BackUp Utility Failure

[Joel]

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.

 

[Mike Torello]

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.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

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]

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.

 

[Joel]

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]]

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.

 

[Mike Torello]

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.

 

[Lil' Dave]

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.

 

[Joel]

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]]

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]

Opps... My bad.

It turns out that even properly entering the command, however, generated
another error.

I have resolved the problem, though. A thread elsewhere on NTFS formatting
of a USB drive suggested:
-> Device Manager -> USB Drive -> Properties -> Policies Tab -> switch from
"Optimize for quick removal" to "Optimize for performance"

With this change, NTFS was now an option on the format “File systemâ€
drop-down menu.

Thanks again for your assistance.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Opps... My bad.

It turns out that even properly entering the command, however, generated
another error.

I have resolved the problem, though. A thread elsewhere on NTFS
formatting
of a USB drive suggested:
-> Device Manager -> USB Drive -> Properties -> Policies Tab -> switch
from
"Optimize for quick removal" to "Optimize for performance"

With this change, NTFS was now an option on the format "File system"
drop-down menu.

Thanks again for your assistance.

I expected this, which is why I suggested in my initial reply to come back
here in case Windows rejected your command. I felt that I should not
overload my response with too many options.