, the
maximum FAT32 volume size that Windows XP Professional can format is 32 GB.
Therefore, you must use NTFS to format volumes larger than 32 GB. However,
Windows XP Professional can read and write to larger FAT32 volumes formatted
by other operating systems.
If you create multidisk volumes such as spanned or striped volumes, the
amount of space used on each disk is applied to the total size of the
volume. Therefore, to create a multidisk volume that is larger than 32 GB,
you must use NTFS.

 

[frodo]

if you are technically inclined, you can use the fdisk utility from
Win98/ME to create a FAT32 partition larger than 32 GB. It does not have
the same restrictions as XP's Disk Manager. Google for more info, it's
out there.

However, as MS has started, it's not really recommended as the FAT32
overhead gets ugly w/ volumes that large.

 

[Dorothy]

if you are technically inclined, you can use the fdisk utility from
Win98/ME to create a FAT32 partition larger than 32 GB. It does not have
the same restrictions as XP's Disk Manager. Google for more info, it's
out there.

However, as MS has started, it's not really recommended as the FAT32
overhead gets ugly w/ volumes that large.

I have the same problem I want to format a 60 Gb HDD (portable) with
usb into fat32.