External drive USB 2.0, Format: FAT32, NTFS; OS: Windows 98, XP & 2000?

[Jean]

Hello,
I want to use an INternal IDE drive an set it up as an EXternal drive.
I want to use a USB 2.0 to IDE wire adapter.
I want to use this portable drive to connect it to 3 different
OS/computers:
One has Windows 98 with FAT 32, a 2nd has Windows 2000 with NTFS, a
last has Windows XP with a format I do not know.

Is it a good conclusion to format the portable drive with FAT32?

Will I encounter any problems?

Thanks to share your knowledge.

 

[Bob Harris]

Yes, FAT32 is compatible with all the operating systems you have.

Note that the method of connection and original purpose of the disk are
unimportant. I have taken IDE (i.e., used to be internal) hard drives and
placed them in USB enclosures (i.e., external) and they worked fine.

One thing to watch: If the hard drive is larger than 32 Gig (really any
partition larger than 32 Gig), XP will refuse to format it as FAT32. But,
win98 will be happy to do that, and XP will be able to use it.
Alternatively, a third-party program like Partition Magic can format larger
drives as FAT32, even under XP.